San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, United States. Though it developed other types of
video 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, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s, it was best known for its
virtual pet
A virtual pet (also known as a digital pet, artificial pet, or pet-raising simulation) is a type of artificial human companion. They are usually kept for companionship or enjoyment. People may keep a digital pet in lieu of a real pet.
Digital ...
Catz
Catz () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the commune Carentan-les-Marais.Mindscape, Inc. After changing hands a few more times,
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', ...
now owns the
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
on its ''
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'' and '' Babyz'' titles.
One of PF Magic's earliest efforts was the 1994 video game '' Ballz'',
published
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, news ...
by Accolade. The innovative game featured main characters composed completely of
sphere
A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is th ...
s. This early game failed in the marketplace, though it would inspire many of their following games, such as ''Petz''.
The company also produced '' Max Magic'', the world’s first electronic magic kit, which represented a breakthrough in interactive 3D character design.
PF Magic's designer and programmer, Andrew Stern, created an experimental project with Michael Mateas and others for five years. The project became ''
Façade
A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'.
In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...
'', a freeware game in which the player interacts with a couple whose ten-year marriage is in trouble.
History
PF Magic was born out of a failed hardware venture with
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
and Sega to build a Sega Genesis accessory called "The Edge", which was to allow for
online multiplayer
A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
over telephone lines. AT&T pulled out of the venture due to the cost of the device, leaving the company with half their initial funding.
With their hardware project cancelled, the company needed a new product to work on. Co-founder
Rob Fulop
Rob Fulop is an American game programmer who created two of the Atari 2600's biggest hits: the port of arcade game '' Missile Command'' and 1982's ''Demon Attack'', which won '' Electronic Games Game of the Year award. While at Atari, Fulop al ...
saw the controversy generated by ''
Night Trap
''Night Trap'' is a 1992 interactive movie developed by Digital Pictures and published by Sega for the Sega CD. Presented primarily through full-motion video (FMV), ''Night Trap'' tasks the player to observe teenage girls having a sleepov ...
'', a game he worked on, and wanted to make something that was the complete opposite of it. Fulop talked with a
mall Santa
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...
who told him that the number one gift children requested for Christmas was still a puppy. After this conversation, the idea of doing a title about animals came about, resulting in ''Petz'', which was based on the graphics technology they previously used in ''Ballz''. ''Petz'' was an enormous success, became one of the company's flagship products and has been credited with popularizing
virtual pet
A virtual pet (also known as a digital pet, artificial pet, or pet-raising simulation) is a type of artificial human companion. They are usually kept for companionship or enjoyment. People may keep a digital pet in lieu of a real pet.
Digital ...
s.
Selected titles
Ballz
''Ballz'' is a two-player 3D action fighting game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and the 3DO. It was developed by PF Magic and published by Accolade in 1994. The 3DO version was released as a director's cut in 1995. Ballz offered three difficulty levels over a total of 21 matches. Its distinguishing quality was that each of the characters were composed completely of balls, with a pseudo-3D look.
Petz
''Petz'' (''Dogz'' and ''Catz'') is a series of games dating back to 1995, designed by Adam C. Frank and Ben Resner. The player can adopt, raise, care for and breed their own
virtual pet
A virtual pet (also known as a digital pet, artificial pet, or pet-raising simulation) is a type of artificial human companion. They are usually kept for companionship or enjoyment. People may keep a digital pet in lieu of a real pet.
Digital ...
s. The original ''Petz'' has sold over 3 million copies worldwide, and the brand has grown to over 22 million copies since coming under
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', ...
.
The player starts at the Adoption Center and chooses a Dogz or Catz to adopt of a Breedz and gender of their choice. Once the player has found a Petz, the user can adopt and name the new Puppyz or Kittenz. After around three days (real time) the Petz become adults. Adult Petz can then breed and have Kittenz or Puppyz of their own in ''Petz 3'', ''Petz 4'', and ''Petz 5''. Cross-breeding can create different types of Petz, called 'Mixed Breeds'.
Oddballz
''Oddballz'' is a
virtual pet
A virtual pet (also known as a digital pet, artificial pet, or pet-raising simulation) is a type of artificial human companion. They are usually kept for companionship or enjoyment. People may keep a digital pet in lieu of a real pet.
Digital ...
game created by PF Magic in 1996Oddballz for PC - GameFAQs /ref> as an alternative to their ''Dogz'' and ''Catz'' titles. The game had 13 creatures that could be cared for. Along with the creatures, the game has various objects ('toyz') that the player and Oddballz can manipulate. Toyz have different uses ranging from playing to disciplining.
Babyz
''Babyz'' is a computer game 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. 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 ...
, developed by members of PF Magic working there at the time.