A pet-raising simulation (sometimes called virtual pets or digital pets [1] ) is a video game that focuses on the care, raising, breeding or exhibition of simulated animals. These games are software implementations of digital pets. Such games are described as a sub-class of life simulation game. The concept originated from role-playing video games, with the Megami Tensei series and Dragon Quest V being two early examples. [2]
Title | Gameplay | Founder/developer | Release date | Revenue model |
---|---|---|---|---|
Shining Stars | Virtual world | Russ Berrie | 2006 | |
Horse Isle | Horse-based Breeding simulation, horse riding, questing and flash-based virtual world | Horse Isle | 2010 | |
Horseland | Breeding simulation | Christina (Gerskovich) Johnson | 1995 | |
Leporidae | Rabbit breeding and showing simulation | 2015 | ||
Moshi Monsters | Virtual world | Mind Candy | 2007 | |
Neopets | Virtual world | Neopets Inc. (Owned by JumpStart) | 1999, November 15 [3] | Subscription, advertising, merchandise |
Webkinz | Virtual world | Ganz | 2005, April 29 | Merchandise, digital content |
Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of video games, animated series and films, a trading card game, and other related media. The franchise takes place in a shared universe in which humans co-exist with creatures known as Pokémon, a large variety of species endowed with special powers. The franchise's target audience is children aged 5 to 12, but it is known to attract people of all ages.
Chao are fictional life-forms in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series published by Sega. They are small, childlike creatures that go through a complex life cycle and exist in several visual forms depending on how they are raised. Developer Sonic Team incorporated Chao into the games to encourage players to explore levels and support the good–evil dichotomy of Sonic Adventure 2.
The Tamagotchi is a handheld digital pet that was created in Japan by Akihiro Yokoi of WiZ and Aki Maita of Bandai. It was released by Bandai on November 23, 1996 in Japan and in the United States on May 1, 1997, quickly becoming one of the biggest toy fads of the late 1990s and the early 2000s. As of June 2023, over 91 million units have been sold worldwide. Most Tamagotchi are housed in a small egg-shaped handheld video game with an interface consisting of three buttons, with the Tamagotchi Pix adding a shutter on the top to activate the camera.
Megami Tensei, marketed internationally as Shin Megami Tensei, is a Japanese media franchise created by Aya Nishitani, Kouji "Cozy" Okada, Ginichiro Suzuki, and Kazunari Suzuki. Primarily developed and published by Atlus, and currently owned by Atlus, the franchise consists of multiple subseries and covers multiple role-playing genres including tactical role-playing, action role-playing, and massively multiplayer online role-playing. The first two titles in the series were published by Namco, but have been almost always published by Atlus in Japan and North America since the release of Shin Megami Tensei. For Europe, Atlus publishes the games through third-party companies.
Motoko Kumai is a Japanese voice actress employed by 81 Produce. She played Takao Kinomiya in Beyblade and Syaoran Li in Cardcaptor Sakura. From December 21, 2006 to October 2007, she had a hiatus from her career due to an illness requiring medical treatment.
Digimon Adventure, also known as Digimon: Digital Monsters Season 1 in English-speaking territories, is a 1999 Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation in cooperation with WiZ, Bandai and Fuji Television. It is the first anime series in the Digimon media franchise, based on the Digital Monster virtual pet released in 1997.
Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei refers to two distinct role-playing video games based on a trilogy of science fantasy novels by Japanese author Aya Nishitani. One version was developed by Atlus and published by Namco in 1987 for the Famicom—Atlus would go on to create further games in the Megami Tensei franchise. A separate version for personal computers was developed and published by Telenet Japan with assistance from Atlus during the same year.
Life simulation games form a subgenre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual characters. Such a game can revolve around "individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation of an ecosystem". Other terms include artificial life game and simulated life game (SLG).
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children, also known as DemiKids, is a series of role-playing video games primarily developed by Multimedia Intelligence Transfer and published by Atlus. It is a spin-off from Atlus' Megami Tensei franchise, and began in 2000 with the Game Boy Color games Black Book and Red Book. Five more role-playing games and three games in other genres were released until 2004, followed by no new releases until the 2011 social game Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children. In addition to the games, the series has been adapted into manga, anime, and a trading card game, and two soundtrack albums have been released by First Smile Entertainment.
Digimon World Championship is a life simulation video game for the Nintendo DS developed by Epics and published by Bandai Namco Games as part of the Digimon franchise. It was released in Japan in February 2008 and North America in August 2008. In-contrast to its localized title in North America, the game is not part of the Digimon World sub-series of role-playing games.
The Japan Game Awards is the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's awards ceremony, which was created in 1996 as the CESA Awards. While it represents the Japanese video game industry, it is not limited to Japanese video games, but also includes international video games.
While the early history and distinctive traits of role-playing video games (RPGs) in East Asia have come from Japan, many video games have also arisen in China, developed in South Korea, and Taiwan.
The Japanese video game magazine Famitsu reviews video games by having four critics each assign the game a score from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest score. The scores of are then added together for a maximum possible score of 40. As of 2024, thirty games have received perfect scores from Famitsu.
A digital collectible card game (DCCG) or online collectible card game (OCCG) is a computer or video game that emulates collectible card games (CCG) and is typically played online or occasionally as a standalone video game. Many DCCGs are types of digital tabletop games and follow traditional card game-style rules, while some DCCGs use alternatives for cards and gameboards, such as icons, dice and avatars. Originally, DCCGs started out as replications of a CCG's physical counterpart, but many DCCGs have foregone a physical version and exclusively release as a video game, such as with Hearthstone.
Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2 is a role-playing video game developed and published by Sega for iOS and Android. It is part of Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei (SMT) series, which in turn is part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. The plot follows a player-customised character who battles demons with a smartphone app. The game was presented in the 2017's Tokyo Game Show by SEGA and Atlus. It was initially released in January 2018, in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, and later released worldwide. A mode similar to Pokémon Go was later added after the game's launch, showing demons in augmented reality.
A monster-taming game is a subgenre of role-playing video game that most notably includes the Pokémon franchise. While Pokémon is the most recognizable example of such a game to Western audiences, the origins of the genre were in the Megami Tensei series, which involved fighting, negotiating with, and recruiting demons and other mythological beings.