A virtual pet is a type of artificial human companion. They are usually kept for companionship or enjoyment, as people may choose to keep a digital pet instead of a real one.
JumpStart was an educational media franchise created for children, primarily consisting of educational games. The franchise was developed by JumpStart Games and expanded beyond games to include workbooks, direct-to-video films, mobile apps, and other media. It was officially launched on March 10, 2009, offering a blend of educational content and entertainment experiences.
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 March 2021, over 83 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.
Zoo Tycoon is a business simulation game developed by Blue Fang Games and released by Microsoft. Although first released for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh in 2001, it was ported to the Nintendo DS in 2005. It was followed by two expansion packs, Dinosaur Digs and Marine Mania, which were released in 2002, as well as a sequel, Zoo Tycoon 2, released in 2004.
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).
I Spy is a children's book series with text written by Jean Marzollo, photographs by Walter Wick, and published by Scholastic Press. Each page contains a photo with objects in it, and the riddles accompanying the photo state which objects have to be found.
Webkinz is a stuffed animal franchise by the Canadian toy company Ganz. Webkinz stuffed animals have online counterparts in the video games Webkinz Classic and Webkinz Next. It was originally released by Ganz on April 15, 2005.
Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility is a farming simulation video game released in Japan on June 7, 2007 by Marvelous Interactive, in North America on September 30, 2008 by Natsume, and in the PAL region in October 2009. It was released for Nintendo's Wii console and was the first title in the Story of Seasons series originally developed for the Wii.
Legacy Games is a game publisher and distributor of casual and indie titles for PC and mobile. It distributes games digitally on its website, at www.legacygames.com. Legacy also sells physical discs with digital codes in Walmart stores as well as on Amazon. Legacy is best known for its game packs and sells more than 100 different bundles of themed hidden object, indie, puzzle, adventure, match 3, and simulation titles.
Mia's Language Adventure: The Kidnap Caper is the fourth title of Mia's Big Adventure Collection software series created by Kutoka Interactive. Released in 2003 in Canada and the United States, the game teaches French and Spanish as a second language to children between 6 and 10 years old.
Multiple video games based on the 2000 Nick Jr. television show Dora the Explorer have been released. Most of these games have received a mixed critical reception. Unlike other video games, these were not released in Asia, due to the TV show having less interest in that continent than North America and Europe. A number of other video games were released exclusively for the Nick Jr. website, such as Dora's 3D Driving Adventure, and Dora's 3D Pyramid Adventure.
American Girl is a series of video games developed by various studios and distributed by American Girl.
Between 5% and 10% of homeless peoplein the United States own pets. Studies of homeless pet owners in urban settings show a sense of identity and community connection between pets and their owners. This topic is part of the Animals and Society branch of study in the field of Sociology, and is also an issue with the values and responsibility of pet ownership.
Animal Jam Classic, formerly known as Animal Jam, is a massively multiplayer online game that is developed by WildWorks and recommended for kids up to the age of 12. It was launched in 2010, in collaboration with the National Geographic Society. As of late 2020, there were 3.3 million monthly active users and a lifetime total of 130 million registered players in 200 countries across both Animal Jam Classic and Animal Jam.
Virtual Safari is a 1997 video game developed by Anglia Multimedia and published by Fujitsu Interactive. The game is set in a first-person 3D environment around Africa on a Safari trip to take photographs of animals. The photographs could be submitted to Anglia Multimedia and the best ones would be displayed on their website.
Emergency Room is a simulation video game series in which the player assumes the role of a medical person who treats hospital patients. The first game, Emergency Room, was released for MS-DOS in 1995. It was developed and published by Legacy Software, which created additional games in the series as Legacy Interactive Inc. beginning in 1999. The subsequent games were released for Macintosh and Microsoft Windows up until 2001, and a Nintendo DS game was released in 2009. The eighth and final game in the series, Emergency Room: Heroic Measures, was released in 2010.
A companion robot is a robot created for the purposes of creating real or apparent companionship for human beings. Target markets for companion robots include the elderly and single children.
Eight expansion packs have been released for the 2004 life simulation video game The Sims 2, the second major title in The Sims series. All expansion packs were developed by Maxis Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts. Expansion packs tend to focus on major new features, with many objects, clothes, styles, neighborhoods and life states are geared towards the pack's major theme. The first expansion pack, University, was released on March 1, 2005. The last expansion pack, Apartment Life, was released on August 25, 2008.
Covetrus, Inc. is an American company providing animal health products and related services. Until 2019, it was the animal health business of VetsFirstChoice, and Henry Schein, before being divested. In 2021, the company ranked 593 on the Fortune 1000 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
