Petz 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. Developed by PF.Magic, original Petz (Dogz and Catz) has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. The series has grown to over 22 million copies as of 2011 since coming under Ubisoft.
Development The original Petz games — Dogz: Your Computer Pet and Catz: Your Computer Pet—were developed by PF.Magic, released in 1995 and 1996 respectively. They reused the graphics engine used in Ballz. Rob Fulop conceived of Dogz, following the controversy surrounding his previous title Night Trap, which resulted in him wanting to make a game that was "so cute and so adorable that no could ever, ever say it was bad for kids". He claims to have consulted a shopping mall Santa Claus about what children wanted, and was informed that puppies were the most popular request every year.
Following the success the company, instead of continuing to branch out into other household pets, developed Oddballz, focused on Chimeraic and mutatable creatures. This would release along with sequels to the Dogz and Catz.
In 1997, PF.Magic was acquired by The Learning Company's Mindscape division for $15.8 million in 1998. In 2001, Ubi Soft (Ubisoft, since 2003) acquired the entertainment division of The Learning Company, granting Ubisoft exclusive publishing rights to 88 titles, including Dogz and Catz.
Ubisoft would publish Catz 5 and Dogz 5, in 2002, as the last games following the original style, before putting franchise on hold for three years. After releasing Dogz and Catz for the Game Boy Advance in 2005 and 2006, Ubisoft announced their intention for a "revitalisation" of the series, in direct response to the success of Nintendo's Nintendogs. The successive entries were in many ways very different from the P.F. magic games, with many being localised games from Japan or Europe—simply rebranded with the Petz name.
In, 2010 Ubisoft announced its intention to publish a Frima Studios developed Petz themed MMO under the title Petz World, which they expected to be released in 2011. No further announcements have been subsequently made, and no such game was ever released.
Ubisoft continued releasing entries until 2014.
Animals The initial games were limited to dogz and catz, but additional animals were also introduced. These animals include Pigz, Bunnyz, Monkeyz, Dolphinz, and Hamsterz, some of which received their own games.
Users learned how to reverse-engineer the system, and began producing additional breedz, toyz, playscenes, clothes, and developer tools for the games, as permitted by PF.Magic, Mindscape, and Ubisoft.
Games
GameDeveloperPublisherRelease datePlatformRef(s)Catz and Dogz: Your Virtual PetzPF.MagicPF.Magic, Virgin Interactive Entertainment Oddballz: Your Wacky Computer PetzPF.MagicPF.Magic, Virgin Interactive Entertainment1996PCCatz and Dogz II: Your Virtual PetzPF.MagicPF.Magic, Mindscape1997PCCatz and Dogz 3: Your Virtual PetzPF.MagicPF.Magic, Mindscape1998PCCatz and Dogz 4PF.MagicMindscape Entertainment1999PCCatz and Dogz 5Studio MythosUbi Soft2002PCDogzMTO, Backbone EntertainmentUbisoftCatzMTOUbisoft2006Game Boy AdvanceCatzPowerhead GamesUbisoft2006Nintendo DSDogz and CatzImaginEngineUbisoft2006PCHamsterz LifeUbisoft2006Nintendo DSHorsezUbisoft2006Petz: Dogz 2 and Catz 2Yuke'sUbisoft2007Petz: Dogz 2 and Catz 2ImaginEngineUbisoft2007PCPetz: Catz 2Powerhead GamesUbisoft2007Nintendo DSPetz: Dogz 2MTOUbisoft2007Nintendo DSDogz 2MTOUbisoft2007Game Boy AdvancePetz: Horsez 2Phoenix StudioUbisoft2007Petz: Hamsterz 2UbisoftInterchannel2007DSPetz VetSensory SweepUbisoft2007Game Boy AdvancePetz: Wild Animals: DolphinzMagic PocketsUbisoft2007DSPetz: Wild Animals: TigerzMagic PocketsUbisoft2008Nintendo DSPetz: BunnyzDigital KidsUbisoft2008Nintendo DSPetz: Monkeyz House MTOUbisoft2008Nintendo DSPetz: Horse Club Phoenix InteractiveUbisoft2008Wii, PCPetz Rescue: Ocean PatrolMagic PocketsUbisoft2008DSPetz Rescue: Wildlife Vet Virtual ToysUbisoft2008Petz Rescue: Endangered Paradise Phoenix StudioUbisoft2008DSPetz Sports: Dog PlaygroundUbisoft MontrealUbisoft2008DogzGameloft2008N-Gage 2.0Petz: Dogz PackUbisoftUbisoft2008DSPetz: Dogz Fashion MTOUbisoft2008DSPetz: Catz Clan Digital KidsUbisoft2008DSPetz: Crazy MonkeyzY'sKUbisoft2009WiiPetz Fashion: Dogz & CatzPowerhead GamesUbisoft2009DSPetz: My Baby PandaNamco Bandai Games2009DSPetz: Hamsterz Superstarz Ubisoft NagoyaUbisoft2009DSPetz: Hamsterz BunchDK GamesUbisoft2009PSPPetz: Dogz Talent Show Ubisoft NagoyaUbisoft2009DSPetz NurseryUbisoftUbisoft2009DSPetz: Pony Beauty PageantHotGenUbisoft2009DSPetz Nursery 2UbisoftUbisoft2010DSPetz: Horsez FamilyUbisoftUbisoft2010DSPetz: Catz PlaygroundUbisoftUbisoft2010DSPetz: Dogz FamilyUbisoftUbisoft2010DSiWarePetz Hamsterz FamilyUbisoftUbisoft2010DSiWarePetz KittensUbisoftUbisoft2010DSiWarePetz Fantasy: Moonlight MagicUbisoftUbisoft2010DSPetz Fantasy: Sunshine MagicUbisoftUbisoft2010DSPetz Fantasy 3DUbisoftUbisoft20113DSPetz: Puppyz & KittenzUbisoftUbisoft2011DSPetz BeachUbisoftUbisoft20143DSPetz CountrysideUbisoftUbisoft20143DS
Reception
The original software was generally well received, with The Salt Lake Tribune giving 1995's Dogz 4 out of 5 stars, and PC Zone and Entertainment Weekly giving Catz an 8/10 and B+ respectively. However, later games were less well received, in particularly compared to other virtual pet experiences that were available, with the 1999 Game Boy Color games negatively compared to Tamagotchi, and 2005's Dogz for the Game Boy Advance, being seen as an attempt to ape Nintendogs.
By 2007, Joystiq recommended buying games in the series only for "people you hate". On the other hand, a 2008 feature in Game Developer opined that Ubisoft's "casual titles"—specifically mentioning the Petz and Imagine series—had distinguished themselves by being "well-made non-shovelware" that didn't try to "take advantage of the innocence of the target market."
The Petz games developed by P.F. Magic grew a dedicated online community that, including a community of "Hexers", who would edit the games files to create custom petz. Game designer Nathalie Lawhead speculates this was part of the reason for its success and enduring legacy.
Sales The original Dogz and Catz sold around 200,000, in their first year on the market, and would go on to sell—along with their sequels Catz and Dogz II—1.5 million copies. By the time of PF.Magic's purchase by Mindscape, the series had made over $8 million. The series as a whole has now sold more than 24 million copies.
See also Babyz Nintendogs Tamagotchi Creatures
Notes
References
Further reading