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 USA 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.
Animal Crossing, known in Japan as Dōbutsu no Mori+, is a 2001 social simulation game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is an enhanced version of the Nintendo 64 game Dōbutsu no Mori, which was only released in Japan earlier the same year, and was followed by another edition, Dōbutsu no Mori e+, in 2003.
Animal Crossing: Wild World is a 2005 social simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It was released in Japan in November 2005, in North America and Australia in December 2005, and in Europe in March 2006. It is the second installment in the Animal Crossing series, and the sequel to Animal Crossing on the GameCube.
Habitat is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by LucasArts. It is the first attempt at a large-scale commercial virtual community that was graphic based. Initially created in 1985 by Randy Farmer, Chip Morningstar, Aric Wilmunder and Janet Hunter the game was made available as a beta test in 1986 by Quantum Link, an online service for the Commodore 64 computer and the corporate progenitor to AOL. Both Farmer and Morningstar were given a First Penguin Award at the 2001 Game Developers Choice Awards for their innovative work on Habitat. As a graphical MUD it is considered a forerunner of modern MMORPGs unlike other online communities of the time. Habitat had a GUI and large user base of consumer-oriented users, and those elements in particular have made Habitat a much-cited project and acknowledged benchmark for the design of today's online communities that incorporate accelerated 3D computer graphics and immersive elements into their environments.
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town is a video game for the Game Boy Advance, developed and published by Marvelous Interactive. It was first released in Japan in April 2003, in North America in November 2003, and in Europe in March 2004. Many critics praised it as the best entry of the series, combining elements from the best-selling console entries and introducing many notable series staples. It was later released on the Virtual Console for the Wii U in June 2015.
Harvest Moon 64, released in Japan as Bokujō Monogatari 2 (牧場物語2), is a farm simulation video game developed and published by Victor Interactive Software for the Nintendo 64 video game console, and the third game in the Story of Seasons series. It was released in Japan on February 5, 1999, and in North America by Natsume on December 22, 1999.
Virtual Magic Kingdom, also known as VMK, was a massively multiplayer online game developed by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and Sulake and published by The Walt Disney Company. It was a virtual representation of the Disneyland-style theme parks, containing areas and minigames which were based on real park scenery and attractions. The beta version opened publicly on May 23, 2005, with new lands opening up through 2007.
Fin Fin on Teo the Magic Planet is a 1996 computer game for Windows-based computers made by Fujitsu about a creature that is a hybrid of a bird and a dolphin which the user could communicate with via a microphone which came with the game, with a webcam add-on called the SmartSensor. Fin Fin was produced by Makoto Tezuka.
Webkinz is a stuffed animal franchise by the Canadian toy company Ganz, consisting of stuffed animals that have online counterparts in the games "Webkinz Classic" and "Webkinz Next". It was originally released by Ganz on April 29, 2005.
Petz: Catz 2 and Petz: Dogz 2 are video games for the PC, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2 and Wii, the latter two are similar to The Dog Island. Players can choose from 40 breeds of dogs or cats; in Dogz most breeds have a choice of two fur colours. In Europe these games are titled Dogz and Catz.
An interactive urinal is a device that allows users to play video games or control interactive displays while urinating. Several designs have been produced to date, usually comprising a urinal fitted with a pressure sensor to measure the strength and position of the urine flow and an LCD screen mounted above the urinal to provide animated graphics.
The Magic School Bus is a series of educational software video games developed by Music Pen and published by Microsoft via their Microsoft Home brand. The interactive adventures are part of the larger franchise and based on The Magic School Bus book series and public television series.
Giga Pets are digital pet toys that were first released by Tiger Electronics in the United States in 1997 in the midst of a virtual-pet toy fad. Available in a variety of different characters, each Giga Pet is a palm-sized unit with an LCD screen and attached key ring. To ensure a happy, healthy pet, its owner has to take care of it similar to how one might care for a real animal, including feeding, cleaning, and playing with their Giga Pet.
Story of Seasons, known in Japan as Bokujō Monogatari: Tsunagaru Shin Tenchi, is a farming simulation video game developed by Marvelous Entertainment for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released in Japan on February 27, 2014, and in North America on March 31, 2015. This was the first game not under the Harvest Moon franchise title in North America due to Natsume's ownership of the name.
Opera Fatal is a 1996 educational graphic adventure puzzle video game developed by Ruske & Pühretmaier Design und Multimedia GmbH and published by Heureka-Klett. The game's plot follows maestro Angelo, the orchestra director, on the night before the premiere of Beethoven's Fidelio. A mysterious thief has stolen the musical scores; to retrieve them, Angelo must solve a series of music-themed riddles that have been scattered throughout the opera house.
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.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is a 2017 free-to-play social simulation mobile game in Nintendo's Animal Crossing series for iOS and Android devices. It was released in Australia in October 2017 and worldwide the following month. The game continues the series of social simulations that allow players to interact with a small campsite with various campers, performing small tasks, engaging in commerce, and decorating living spaces.
Virtual Murder is a four-part murder mystery adventure video game series developed by Creative Multimedia Corporation. The games were released in 1993 and 1994 for Macintosh and Windows PCs.
Le Louvre: The Palace & Its Paintings is a 1995 art game developed by Montparnasse Multimedia and published by BMG Interactive.
This is a glossary of terms common in MUD multiplayer virtual worlds.
