EA bringing Sim Animals to DS

So you might not have been left soiling your underwear with excitement about EA's recent announcement it's bringing The Sims 2 Apartment Pets to DS. After all, neither The Sims or another virtual pet shop game on DS are exactly unique propositions. But here's a more interesting bit of news from EA, courtesy of the latest issue of UK magazine NGamer.

It seems the uber publisher is working on a new Nintendo-exclusive game for DS and Wii called Sim Animals and, far from being just a simple dog-washing title, this is a game with a full-on ecosystem and food chain with rabbits, foxes, bears and the like all living on your console and requiring care and proper management in order to keep them happy.

To be more precise, the magazine describes it as "a woodland ecosystem 'god game' where Disney-style characterisation meets the teeth and claws of the Discovery Channel."

Surely that deserves a little of your attention?

You take control of the world via a disembodied hand, which can be used to move landscape and pick up plants and animals along with many other interactions. As the game's forest animals go about their daily business of foraging for food and occasionally trying to eat one another, you're left building up their happiness by completing tasks such as cleaning up polluted areas.

There's also the food chain to consider, of course. So if you're planting seeds that will attract 'ickle bunnies, you might not want to encourage foxes as well. Not unless you want your own DS version of Watership Down playing out in front of your eyes. It's nature's way.

Actually, though, parents shouldn't worry about whether this game is going to traumatise their young ones for weeks to follow – the game's Disney-like visuals will be far from realistic and animal fights are hidden behind cartoon dust-clouds and only last until the player steps in to separate the stroppy blighters.

You can apparently interact with all the wild animals, including those you might not want to in real life, such as bears. They might try to maul your hand to start with, true, but persevere with a few berry treats and they'll eventually be rolling around like Lassie with a Bonio.

The game is set to include 25 animal species and 50 plant types. EA has also mentioned a four-player mode for Wii which lets players work together on the same screen, although it hasn't been announced whether DS will share a similar multiplayer option.

At the moment we don't have any screenshots or further info. Still, the cross between Viva Piñata and a more realistic simulation game sounds quite interesting. And certainly more-so than just another pet stroking game. Click 'Track It!' to be kept up to date on this one.