Nintendogs + Cats

• Title — Nintendogs + Cats • Developer — Nintendo EAD • Publisher — Nintendo • Director — Yasuyuki Oyagi • Producer — Hideki Konno • Designer — Daisuke Kageyama • Composer — Asuka Hayazaki • Platforms — Nintendo 3DS • Genre — Pet-raising simulation • Modes — Single-player

Much of the gameplay is common to the original Nintendogs, including various breeds of dogs and cats, and training exercises. There is now a tutorial for each trick as the game progresses, and the player is no longer required to say the exact name of the trick. Touchscreen, microphone, and camera input uses facial recognition technology to interact with the player. For example, after a while, the pet will facially recognize and greet the player, and may react negatively to a new player. If the face is close to the camera, then the puppy will come up to lick it; they will also mimic a head tilt. Competitions have five cups each: Junior, Amateur, Pro, Master, and Nintendogs. In addition to Disc Competition and Obedience Trial, there a new competition, Lure Coursing. The screen is in stereoscopic 3D. Augmented reality projects the player's dog or cat onto one of the "?" AR Games cards. If one of the Nintendo character cards (such as Mario, Link, Samus, or Kirby) is used, the dogs will appear wearing hats, fitting the theme of their respective games. These hats are also in the 3DS built-in app, StreetPass Mii Plaza by unlocking them when a dog or cat hero defeats an enemy depending on the room they are in during the game "Find Mii". The game uses SpotPass and often a Presidential Victor will appear, which is a President with the pet dog.

The game comes in three different versions: Nintendogs + Cats: French Bulldog & New Friends, Nintendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever & New Friends, and Nintendogs + Cats: Toy Poodle & New Friends. Each version features many breeds. In Japan, the Golden Retriever version is called Shiba Inu & New Friends. Each version begins with nine dog breeds, but all twenty seven are unlockable in each game. All the breeds from the original Nintendogs games return plus eight new breeds including: French Bulldog, Basset Hound, Great Dane, and Pomeranian. Three cat varieties appear in each version of the game, however there are no distinct breeds.

Designer Shigeru Miyamoto stated that the idea of dogs and cats getting along came from his own pets. This made him think of the Disney movie The Incredible Journey and its 1993 remake, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. He stated that "Making a game called Nintencats just didn't seem right for Nintendo", so he brought cats into Nintendogs. The game was announced alongside the 3DS during Nintendo's E3 press conference.