Release Date:
1997
Developer:
DSI Toys
Barcode:
043667017486
This is a virtual pet of a dog. This one was sold in the West as a V-Puppy, but it appears to be a Hitorikko Puppy program with a different shell. This is my childhood and first digital pet, and I love little pixel things, so I got quite a few. Although he wasn’t my favourite back then, I think he’s one of my favourites now.
It comes in a cute purple shell, horizontal oval-shaped, with a keychain at the top (mine is broken off). It has an embossed dog on it. The dog is white with black spots, with a pink tail, nose and tongue. It has 4 buttons, of a softer rubber which are yellow. The back is a plain purple, with 2 screws to open the back panel up, as well as a reset button. It has MADE IN CHINA embossed on it, with no further makes.
When opened a further 4 screws can be found to open it up should you need to. It fits 2 LR44 B2 batteries. The back panel shows which batteries and how to place them.
The screen is not back lit, so light needs to catch the screen if you want to see something. I had to angle it slightly to get good pictures, so excuse my hands in the photo’s.
Gameplay
When starting a heart will appear that beats. It’s the heart beat of your (unborn) puppy.
After a couple of minutes it’ll be born and opens his eyes with a blinking eye animation.
There are 8 options; displayed on the sides of the screen. The first button cycles through them. The second button selects it. The third button is cancel. The fourth button displays the status of the puppy. If none of the options are selected, the second button will reveal the time, which is set the first time you power it up when the batteries are inserted.
The first option is feeding, displayed with a little knife and fork. When selected there are 3 options to choose from, indicated with a little arrow on the side.
There is meat, fish and a drink. Selecting one of these will display a 3 frame animation of it being eaten / drunk. This will boost his Stamina.
The second option is a game; Left or Right? The icon looks like a question mark with a little arrow pointing left and right. The puppy will animate looking left or right, and you choose either Left with the first button or Right with the second button. If the puppy lands on your chosen option, you won. If not you lose. This will boost his Love.
Third option is a medical kit for if the puppy gets sick. Mine never got sick so I wouldn’t know what it looks like…
Fourth option is reading, displayed by a little book. If selected a little animation plays of a book being read. This boots his Intelligence.
Fifth option is another game; High or Low? The icon looks like a little dice. An animation of a dice rolling is played and you choose either Low with the first button or High with the second button. If the dice displays a 1, 2 or 3 it’s Low, if it displays a 4, 5 or 6 it’s High. If it lands on your chosen option, you won. If not you lose. This will also boost his Love.
Sixth option is the temperature. Its icon is a little thermostat. When selecting it you turn the heating up or down, displayed by a thermostat with a low or high bar. If the puppy needs something but all his stats are full, the temperate is the one to change.
The seventh option is clean up. Its icon is a little bath with shower head. Use this option if your puppy has pooped. Poop is displayed on the screen as 2 large turds with flies.
The eight option is light. Its icon is a small light bulb. Use this to turn the lights on and off. It will display a light bulb and the second option is a dark light bulb. Once the puppy is asleep, depicted with a little Z moving above his head, you turn the light off. Once he wakes up, you turn the lights on. The display will be inverted when the lights are off.
The last icon is a little start with lightning bolts and a question mark coming of it. This will be lit when the puppy needs something.
The Status has 4 screens. The first shows the age and weight of the puppy. Next shows his Intelligence, indicated by a book and a bar below it. The next screen shows his Stamina, indicated by a food bowl? with a bar below it. The last screen shows his Love, indicated by a heart and a bar below it. The bars fill in the more the puppy has.
The puppy goes through several stages. Each stage has its own happy and sad animation. Depending on the Stamina and Intelligence, you can get different adult dogs. I have found 3 (so far).
0 years old
1 years old
2 years old
3+ years old
Once he reaches 3 years old he stops growing / changing. Its programming is quite simple. Every full hour he poops. In that hour he also loses 1 Intelligence, 1 Stamina and 1 Love. The time you activated it it’s his birthday. At 8AM it wakes up, and at 9PM it goes to sleep. It only asks me once to change the temperature in its lifespan, and never got sick. After 9 years he dies. The game runs for 9 days max.
Its dead is depicted by a halo with angel wings. Its stats will only display a big cross and its age when it died. The game can then start over.
When I start mine over, it seems to carry over the weight of the previous dog whom just died, and can show the previous dog for a split second when born. Possibly a bug?
Packaging
The V-Puppy comes in a clamshell, with V-Puppy in a bone on a heart graphic at the top and a yellow backdrop. The game sits in the centre. It has English and French text. A instruction booklet is on the back.
The Hitorikko comes in a box, and has different coloured shells and pets inside. In the top left corner is a tick box with the animal to inform which one you have. There are also multipet variants.
Accessibility
- Visual
The pet uses very few and simple sprites / animations. The icons on the sides can be too small and hard to see. The screen is not back lit, so good lighting is needed to see the screen. Using the third Cancel button will always place you back with no options selected, should you play blindly and need to know where you are. However, this doesn’t work when the clock is displayed so you could potentially get stuck on that. - Fine-Motor
The pet doesn’t require any fast paced input or precision action. There are 4 small buttons it uses, which are all closely placed together however they are easy to feel. I haven’t noticed any punishment for using the wrong option, the pet simply nods it heads no. - Auditory
Although it only uses a few beeps, it’s enough to distinguish what is happening. Scrolling through an option or an action as well as a cancel gives a confirmation beep. A successful jingle plays when playing the games and winning, as well as a fail jingle when losing. On its birthday it plays the happy birthday jingle. When it needs something it produces alarming beeps, which are repeated every few minutes if not attended. However, when feeding, turning light on or off, changing temperate, or when selecting an option it doesn’t want, there is no sound. If knowing the setup and keep track of its stats, it could potentially be played blindly by sound alone. - Cognitive
You have to figure out / remember its stats if you want a specific adult dog.
The dog can die.
Power up
When Tamagotchi’s became quite the rage I also of course wanted one! So I asked Sinterklaas (the Dutch Santa) for one. I was actually very disappointed when I got this one. It wasn’t a “real” Tamagotchi that my friends had! And then I discovered it always died when 9 years old! I was very upset haha. We weren’t the richest family, and Tamagotchi are quite expensive, so I understand now why I got a cheaper pet though. Eventually I bought some more, including a real Tamagotchi.
Now of course I absolutely love these little things. I like small things, pixel games, and animals, so what’s not to like here for me? The shell on this is also super cute and feels surprisingly comfy in my hand due to its roundness. Apparently it’s now quite sought after. However my little childhood friend is not going anywhere.
I really like the dog sprites on this when it’s 2 and 3+ years old. It looks so cute and reminds me of Snuffie / Snuffy of Nijntje / Miffy. Due to its predictability it’s easy to take care of, and you can leave it alone for just under 2 hours without it dying. It’s like a passive game you’d nowadays would play on your phone, but cuter and in a separate machine, so it feels more like a little digital pet than an app.
When looking up some information about a different pet, I found a partial growth chart for this one. It had different adult dogs based on Stamina / Intelligence?! I played this for over 20 years and never saw these! I always play for max, and the dog that I got looked like a bigger version of the 2 year old stage, so I never questioned it. This one is so simple as well, I wasn’t expecting it at all. So I had to try this out and see for myself. And 3 days later to my surprise I find a different adult! I find it amazing how my little childhood friend can still surprise me. I’m not sure how many different adult dogs there are, but I found 3 versions in total so far, and seen another online. I will update when I find others, but if anyone has a full list I’d love to see.
I find these so lovely now. I just love small things and pixel games. They are easy to get into, have simple mechanics and not a lot of button presses, and I am fascinated by early video games. I hope to get a few more, but until then I’ll be playing with my childhood ones.
Recommendation
If you like virtual pets or small simple pixel games, you’ll like this. If you like dogs, this one is for you. It has simple programming though and will die after 9 days, so keep that in mind.
If you like deep complex video games, you probably quickly get bored with this one. And of course, they can be pricey now which could also turn you off of these.
Do you have a Hitorikko Puppy / V-Puppy? Are you thinking of running this one (again)? Do you know other adult dog variants and how to get them? Is there any information you’re missing? Let me know in the comments below!