"The Vancouver SPCA backs virtual dog video game" ....even the title makes me shudder.
I am a mom and yes my children have an old Nintendo, a very old Nintendo which will never be replaced.

Is this Nintendo good for their health? I certainly do not think so.
Are they allowed to spend hour after hour on it?
Not a chance.

My children are also not allowed to spend hour after hour on the computer either.
Children, in my opinion, are supposed to be outside playing with friends having fun or inside playing with friends having fun.

"Craig Naherniak, general manager of humane education for the B.C. SPCA, likes the game both for its "empathy development," and for the way it teaches young players to care for an animal.
"People underestimate how much work it is to have a pet," says Naherniak. "With this game, attention, patience and care builds loyalty from the pet. I think that kids who practise these things with the game are more prepared to have a [real] dog."

My children have certainly not learned anything of any value playing Nintendo. Most games are ridiculous and most are violent. I do not let my children play the very violent ones but even the ones designed for little kids have killing of people with swords or whatever in most of them. Children who play these for the most part do not learn to go out and kill people so why can they be expected to translate the small screen dog to a real one. My son often says, "Mom it is not like it is real or anything!"

A real dog needs care 24 hours a day, not just when the Nintendo is on. A real dog is warm to the touch and provides love and friendship. A real dog is a life to be treasured and respected. A Nintendo dog can be forgotten and left with no care for weeks and nothing happens to it. When the child completes the game no harm is done. When a child tires of a dog, the parents who stupidly bought the dog for their child no longer want it either. Will this help in a situation like this? I highly doubt it. The amount of work a dog is when translated to a game on the Nintendo which presents a challenge to the child to complete is nothing like reality.