is a Japanese video game series primarily developed by BeXide and published by

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

. The first game was released for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

in 1999. In the games, players talk to, feed, photograph, and play minigames with characters. Most of the games have only seen release in Japan, where Sony has also used the series character Toro as a mascot for the PlayStation brand.

History

''Doko Demo Issyo'' is a long-running series in Japan, where it has seen commercial success. The games feature "pokepi" (short for "pocket people"), characters which the player interacts with through a variety of

virtual pet 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, or as an alternative to a real pet. Digital pets have no conc ...

mechanics and

minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements and is often smaller or more simplistic than th ...

s (e.g. talking, feeding, sleeping, photography). A major reocurring feature is to teach the pokepi words to memorize. Most games feature some type of networking features to communicate with other players by sharing "business cards" or other data. The first game in the series, ''Doko Demo Issyo'', was released on 22 July 1999 for the PlayStation. It was possible to put transfer pokepi onto the

PocketStation The PocketStation is a memory card peripheral by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation home video game console. It was released in Japan in 1999. The device acted not only as a memory card but was interactive itself via a small monochrom ...

and interact with them on the device. The game sold over 1.1 million copies. Sony released two bonus discs that added more gameplay: ''Koneko mo Issyo'' featured younger versions of the pokepi, and ''Modo mo Issyo'' had cell phone connectivity features. The series has touched on a variety of genres. On

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

, ''Watashina Ehon'' allows the player to make picture books, and ''Toro to Nagareboshi'' is more akin to an adventure game. On

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

, ''Rettsu Gakkou!'' has the player learning trivia and playing minigames. By using the PSP's network functions, the player could download new lessons distributed every two weeks. On PlayStation Vita, ''Toro's Friend Network'' creates avatars and a visualization of the player's PlayStation Network friends, allowing them to interact with the avatars in different 3D environments.

Toro

One of the game's characters, Toro Inoue, became a mascot for the PlayStation brand. ''

Gamesindustry.biz Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...

'' wrote in 2004 that Toro was "firmly established as a cultural icon in the Far East" as PlayStation's mascot. ''

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine ''Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine'' (often abbreviated to ''OPM'') was a monthly video game magazine published by Ziff Davis Media. It was a sister publication of ''Electronic Gaming Monthly''. The magazine focused exclusively on PlayStation ...

'' wrote in 2002 that Toro was used heavily as a mascot in Japan, but that the American Sony branch did not want a single mascot to represent the brand. The character was used in a variety of marketing materials in Japan, including billboards and television commercials. On several occasions, Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Japan) and series developer BeXide have held public "birthday parties" for Toro featuring food, charities, and raffles.

Games

Notes

References

External links

* (archived 2004) * (archived 2010) * {{Sony franchises Sony Interactive Entertainment franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1999 Video games about cats Virtual pet video games Sony Interactive Entertainment games Japan Studio games