There are three different versions of DS pet simulator Nintendogs: Dachshund, Lab and Chihuahua (later a Dalmatian version was released). But initially, Nintendo wanted more than three versions. Many more.
"I think we internally began by discussing 12 versions," says Nintendogs producer Hideki Konno. "No, it was 16 at first," corrects Mario producer Shigeru Miyamoto in the latest Iwata Asks on Nintendo.com.
"I think we talked about making the rack four-by-four...which makes 16," says Miyamoto. "Or was it three by five?" Regardless, the initial goal was to give players the same sensation of walking into a pet shop and picking out a dog.
But 16 versions of the same game was a bit much for Japanese shops, so Nintendo ended up settling on three versions. But, by then, Nintendo was thinking about just selling one version of Nintendogs — something that the sales team said would not be enough. Hence, the three versions.
Later this month, the newest Nintendogs, Nintendos + cats, goes on sale in Japan. The game will once again feature three dogs for players to chose from. This time the animals are different, however. The breeds are Golden Retriever, Toy Poodle and French Bulldog. In Japan, the Golden Retriever version is rebranded with a Shiba as Shiba is prevalent in Japan, but both breeds appear in the same version.
Iwata Asks : Nintendo 3DS : The Reason Why "cats" Is Smaller in the Logo [Nintendo]