First Dogz, Then Catz, Now This?
A Review of Oddballz
by Ron Enderland
Desktop pets are hot. This caught me completely off guard after I reviewed Dogz, a program that I thought would be nothing more than a little quirk that might interest a few harried office types. Dogz has since gone on to be a legend, wildly popular among a wide range of the population to the tune of 100,000 sold.
It was followed up by Catz (also doing quite well, thank you) and, more recently, Oddballz.
Oddballz is a collection of otherworldly critters that inhabit your desktop in a similar manner to P.F.Magic's other offerings. The difference is in the enhanced features that accompany this particular presentation.
For instance, an instant shareware version of Oddballz can be cranked out on
two floppies by hitting a button. This makes for easy distribution, an
excellent business ploy.
Custom eggs can be downloaded from all over the net (including WorldVillage) to give you more critters.
Ah yes, the critters themselves. They are in various forms, including a
smart-aleck, a Type-A, an introvert, a dumb happy type, etc. In other words,
the creatures are mirrors of the human race. They just happen to like eating
grubz (cutely colored worms that miraculously reappear) and liquid glop,
that's all.
They come with a potpourri of toys to play with, as well as nifty sound
effects. You'll find the sounds much enhanced over the ones accompanying
Dogz. Also, it's a simple matter to switch petz (is that the right
spelling?)
by dropping the current one in the old recycler and grabbing a new egg. As
is
the case with Dogz and Catz, the Oddbalz grow older, and their
personalities
change as a result.
I recommend this offering to harried office types, and also to anyone else of all ages that enjoy good clean fun on the desktop.
Multimedia Cafe Scorecard
| Product: |
Oddballz |
| Company: |
P.F. Magic, Inc.
|
| Cost: |
$19.95 |
System Requirements:
IBM compatible
486 DX, 66 MHz or higher
CD-ROM drive
Windows 3.1 or higher
33 MB hard disk space
8 MB RAM
256 color video
Sound card recommended
Macintosh
68040 33 MHz or higher
System 7 or higher
33 MB disk space
8 MB RAM
256 color video
Breakdown:
Entertainment Value 4
Educational Value 2
Concept 4
Depth 4
Interface 4
Overall Score:
Copyright © 1997 InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.