TGS 2008: National Geographic: Panda Hands-On

Animal husbandry sims are 10-a-penny these days. What with the world of Nintendogs, all manner of horse and pony games, not to mention recent forays by certain publishers into the world of livestock, it's a crowded field.

Attempting to stand out from the rest in the near future will be Namco Bandai's attempt to leap on the animal-care bandwagon, which is being released in the USA this November thanks to a partnership with esteemed journal National Geographic. Unlike many of its competitors in the current field, National Geographic: Panda focuses on but one species, and we won't insult your intelligence by telling you which.

You have the option of caring for a fully grown giant panda or a panda cub--or indeed several of either. As you might expect from such a game, caring for the creature involves feeding it with an array of food available for purchase from the handy in-game shop. In our hands-on time with the game we only got to play with panda cubs, but we're not complaining, as that provided considerably more than our recommended daily allowance of cute in a very short period. As well as buying things such as bamboo shoots and apples, you can also buy toys for your pandas to keep them entertained.

While our limited time didn't allow us to unlock any new toys, the large, red bouncing ball--which you can pick up by touching with the stylus--provided plenty of entertainment in the panda house. However, it's not just inside where you can keep your panda entertained. In the park there are all manner of items for your panda to play with, as well as the option to buy more items to keep your adorable charges entertained, including slides, tire swings, and trees for them to climb.

The tire swing was definitely our favourite on this occasion--though perhaps not that of the endangered cubs we were meant to be guarding. The game warned us that we were swinging the pandas too vigorously--by grabbing the tire with the stylus after the panda had climbed on, then releasing it from a great height.

Thinking that the little pandas might have worked up something of a sweat from their rather stressful visit to the park we went home to investigate the other options open to those looking to take slightly better care of their pandas than we were managing. Thankfully, the option of a shower presented itself, and we found ourselves armed with a sponge, with one of our pandas lying on the floor of a shower cubicle, on its back, waiting for attention. Once one side of the panda is all lathered up, after you've grabbed the sponge and rubber him all over, he rolls over, and it's time to start again on the back. Once you're done, it's time to rinse! Grab the shower head, and rinse off all that foam. Do that successfully, and you'll be rewarded by the site of a sparkling, smiling panda ready to head back to play.

Thrilled at having rendered our panda clean we decided a new outfit was in order, and so headed back to the shop one last time. There we purchased what our translator informed us was a set of red pyjamas, which we gleefully bought and, in a final act of indignity, dressed our panda in using the very simple interface in the house. The one good thing about the pyjamas from the panda's point of view was that the presence of a hood caused the automatic removal of the ribbons behind his ears which were there as we started the demo.

As well as the various things you can do with your panda, the game provides you with a wealth of information on various panda-related topics. The shop, for example, tells you all about the different types of bamboo and other foodstuffs, and the game is promised to ship in the US with an informational DVD all about those most endangered of creatures, which should give this particular game something to lift it above the herd.