Nintendogs

Nintendogs:
Dachshund & Friends
Lab & Friends
Chihuahua & Friends
Best Friends
Dalmatian & Friends

Also known as: Shiba & Friends (JP, "Lab" version)
Rentian Gougou (CH)
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo DS
Released in JP: April 21, 2005
Released in US: August 22, 2005
Released in EU: October 7, 2005
Released in AU: September 22, 2005
Released in KR: May 3, 2007
Released in CN: December 12, 2009

This game has unused playable characters.
This game has unused code.
This game has hidden development-related text.
This game has unused graphics.
This game has unused models.
This game has unused items.
This game has unused music.
This game has unused text.
This game has regional differences.
This game has revisional differences.

This game has a notes page

This game has a prerelease article

To do:
Still a lot to cover.

More regional differences, including some changed graphics for the Chinese version.
Rip icon_dummy.bncl, which is present in many Item-Icon NARCs.
There must be some unused music and sound effects, or possibly some leftover music data.
A demo version exists, with an early English translation.

Nintendogs is a real-time pet simulation video game for the Nintendo DS that was released in a number of versions, mostly named for the starter breed (similarly to Pokémon). Dachshund, Lab/Shiba, and Chihuahua were the first to be released, with Best Friends and Dalmatian added later on.

That said, they all share the exact same files, so all of them have the same unused content.

Sub-Pages

Unused Graphics
They really had trouble deciding on a proper HUD design.

Unused Models
Most placeholder, some unused.

Unused Music

To do:
Is the alternate arrangement of the Nintendogs theme used?

To do:
Add the rest of the unused music.

SSEQ_0025

300px A somewhat alternate version of the friendly dog theme used when meeting other dogs on walks. It lacks an intro, meaning it was a somewhat earlier version of it.

SSEQ_0034

300px A somewhat more menacing version of the unfriendly dog theme when meeting other dogs on walks. No matter how disliked a dog is by their owner, that theme never plays and may have been cut for being a bit unsettling.

SSEQ_0021

An unused song placed between the Peach Kart theme and Dog Walk meeting themes exists.

Attempting to play it crashes the game, because the soundbank file (SBNK_024) for it is missing as well as the samples. Curiosly, the MIDI sequence of that song still remains using instruments 9 and 12 that fit with the tone of this song.

When played in a MIDI editor, it's actually an arrangement of Valkyrie’s Violation, by classical composer Wagner. As it has no loop and unfinished, it was likely intended as a record theme considering some of the other ones play arrangements of famous classical music.

The soundfile is a mockup of what it would have sounded like with using fitting instruments 9 and 12. Since there isn't a sequenced song with a fifteenth instrument, a trumpet is used in place of it.

Breeds

Unused Breeds

Two unfinished breeds, Papillon (パピヨン) and Maltese (マルチーズ), exist in Nintendogs' code, but don't have any models and graphics, so they use the placeholder files. Their filenames are pap and mcz and present on IDs 0x0F and 0x10. Both need long hair shampoo like in real life. The Japanese, English, German and Italian translation use the Japanese names while they are blanked out in the French and Spanish translation.

The Golden Retriever was first available in the European and American releases, but left unfinished in the games' files of the Japanese version. Like the Papillon and Maltese, it uses the placeholder files. Its ID is 0x0E. Interestingly, the file Gld_c is missing.

Missing Variants

Several variants were planned, all using the placeholder files.

File	Breed	Variant
Chi_e	Chihuahua	5
Mcz_a	Maltese	1
Mcz_b	Maltese	2
Mdf_d	Dachshund	4
Mdf_e	Dachshund	5
Pap_a	Papillon	1
Pap_b	Papillon	2
Pdl_d	Toy Poodle	4
Sib_d	Shiba Inu	4

Unused Text

Build Dates

US

	buildtime.txt	buildtimeD.txt	buildtimeR.txt
Lab & Friends	Mon Jul 4 12:12:17 2005	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004
Dachshund & Friends	Mon Jul 4 12:11:43 2005	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Wed Jun 29 11:02:03 2005
Chihuahua & Friends	Mon Jul 4 12:12:00 2005	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Wed Jun 29 11:02:03 2005
Best Friends	Mon Jul 4 12:12:35 2005	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Wed Jun 29 11:02:03 2005
Dalmatian & Friends	Fri Aug 11 16:58:12 2006	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Mon Jul 24 14:37:32 2006

Europe

	buildtime.txt	buildtimeD.txt	buildtimeR.txt
Labrador & Friends	Sat Jul 30 18:05:28 2005	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Fri Jul 29 16:54:57 2005
Dachshund & Friends	Sat Jul 30 18:04:57 2005	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Fri Jul 29 16:54:57 2005
Chihuahua & Friends	Sat Jul 30 18:05:12 2005	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Fri Jul 29 16:54:57 2005
Dalmatian & Friends	Tue Apr 4 20:52:39 2006	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Fri Mar 31 17:48:50 2006

Japan

	buildtime.txt	buildtimeD.txt	buildtimeR.txt
Shiba & Friends	Thu May 26 11:31:15 2005	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Fri May 13 14:39:06 2005
Dachshund & Friends	Thu May 26 11:26:06 2005	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Fri May 13 14:39:06 2005
Chihuahua & Friends	Thu May 26 11:28:42 2005	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Fri May 13 14:39:06 2005

China

	buildtime.txt	buildtimeD.txt	buildtimeR.txt
Rentian GouGou (Trial version)	Wed Nov 2 13:00:44 2005	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Fri Oct 7 16:27:03 2005
DSiWare	Thu Jul 16 19:12:30 2009	Mon Aug 2 16:58:11 2004	Thu Jul 2 15:43:40 2009

stat.bmg

ゴールデン
ゴールデン･レトリーバー
パピヨン
パピヨン
マルチーズ
マルチーズ

Japanese	Translation
ゴールデン	"Golden"
ゴールデン･レトリーバー	"Golden Retriever"
パピヨン	"Papillon"
パピヨン	"Papillon"
マルチーズ	"Maltese"
マルチーズ	"Maltese"

Unused breed names present in stat.bmg. They are used by the Golden Retriever (Japanese version only), Papillon and Maltese.

shop.bmg

ゴールデン・Ｒ
パピヨン
マルチーズ

Japanese	Translation
ゴールデン・Ｒ	"Golden R." Probably stood for Golden Retriever.
パピヨン	"Papillon"
マルチーズ	"Maltese"

Meant for the Golden Retriever, Papillon and Maltese if the player was going to buy one from the kennel. The first line is only present in the Japanese version.

item.bmg

(Doesn't Appear in Shop)
(Does not appear)
(Does not appear in shop)

Every item has an inventory description and one for the shop. The instruction books, Modern Clock and White Record don't use the second description, because they can't be purchased at the shop.

test.bmg / gametitle.bmg

This text file is present in /root/Message/test.bmg/ and /root/Scene/gametitle.bmg/:

Original

Translated

Move
Item
Phone
Training
Option
main menu
忠犬度
ビーグル
ミニチュア・ダックスフンド
チワワ
ラブラドール・レトリーバー
柴
トイ・プードル
パグ
ジャーマン・シェパード・ドッグ
キャバリア・キング・チャールズ・スパニエル
ウェルシュ・コーギー・ペンブローク
ミニチュア・ピンシャー
シー・ズー
ヨークシャー・テリア
ミニチュア・シュナウザー
ゴールデン・レトリーバー
パピヨン
マルチーズ
ビーグル
ダックス
チワワ
ラブラドール
柴犬
プードル
パグ
シェパード
キャバリア
コーギー
ミニピン
シーズー
ヨーキー
シュナウザー
ゴールデン
パピヨン
マルチーズ
はい
いいえ
右
左
ぐー
ちょき
ぱーぱー

Move
Item
Phone
Training
Option
Main menu
Loyalty Points
Beagle
Miniature Dachshund
Chihuahua
Labrador Retriever
Shiba
Toy Poodle
Pug
German Shepherd
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Welsh Corgi Pembroke
Miniature Pinscher
Shih Tzu
Yorkshire Terrier
Miniature Schnauzer
Golden Retriever
Papillon
Maltese
Beagle
Miniature Dachshund
Chihuahua
Labrador Retriever
Shiba Inu
Poodle
Pug
Shepherd
Cavalier
Corgi
Min-Pin
Shih Tzu
Yorkie
Schnauzer
Golden
Papillon
Maltese
Yes
No
Right
Left
Rock
Scissors
Paper

In early screenshots of the game there was a phone button which doesn't exist in the final game. Text for Boxer, Siberian Husky, Jack Russell and Dalmatian is missing.

Dummy

ダミー

The Japanese word for Dummy. Present in many text files.

Unused System File

# Game System File

{
	ITMPrint		0
	EBIPrint		0
	OGAPrint		0
	AJIPrint		0
	NAKPrint		0
	KANPrint		0
	GKYPrint		0
}

Present in /root/System/. Changing the values does nothing.

Oddities

Unseen Area Parts

Bathroom (Bath_room / Bath_room_vr)

Only a tiny part of the bathroom is visible in-game.

Park (Fld_Park2)

The water layer is bigger than the entire map, and hidden underground.

Designer Condo (Fld_Room3)

A brick wall is located behind the corridor.

Sheltie Oddities

Sty_c_hand is located before Sty_c_all in /root/DogARC/Sty_c.narc/Sty_c.nsbmd/. Normally, all "hand" files are located after the all files. Also, Sty_c_all is called Sty_��_all.

TEST-Notice

A red test note present in Mdf_c_all.

Regional Differences

A total of five different editions were released when the game got localised into English.

Changes from the Japanese version

When the game was being localised into English, several changes had to be made to be consistent with the western market.

Shiba & Friends

The Japanese version of Labrador & Friends, although there's some differences beyond the titles.

Well, obviously, the icons are going to be different, seeing as the Japanese cover dog is different than the English one.

Labrador & Friends	Shiba Inu & Friends

Graphical Changes

Exclusive Breeds

Lab & Friends	Shiba & Friends (Japan)	Dachshund & Friends (Japan)	Dachshund & Friends	Chihuahua & Friends (Japan)	Chihuahua & Friends	Dalmatian & Friends	Best Friends
Labrador-Retriever	Shiba Inu	Miniature Dachshund	Miniature Dachshund	Chihuahua	Chihuahua	Yorkshire-Terrier	Miniature Dachshund
Miniature Pinscher	Shetland Sheepdog	German Shepherd Dog	Pug	Beagle	Yorkshire-Terrier	Beagle	Labrador Retriever
Toy Poodle	Toy Poodle	Yorkshire-Terrier	Shih Tzu	Shih Tzu	Cavalier King Charles Spaniel	Golden Retriever	Yorkshire-Terrier
Pembroke Welsh Corgi	Pembroke Welsh Corgi	Pug	Beagle	Cavalier King Charles Spaniel	Shetland Sheepdog	Boxer	Beagle
Shiba Inu	Miniature Pinscher	Miniature Schnauzer	Golden Retriever	Labrador Retriever	Boxer	German Shepherd Dog	Golden Retriever
Siberian Husky			Siberian Husky		German Shepherd Dog	Dalmatian	German Shepherd Dog

The western release also added four new breeds:

Boxer
Siberian Husky
Golden Retriever
Dalmatian

Title

Shiba & Friends	Dachshund & Friends (Japan)	Chihuahua & Friends (Japan)

Lab & Friends	Dachshund & Friends	Chihuahua & Friends

Dalmatian & Friends	Best Friends