At a special roundtable event attended by IndustryGamers, Shigeru Miyamoto talked about Zelda for some time, but he also devoted several minutes to the new Nintendogs + Cats in development for 3DS. Hideki Konno, who's overseeing the entire 3DS project and who's known for the original Nintendogs, joked that he was disappointed when word got out about Miyamoto's getting a cat last year, since that meant people would probably surmise that a cats game would be revealed soon. Konno wanted it to be a surprise.
Miyamoto talked about the differences between creating cats in a game versus dogs. In a comment that caused those in attendance to erupt with laughter, the Mario and Donkey Kong creator stated, "Cats are like girls. If they talk to you it's great, but if you try to talk to them, it doesn't go so well."
Konno highlighted that he loved creating these animals on the 3DS because the portable's extra horsepower allows for various fur types. He also highlighted how the game uses the inner camera on the handheld for facial recognition, and the animals will pick up on this as well. So for example, if you lean in to the camera with your face, the dog might jump up to lick it, or if you lean side to side from the camera, the dog might react to your movements. The camera also serves as memory for the dog, so the dog will remember your face and react positively but might hide if you pass the 3DS to someone else and a new face appears.
All in all, Nintendo is aiming for greater communication between you and the animals, with voice, touch, and camera.
