Is it just me of do Dogs get a very good representation in games.

[trollnystan]

Snipp


It's probably because dogs are retarded and attack anything they don't like, which fits well in games with violence, while cats are calculating and careful. There's plenty of games with dog enemies too though.

You've obviously never met my cat Tuffen. A tiny bug flying through the room? TIME TO TEAR DOWN THE HOUSE. He's completely ruined one of my lampshades =/

OT: Medium-sized and large dogs make good companions in a fight, or when travelling. They are loyal, follow orders, if trained right can take down an attacker. Cats are not too keen on orders, are generally too small to take down an enemy - although they could scratch their eyes out I suppose - and their brand of loyalty is showing up for meal time and the occasional snuggle. Note, however, that, as far as I know, small dogs - of the Maltese or pug variety - are almost as rare as cats in this regard.

 

[Easton Dark]

Snipp


It's probably because dogs are retarded and attack anything they don't like, which fits well in games with violence, while cats are calculating and careful. There's plenty of games with dog enemies too though.

You've obviously never met my cat Tuffen. A tiny bug flying through the room? TIME TO TEAR DOWN THE HOUSE. He's completely ruined one of my lampshades =/

Who's to say the ruined lampshade is not part of his master plan?

My cat can stalk a bird in the yard for an hour, moving, inching, ever closer every second. He cripples mice and then just leaves them on the porch for murder at a later date. All the dogs I've met just hump my leg and dribble their food on the floor. It's quite a different experience.

I guess the real reason for over-representation is that dogs can be big and tough without being exotic. But I'd rather fight 5 large dogs than 1 tiger, as evidenced in Farcry 3 where dogs come in packs, but tigers are all alone.

Or in Hotline Miami where the dogs were total chumps through all the levels, but the 2 panthers at the end were probably the hardest part in the game the first time fighting them.

 

[The Funslinger]

for some reason this topic reminded me of a game where you played a member of a wolf pack but i have absolutely no idea where that thought came from or even if it was a real game...

i should probably get some sleep...

Was it Wolf Quest, by any chance?

OT: People can go on about cats being oh so cute and cuddly, but the fact is dogs are just much more loyal to humans, and serve more of a purpose. It's not just representation, it's depiction of an actual thing.

I do like cats, but they're fair weather creatures, by and large.

 

[krazykidd]

No one mentions The cat from No more heros? Travis touchdown loves his cat .

What about katt monroe from star fox? She was sexy .

OT: Never noticed , although i'm not an animal person.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

We trust dogs enough to let our children play with them or for them to serve as our eyes, ears and nose. We have done so for over 30.000 years and we receive this loyalty almost unconditionally.

Is it any surprise we hold them in a positive light?

 

[KOMega]

Dogs are more relatable since you see them in more practical uses in real life.

Cats are seen more pet like than dogs and are there more for just being pets.
Animmorphic cats and dogs are different since they are portrayed more as people, but with animal characteristics.

 

[hermes]

Its because they have tropes that happen when they get anthropomorphized. Dogs are viewed as loyal and good willing, good guardians although not particularly brilliant. Cats are viewed as cunning and dexterous, but also self-centered and not particularly reliable. For reasons I will not expand, cats are often seen as females and femme fatales.

Its the same as with every animated movie with mouses, the protagonist is a mice, while the villain is a cat or a rat. Sharks are violent villains, while foxes are cunning thieves and snakes drag the "s". Simply put, its the human personality traits we assign to them.

 

[Raikas]

How has nobody mentioned "Dog" from Dragon Age: Origins? Even Sten likes Dog and Sten doesn't like anybody.

Maybe because Dog is cancelled out by Ser-Pounce-a-lot, who has less personality but can raise the dead (or was it heal? I don't remember). But DA2 had that other Dog, so I the dogs should still come up on top.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

Well, dogs have a myriad of uses, including combat. Cats? Not so much. They hunt vermin and can be decent, if aloof, companions... or they can just be silly as all hell. Entertaining sure, but not all that useful for standard adventurer stuff.

That's just the thing, the dog can become part of gameplay fairly easily. A cat would be a lot more difficult to find uses for. Even their rather amazing hunting ability wouldn't be particularly helpful because they can't bring back anything larger than a small rabbit. They might be good for a distraction for a thief or assassin, but that position is traditionally taken by monkeys.

 

[Plasticaprinae]

Cats are useful because they hunt vermin and can fit into small places where dogs cannot. Dogs are trained to stay until the master says go. Though putting all dogs under the "loyalty" umbrella isnt something I would do. Dogs have the possiblity of being loyal, and only want to please you /if youre a good master/. It has been symbolism throughout history that if animals like you, then you are seen as good. That might be why protagonists are accompanied by them so often.

On the subject of evil dogs though, typically they are deformed when they are evil, turning something that is seen as comfort into something terrifying. Dogs are also a common phobia and they can be downright vicious in battle. If their master wants you dead, you are going to be hunted.

Dogs can be easily manipulated and be used to attack humans by bad people. Dogs can also be used to attack bad people.

Cats keep the pest population down and disease away. And big cats are very intimidating.

 

[Bluelaughter]

Weird. In video games I've generally seen dogs as the small quick enemies that you have to duck or awkwardly aim down to attack. Dogs seem more suited to combat, while cats seem more suited to leaving hints for devious puzzles.

 

[HardkorSB]

I was just watching the latest video in Two Best Friends Play Deadly Premonition, and there was a scene where two characters were praising the dog in the game and dogs in general.

The game also has a dog stealing human bones from a grave and spreading them all over town, as well as giant dogs trying to kill you.

So, yeah, dogs are far more important in human history than cats.

Dogs were and still are pretty useful for humans throughout history. They help with hunting, they can protect people and houses, they can be used to find missing things and people, law enforcement uses them to catch criminals, they can guide blind people etc.
Cats, as cute as they are, are used mostly for decoration.

 

[Lilani]

It depends on what you call "dogs," I suppose. Wolves tend to be a very basic enemy in fantasy games, often among the first enemies you take on. And not just wolves, sometimes they are also just "wild dogs." I don't think dogs have an anymore "positive" presence than cats in games, just a larger one in general which can skew how positively or negatively we recall them. For every companion dog or friendly dog in an RPG, there's a dire wolf or wild dog in the woods waiting to be kill and be killed.

Cats, as cute as they are, are used mostly for decoration.

Domesticated cats have also been useful throughout human history. Why do you think they were domesticated in the first place? Rodent and pest control. Back before mouse traps and sticky paper, everybody used cats to keep the mouse population in check.

 

[HardkorSB]

Cats, as cute as they are, are used mostly for decoration.

Domesticated cats have also been useful throughout human history. Why do you think they were domesticated in the first place? Rodent and pest control. Back before mouse traps and sticky paper, everybody used cats to keep the mouse population in check.

Still, that's just one other use, and mostly in rural areas these days.
I also remember this cat at my grandfather's farmhouse. He was so lazy that mice used to sleep under him to get warm (not that all cats did that but that's my exposure to cats and rodent control

 

[Lilani]

Still, that's just one other use, and mostly in rural areas these days.
I also remember this cat at my grandfather's farmhouse. He was so lazy that mice used to sleep under him to get warm (not that all cats did that but that's my exposure to cats and rodent control

There are lazy dogs as well, I've seen plenty. And you can't tell me everybody who owns a corgi these days owns them to herd cattle, or most beagle owners actually use them for hunting Face it, most dogs who were bred for specific uses these days are used as decoration, just like cats. There aren't enough cattle herders and hunters in the world to account for all the herding and hunting dogs in the world today.

 

[MCerberus]

Well dogs have a more analogous structure to a human family in the pack, are diurnal, and don't have extreme agility mixed with curiosity that freak people out. In other terms, a cat stared at someone at night too long and people started yelling 'WITCHES'.

So then Europe went all cat hate. Turns out they were keeping a carrier species for the black plague in check. oopsies.
edit- also cats have the tendency to go all invasive-species and are capable of passive-agression.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Dogs get better representation in game than women. And more characterisation.