''Babyz'' is a

computer game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

in which one can play with and take care of a group of

babies An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

who live in a virtual house on the

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

. The game was released in 1999 by

The Learning Company The Learning Company (TLC) was an educational software company founded in 1980 in Palo Alto, California and headquartered in Fremont, California. The company produced a grade-based line of learning software, edutainment games, and productivity ...

and developed by

PF Magic PF Magic was a video game developer founded in 1991 and located in San Francisco, California, United States. Though it developed other types of video games, it was best known for its virtual pet games, such as '' Dogz'' and ''Catz''. The company wa ...

Gameplay

Babyz runs on top of the Petz 3 game engine, adding additional AI and voice recognition. Players can teach their Babyz how to talk, how to play with objects, and how to walk. Babyz can form relationships with other babyz that can result in sibling rivalries or friendships. At release, there were 15 babyz you could adopt and care for, as well as various toys that babyz could interact with. There are different rooms to explore and numerous clothing items. Babyz reused some of the Petz toyz and had a similar home setting for its play scenes.

Third-party content

A Babyz Community launched on the official site, which has since been shut down. The website offered adoptions and discussions. It was discovered that one could hex edit the babyz to introduce new features, called "hexies" or "hexed babyz". These were available on fan websites alongside other custom content. Babyz was originally made for the Windows 95/98 Platform, however with the creation of a patch by Nicholas Sherlock, the game can be played on modern Windows. Sherlock's patch, called "Petz A" as it was intended for both Petz and Babyz, made the game run much smoother, with the ability to control many aspects of the game that users originally could not.

Related titles

Petz ''Petz'' (''Dogz'' and ''Catz'') is a series of single-player video games dating back to 1995, in which the player can adopt, raise, care for and breed their own virtual pets. The original ''Petz'' has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide and ...

Oddballz PF Magic was a video game developer founded in 1991 and located in San Francisco, California, United States. Though it developed other types of video games, it was best known for its virtual pet games, such as '' Dogz'' and ''Catz''. The company was ...

References

External links

Papers

Creating Emotional Relationships with Virtual Characters
* ttps://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/12/circuits/articles/09game.html New York Times discussion 1999 video games Virtual baby video games Ubisoft games PF Magic games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Windows-only games Single-player video games Mindscape games