PF Magic
PF Magic was a video game developer founded in 1991 and located in San Francisco, California, United States. 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. It was bought out in 1998 by Mindscape, Inc. 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 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. PF Magic's designer and programmer, Andrew Stern, creat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Video Game Developer
A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with employee responsibilities split between individual disciplines, such as programmers, designers, artists, etc. Most game development companies have video game publisher financial and usually marketing support. Self-funded developers are known as independent or indie developers and usually make indie games. A developer may specialize in specific game engines or specific video game consoles (such as Nintendo's Switch, Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Series S, Sony's PlayStation 5), or may develop for a number of systems (including personal computers and mobile devices). Video game developers specialize in certain types of games (such as role-playing video games or first-person shooters). Some focus on porting games from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile telephone services in the U.S. , AT&T was ranked 13th on the ''Fortune'' 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations, with revenues of $168.8 billion. During most of the 20th century, AT&T had a monopoly on phone service in the United States. The company began its history as the American District Telegraph Company, formed in St. Louis in 1878. After expanding services to Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, through a series of mergers, it became Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in 1920, which was then a subsidiary of American Telephone and Telegraph Company. The latter was a successor of the original Bell Telephone Company founded by Alexander Graham Bell in 1877. The American Bell Telephone Company formed the American Tele ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for servers, and Windows IoT for embedded systems. Defunct Windows families include Windows 9x, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone. The first version of Windows was released on November 20, 1985, as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Windows is the most popular desktop operating system in the world, with Usage share of operating systems, 75% market share , according to StatCounter. However, Windows is not the most used operating system when including both mobile and desktop OSes, due to Android (operating system), Android's massive growth. , the most recent version of Windows is Windows 11 for consumer Personal compu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Single Player
A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usually a game mode designed to be played by a single player, though the game also contains multi-player modes. Most modern console games and arcade games are designed so that they can be played by a single player; although many of these games have modes that allow two or more players to play (not necessarily simultaneously), very few actually require more than one player for the game to be played. The ''Unreal Tournament'' series is one example of such. History The earliest video games, such as '' Tennis for Two'' (1958), ''Spacewar!'' (1962), and ''Pong'' (1972), were symmetrical games designed to be played by two players. Single-player games gained popularity only after this, with early titles such as '' Speed Race'' (1974) and ''Space In ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1996 In Video Gaming
1996 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as '' Super Mario 64'', '' Duke Nukem 3D'', '' Street Fighter Alpha 2'', '' Super Mario RPG'', '' Virtua Fighter 3'', and '' Tekken 3'', along with new titles such as ''Blazing Heroes'', '' NiGHTS into Dreams...'', '' Crash Bandicoot'', '' Pokémon Red/Green/Blue'', ''Resident Evil'', ''Dead or Alive'', '' Quake'' and ''Tomb Raider''. The year's best-selling video game console worldwide was the PlayStation, while the best-selling consoles in Japan were the Game Boy and Sega Saturn. The year's best-selling home video game worldwide was ''Super Mario 64'', while highest-grossing arcade games in Japan were ''Street Fighter Zero 2'' (''Street Fighter Alpha 2'') and '' Virtua Fighter 2''. Events *March – Swedish video game magazine "Super Power" changes name to Super Play. *15 July – Tom Kalinske announces he will leave his position as president for Sega of America on 1 October. *May 16–18 – The second annual E3 is ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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3DO Interactive Multiplayer
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, also referred to as simply 3DO, is a home video game console developed by The 3DO Company. Conceived by entrepreneur and Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, the 3DO was not a console manufactured by the company itself, but a series of specifications, originally designed by Dave Needle and Robert J. Mical of New Technologies Group, that could be licensed by third parties. Panasonic produced the first models in 1993, and further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by GoldStar (now LG Electronics), and in 1995 by Sanyo. Despite having a highly promoted launch (including being named ''Time'' magazine's "1993 Product of the Year"), the console received mixed to negative reviews, and an oversaturated console market prevented the system from achieving success comparable to competing consoles from Sega and Sony. By 1996, 3DO abandoned the standard and manufacturers ceased production of units. History The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania, and 1993 in South America. In Japan, it is called the In South Korea, it is called the Super Comboy and was distributed by SK Hynix, Hyundai Electronics. The system was released in Brazil on August 30, 1993, by Playtronic. Although each version is essentially the same, several forms of regional lockout prevent cartridges for one version from being used in other versions. The Super NES is Nintendo's second programmable home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The console introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other systems at the time. It was designed to accommodate the ongoing development of List of Super NES enhancement chips, a v ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1995 In Video Gaming
1995 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as ''Dragon Quest VI'', ''Mario's Picross'', ''Mega Man 7'', ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island'', and ''Tekken 2'', along with new titles such as ''Battle Arena Toshinden'', ''Chrono Trigger'', ''Rayman (video game), Rayman'', ''Soul Edge'', ''Twisted Metal (1995 video game), Twisted Metal'', ''Star Wars: Dark Forces'', ''Destruction Derby'', ''Wipeout (video game), Wipeout'' and ''Jumping Flash!'' The year's highest-grossing arcade game in Japan was ''Virtua Fighter 2'', while the best-selling arcade video games in the United States were ''Daytona USA'' (for the second year in a row) and ''Mortal Kombat 3''. The home video game with the highest known sales in 1995 was ''Dragon Quest VI'', despite only releasing in Japan. The Super Famicom was the best-selling game console in Japan, while the Sega Genesis was the best-selling console in North America. Hardware releases *Nintendo releases: **March 20 – Game Boy line# ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Virtual Pets
A virtual pet (also known as a digital pet, artificial pet, or pet-raising simulation) is a type of artificial human companion. They are usually kept for companionship or enjoyment. People may keep a digital pet in lieu of a real pet. Digital pets have no concrete physical form other than the hardware they run on. Interaction with virtual pets may or may not be goal oriented. If it is, then the user must keep it alive as long as possible and often help it to grow into higher forms. Keeping the pet alive and growing often requires feeding, grooming and playing with the pet. Some digital pets require more than just food to keep them alive. Daily interaction is required in the form of playing games, virtual petting, providing love and acknowledgment can help keep your virtual pet happy and growing healthy. Digital pets can be simulations of real animals, as in the Petz series, or fantasy ones, like the Tamagotchi or Digimon series. Unlike biological simulations, the pet doe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mall Santa
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christmas Eve of toys and candy or coal or nothing, depending on whether they are "naughty or nice". In the legend, he accomplishes this with the aid of Christmas elves, who make the toys in his workshop, often said to be at the North Pole, and flying reindeer who pull his sleigh through the air. The modern figure of Santa is based on folklore traditions surrounding Saint Nicholas, the English figure of Father Christmas and the Dutch figure of ''Sinterklaas''. Santa is generally depicted as a portly, jolly, white-bearded man, often with spectacles, wearing a red coat with white fur collar and cuffs, white-fur-cuffed red trousers, red hat with white fur, and black leather belt and boots, carrying a bag full of gifts for chil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Night Trap
''Night Trap'' is a 1992 interactive movie developed by Digital Pictures and published by Sega for the Sega CD. Presented primarily through full-motion video (FMV), ''Night Trap'' tasks the player to observe teenage girls having a sleepover visiting a house which, unbeknownst to them, is infested with vampires. The player watches live surveillance footage and triggers traps to capture anyone endangering the girls. The player can switch between different cameras to keep watch over the girls and eavesdrop on conversations to follow the story and listen for clues. The ''Night Trap'' concept originated in a 1986 prototype game developed by Axlon to demonstrate their Control-Vision game console to Hasbro. The system used VHS tape technology to present film-like gaming experiences. With the system picked up by Hasbro, the production of ''Night Trap'' commenced. The video footage was recorded in 1987, followed by six months of editing and game programming. Hasbro suddenly ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rob Fulop
Rob Fulop is an American game programmer who created two of the Atari 2600's biggest hits: the port of arcade game '' Missile Command'' and 1982's '' Demon Attack'', which won '' Electronic Games''' Game of the Year award. While at Atari, Fulop also ported '' Night Driver'' to the 2600 and ''Space Invaders'' to the Atari 8-bit family. Early life Fulop grew up in Oakland, California where was first introduced to computers via a teletype in Skyline High School in 1974, which he used to create simple programs in BASIC such as a coin flipper and a game similar to '' Nim''. His experience with the device inspired him to pursue a degree in electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. Career Atari (1978-1981) While studying in university, Fulop got an internship in Atari's coin-op division where he worked on sound design for a ''Superman'' pinball machine and developed an editor to be used for generating sound effects for other pinball ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |