PF Magic

PF Magic or P.F. 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.

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.

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.

Games

 * Ballz
 * Dogz (1995)
 * Catz (1996)
 * Oddballz (1996)
 * Petz II (1997)
 * Petz 3 (1998)
 * Petz 4 (1999)

Related Projects
PF Magic created Mighty Max, the world's first electronic magic kit.

Trivia

 * The PF in the company name stands for "Pure Fucking."