Dokodemo Issho Hands-On

TOKYO--Five years ago, Sony released a really odd game for the PlayStation called Dokodemo Issho. This game was one of the first titles to take advantage of the nicely designed (but short-lived) Pocket Station. The game was Sony's version of a virtual-pet program, and it came out around the period when the Tamagotchi was still a hot item. And now, Sony's resurrected Dokodemo Issho is coming to the highly anticipated PSP. And we got a chance to put a work-in-progress version of the game through the paces.

Dokodemo Issho for the PSP plays pretty much like the original PlayStation edition, but with updated graphics and additional new features. You basically play the game by teaching words to your cute 3D-rendered virtual pet and then making the pet use them in conversation. The TGS demo featured the most popular virtual pet, Toro, a white cat who's become one of Sony Computer Entertainment's representative mascot characters. You can teach Toro a new word, and whether it's a noun, verb, adjective, and so on, and then he'll try to learn more about it by using it in conversations when talking with you. While the normal way to play the game is to teach your pet correctly, you can also have fun by telling it bizarre things, like that a "toilet" is a building where you go to work, or that a "president" is a small girl. And, of course, you can teach it some of the dirtier words for some good chuckles.

Great news for the claustrophobic fans of Dokodemo Issho is that your pet is no longer confined in its house like in the original PlayStation version. You can travel in the PSP version, riding on trains, walking through the streets, or going to check out an office. And the words you input in the game are subtly used in the backgrounds, like written on the walls or on a blackboard. There's also some other neat features in the game that spice up the existence of your virtual pet. For example, your pet keeps a diary, which you can check out to see its view of the world.

We couldn't try out the communications features of the PSP's Dokodemo Issho at the TGS demo, but your virtual pet will reportedly be able to talk with the pets of other game owners, as well as play various minigames with each other. There's no release date for the PSP's Dokodemo Issho yet, but it seems to be a promising title for fans of the series.

For more updates, be sure to check GameSpot's coverage of Tokyo Game Show 2004.