Nintendogs fans hoping for the classic Nintendo DS and 3DS game to come to the iPhone or Android phone might be in luck, with a new patent suggesting that Nintendo is working on making that happen.

The Nintendogs games have long felt like the perfect match for mobile gaming, but so far nothing has come to fruition. The games saw players look after, and pet, dogs and later cats, and now it looks like Nintendo is plotting a mobile version in the future.

A new patent filed in the United States is dated 17 January 2023 but was originally filed back in 2021. In it we see drawings of a dog depicted as being displayed on a smartphone, with the patent itself appearing to show the dog also being displayed in real-world surroundings.

That's right - Nintendogs might be coming to your bedroom thanks to augmented reality! That would also suggest that this game would indeed be a mobile-only affair because a camera would be needed to make that AR magic happen. That of course rules out anything that Nintendo already makes, including the wildly popular Nintendo Switch. Instead, this is all about using a phone which would suggest that a new game could be coming to the App Store and Google Play Store soon enough.

The patent was first spotted by Nintendo News and while it's always difficult to really read what's going on inside a patent application, this one does suggest a mobile game is at least being considered. And it isn't just going to be a mobile port cash-in of something we played almost 20 years ago, either.

Now is the time when we burst everyone's bubble, though. It's important to remember that not all patents turn into shipping products, no matter how much we really hope that they do. Nintendogs is something many of us have been hoping for ever since smartphones took over the world. Here's to hoping Nintendo is finally getting with the programme.