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Virtual Pets - Virtually real
- by Christine Riley
Did you know you can (still) adopt a ‘virtual pet’? Christine Riley tells us about it
 It all started with the ‘Tamagotchi’ virtual pet in Japan and, as the world caught ‘Tamagotchi fever’, everywhere you went, there were sold-out signs. Virtual pets were basically unheard of in South Africa before March 1997. By September, there were well over 150 different models available. Stores announced when their next orders would be received and long lines formed waiting for the pets.
This rapid proliferation of virtual pets seemed to come from every direction. Pets representing additional types of animals, including life forms that do not exist (monsters and aliens) were soon available. You didn’t even need to have any kind of electronic device masquerading as a pet. You could, for example, log on and ‘adopt’ the following by filling in the form:
Species: Bat. -
About me: Hi, I’m a little boy-bat. I’m a teenager in bat years. I like to go wild at night and zoom around the neighbourhood. My best friends are James, Heather and Trent.
Likes: Hanging from a cave roof by one foot. My favorite film is Interview With The Vampire.
My two wishes: I wish I didn’t get a headache when I was upright and I wish that there were more hours in the night.
But what can you do with your virtual pet? Well, all of them seem to follow your mouse when you move it, but wait, there’s more. The spider spins a web while you watch. The bunny hops when you click on it. The pig, hedgehog and duck jump when you click on them. The fish swims in its aquarium and comes with a little shaker of fish food that you can feed to it and it eats. You can put the hamster on a wheel and watch it spin or take it off the wheel for a rest. The tiger will go up on its hind legs or lie down and purr. The puppy barks at you when you click on it and also comes with doggie treats that you can feed to it. The penguin sits on an iceberg and flaps its wings and moves around when you click on it. It will even lose its balance and fall into the water.
There has always been the boring old ‘Digital Doggie’. Unfortunately, he has had ‘many health problems’. Luckily, there is ‘an exceptionally good post’ entitled Digital Doggie Care Sheet with details of ‘how to care for Digital Doggie to avoid health problems’. You can even play with your virtual dog. This requires you to chase a ball as it bounces across the screen. Yay.
Digital Doggie takes naps during the day. He just goes to sleep. The reviewer did not like that. When he wanted to play with his pet, it was asleep. ‘I turned the light out when he went to sleep’ says the reviewer. Ag shame.
If you don’t already have a virtual puppy of your own, you will need to adopt one. Here are a few tips on keeping your puppy happy and healthy … I quote: ‘back-yard droppings: don’t let the back yard get full, your puppy doesn’t like that, and plus, you could step in something!’ Energy: I quote again: ‘make sure your puppy’s energy doesn’t get down to zero, or it will need to visit the vet (puppies need exercise, but also need rest.)’
When you are done playing with your puppy, you can click on the little door under ‘Actions’ to leave it. Your puppy will take a nap while you are gone. I’m loving quoting here: ‘Don’t forget to come back and play with your puppy. Puppies need attention from time to time, or they become unhappy and hungry.’
The question on everyone’s lips is: ‘How long will my pet live?’ The Giga pet kitten and dog were among the first traditional pets represented by virtual pets that ‘died’ in South Africa. Many virtual-pet users were startled by having a pet die on them. Others wondered if the game was over and could not be replayed. Several pets go to heaven, run away, or to go to outer space at the end of the game to avoid dying.
Websites acting as virtual cemeteries for virtual pets were created to allow beloved pets to be properly laid to rest. One guy who had a virtual dog thought he was taking good care of his ‘doggie’, ‘but he kept dying’ (becoming an angel dog with wings). Let’s just hope the fad dies as well.
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