My Pet Hotel 2 announced for DS

If you were going to pick out a perfect job then running a pet hotel would be it. All you'd have to do all day is play with rich people's well-behaved, pampered pets, dish out a few bones and go for a couple of walks. If we thought we could cram a sufficient enough number into our top floor flat, we'd set one up right now.

Anyway, for those of you who also yearn to spend your days looking after other people's animals, the just announced My Pet Hotel 2 is probably aimed at you. In it, you get to care for a range of pets - owners of fish, budgies, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs and horses leave their animals with you and expect to come back after a few weeks to find them perfectly looked after. At the very least, still alive. And if you've ever looked after someone's fish while they're on holiday, you'll know how tricky, in reality, that can be.

My Pet Hotel 2 boasts all sorts of gameplay - from horse riding to cleaning enclosures. You'll also be able to build and expand your hotel as you progress. The game will support speech recognition - probably not so you can shout at misbehaving animals though - and let you interact with the animals using the touchscreen.

All in all then, it sounds like a lovely experience, although we have no idea if it looks like one as publisher Eidos hasn't released any screenshots of it. Still, the puppy and kitten in a hammock on the packshot should be more than enough to sell it to animal lovers. Look out for it when released in February.