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PF Magic was a video game developer founded in 1991 and located in San Francisco, California. Though it developed other types of video games, it was best known for its virtual pet games, such as ''Dogz'' and ''Catz''. The company was able to make extra revenue by selling plush toys under the Petz trademark.〔(Plush Toy Petz -PF.Magic.com Archive )〕〔(Dogz and Catz Dash Past 1.5 Million Mark;PF.Magic's Virtual Petz Brand Established as Leader... - BusinessWire 1998 )〕 It was bought out in 1998 by Mindscape, Inc..〔(About PF.Magic -Petz.com Archive of 1999 )〕 After changing hands a few more times Ubisoft now owns the copyright on its ''Petz'', ''Oddballz'' and ''Babyz'' titles. One of PF Magic's earliest efforts was the 1994 video game ''Ballz'' published by Accolade. The innovative game featured main characters composed completely of spheres. This early game, however, failed in the marketplace, though it would inspire many of their following games, such as ''Petz''. The company also produced ''Max Magic'', the world’s first electronic magic kit, which represented a breakthrough in interactive 3D character design. ''Max Magic'' received numerous prestigious awards for its uniquely intuitive way of entertaining and teaching children and adults about magic. PF Magic's designer and programmer, Andrew Stern, went on and created an experimental project with Michael Mateas along with others for five years. The project became ''Façade'', a freeware game where you can interact with a couple whose 10-year marriage is in trouble. ==History== PF Magic was born out of a failed hardware venture with AT&T and Sega to build a Sega Genesis accessory called "The Edge", which was to allow for online multiplayer over telephone lines. AT&T pulled out of the venture due to the cost of the device, leaving the company with half their initial funding. With their hardware project cancelled, the company needed a new product to work on. Co-founder Rob Fulop saw the controversy generated by ''Night Trap'', a game he worked on and wanted to make something that was the complete opposite of it. Fulop talked with a mall Santa who told him that the number one thing children asked for Christmas was still a puppy. After this conversation, the idea of doing a title about animals came about, resulting in ''Petz'', which was based on the graphics technology they previously used in ''Ballz''. ''Petz'' was an enormous success, became one of the company's flagship products and has been credited with popularizing virtual pets.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「PF Magic」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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