Only for dog lovers without a real pet.
Nintendogs doesn’t really have a story, because it’s more of a virtual pet than it is a game. Game begins when you buy yourself a puppy and then you play with it and train it to sit, roll over and so on.
Graphics are nice and the puppies especially are extremely well modeled. Unfortunately backgrounds are not very detailed or interesting, but that’s not the point: puppies are the center of attention. Sound is great too and dogs sound just like you would expect them to sound. During contests there are some talking, but in true Nintendo style no voice acting what so ever.
Gameplay is done mostly with the stylus and DS microphone. Stylus is used to navigate the menus and playing with your dog. As you might expect the microphone is used to call your puppy by its name and to give different commands like sit and roll over. All of this works quite well. There is plenty of things to do with your dog, but eventually it just gets very repetitive and boring. This is not a game per se: it’s a virtual life simulator or something.
I recommend Nintendogs to those animal lovers who don’t have a real pet. But those who consider themselves more as gamers should put their money on something else.
Once again thumbs up for Nintendo: they had the courage to do something new and innovative.