Babyz Articles
One day, I was doing a search for Babyz Sites and I stumbled upon some articles about Babyz. Some of them are kind of interesting, even though they are old. So I decided to put them up here. They aren't long so please take some time to read them if you like. *smile*
Virtual Babyz bring your desktop to life
By Tamara E. Holmes, USATODAY.com
The creators of the popular virtual Dogz and Catz products are taking real-world simulation one step further with the launch of virtual Babyz.
Mindscape Entertainment, a division of edutainment giant The Learning Company, announced Tuesday that the Babyz software line will be available this fall for $29.99.
Each package will include an online adoption kit, letting users select one or more infants to adopt. The Babyz will then reside on PC users' computer desktops and live in a virtual play house, where their development will depend on their interaction with virtual objects on the desktop and with PC users -- their real-life parents.
Like the company's Dogz and Catz characters, the virtual Babyz will grow over time and will achieve certain milestones, such as the development of teeth and the ability to walk. The Babyz also will learn how to talk -- the program uses voice recognition and includes a microphone for voice development.
"These computer babies truly look and act like real babydolls, and the voice recognition feature makes them seem even more life-like," says Chuck Kroegel, general manager of Mindscape.
More information can be found at the Babyz Web site, at www.babyz.net
Ugh, it's a Virtual Baby
From the makers of Catz and Dogz, it's the desktop Babyz...
April 7, 1999
Do you remember the Catz and Dogz, the virtual pets created by Mindscape? You know, the goofy little cartoon puppies that lived on your desktop, playing with toys and slowly growing over time? Sure you do, they were on a lot of computer game magazine CD-ROMS.
So now Mindscape is taking that same concept into the realm of newborns, offering up the world's first virtual baby. They cry, they crawl, they whine and throw food and crap their pants.
"Babyz introduces a realism that is new to virtual life entertainment," said Chuck Kroegel, general manager of Mindscape. "These computer babies truly look and act like real baby dolls, and the voice recognition feature makes them seem even more life-like."
The babies will even respond to verbal commands, using a microphone and voice recognition technology, learning to recognize their own names and several objects. Mindscape will include the microphone with the game.
Each of the babies will have a unique appearance and comes with a blocks, toys, diapers and other infant paraphernalia, as well as a virtual house complete with a play room, backyard, family room and attic for the baby to play in.
The Babyz will be released this fall, for about $30, which is a lot less than the cost of a real baby.
--JB
RAM-Based Rug Rats
Mindscape Entertainment puts digital babies up for adoption.
James A. Martin, special to PC World
Thursday, April 08, 1999
The Learning Company's Mindscape Entertainment division this week announced it will start selling the "world's first virtual baby" this fall for $29.99--which is a steal, given the high cost of adoption these days.
Babyz is a PC software program that puts a virtual toddler on your desktop computer screen. But these are no ordinary computerized infants. Using voice recognition technology, you can teach a Babyz "child" to recognize its name and the names of household objects. (Mindscape will include a computer microphone in each Babyz package.) You can even teach these RAM-dwelling rug rats the difference between right and wrong and scold them when they misbehave. You can't actually spank your bad digital baby, of course, but in worst-case scenarios, you could threaten it with the Windows recycling bin.
Each Babyz baby will have a unique look and personality, the company says, and will actually show noticeable growth. Children will become bigger, grow hair, sprout teeth, learn to walk, play music, build with blocks, and play with toys. "How well they develop," says a company press release, "will depend on how well they are taught."
Mindscape's Babyz product is designed to complement its other "virtual life entertainment" products such as Dogz and Catz, which the company claims have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide. You'll be able to "adopt" up to two additional Babyz at Mindscape's online adoption center. The kids can play with each other in the Virtual Play House, which consists of seven areas, including a backyard, family room, nursery--and the inevitable changing room.
BabyzHangOut@hotmail.com
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