PS Vita Pets Gets June 2014 Release Date...

PS Vita Pets,  the first true pet simulation to emerge on Sony's handheld system, has today been given a proposed release date of the 4th of June 2014. The game, which merges together elements of the virtual pet simulation genre with some action-adventure elements thrown in as well, has a very family-orientated feel to it.

There has been some dispute among the gaming community of late as to whether the game's title of 'pets' is misleading, as it tends to suggest that there will be various domesticated animals on offer when in fact the game actually only features dogs.

 However, Kevin Oxland, Creative Director for Spiral House,  today explained that the high quality realistic animations and the task of making these dogs actually talk to the player has meant that the overall concept of 'pets' had to be kept simple, which is why only dogs have been included in this game. He said: "We could only include dogs. The fidelity of the dogs, the quality in the animation, the adventure and all the dialogue, which we translated and recorded in many different languages, require a lot of resources and time to get right and the team worked hard to bring you a quality experience..." [sourced from: http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2014/04/02/playstation-vita-pets-release-date-new-gameplay-details/]

Of course Spiral House are no stranger to pet simulation games as they were also responsible for bringing the PS3's loveable EyePet to Sony's original portable handheld, the PSP. However, it will be some time before we can see whether Playstation Vita Pets can equal Eyepet's success in the casual gaming market.

 Some new screenshots for the game have also been released, along with the main box art image (shown above). The screenshots appear to show some of the adventure parts of the game. More information has also been provided about the virtual dogs' ability to talk in human speech with the players. According to Kevin Oxland, the game will feature "a huge script of dialogue for each of the dogs. In total we have around 10,000 lines of spoken dialogue in the game."  [sourced from: http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2014/04/02/playstation-vita-pets-release-date-new-gameplay-details/] 

More detailed descriptions of exactly how the dogs will be essential in helping the player to unlock the secrets of the island's buried treasure, has also been revealed. It seems that the player's chosen puppy will help  by sniffing out clues, digging in unexpected places and crawling through areas of the game map that players could not otherwise be expected to access.  

Some gamers have already criticised the game, accusing Sony of  trying to copy Nintendo's success with the Nintendogs series. Nevertheless, PlayStation Pets has tried very hard to separate itself from other virtual pet games on the current market, and whilst cute pet simulation games will not appeal to everybody,  this game is very innovative  and helps to widen the appeal of the PS Vita by offering casual gamers and younger gamers an adventure title with a difference. This is definitely one to watch!

AABS ANIMALS REVIEW [PS VITA]

Aabs Animals is a new downloadable exclusive game title for the PS Vita. This game is different from almost every other pet simulation video game on the market in that the goal of the game is not really centred around caring for your new virtual pet at all.

Aabs Animals does not ask users to feed, wash, or even entertain their chosen pet (who all seem to be different breeds of cats for some reason). Instead, the idea is that gamers use the game's Augmented Reality backgrounds and PS Vita camera to create different digital screenshots featuring their virtual pet, and spend time petting their animals and adjusting their positions. It sounds pretty basic, and it is.

Like most PS Vita titles, this game does feature some unlockable trophies, but not in the way you'd expect. In Aabs Animals, trophies are unlocked by how much time users spend playing the game rather than a reward for anything that the user achieves within the game itself, and with only five trophies on offer, it is actually possible to unlock ALL the trophies within a mere six minutes of gameplay, which for its £3.99 price tag, does seem a little bit ridiculous.

There are some good points about Aabs Animals however, for example, two percent of the purchase price actually goes to the Headquarters for the Relief of Animals in Emergencies charity, which is a noble cause to support. Furthermore, the game's simple style and cute furry graphics means that even non-gamers are likely to enjoy it.

 Nevertheless, it could be argued that as the game doesn't feature any pet care tasks of any kind or any way of really interacting with your chosen pet at all (besides using the touch screen to pet it), the makers of Aabs Animals have removed some of the essential elements that make Pet Simulation games fun, thus leaving gamers with a stale and very limited 'five-minute wonder', which really isn't worth the money that we were asked to pay for it. Here at Mini Gamers HQ we say save up your money and buy a tamagotchi instead - much more enjoyable!!! Overall rating: 1/10.