That "abandon" button and accompanying sound effect were like a nail to the chest for 10 year old me. I never forgot how disgustingly manipulative that screen felt.
Shit, that damn near killed me NOW! As a grown-ass adult! I never had any of the Petz programs so I was not expecting that. Seriously messed up stuff right there.
Man, I loved the Petz series. The biggest thing I remember was holding on to a toy and, when the dog or cat latched on it, just swinging them around. Man, this was a blast from the past!
Holy WOW Clint! I had CATZ back in '98 and my virtual cat was named Plurp. Plurp7 had then later become a screen name that I used for nearly 15 years! Thanks for the trip down memory lane, and I totally miss those little sounds that Plurp used to make while playing and trying to get my attention all the time while working on things and ignoring him, lol... (loved the water spray bottle feature too!)
I really recommend that you check out petz 5. It's basically the last true petz game before Ubisoft took it and syphoned every ounce of creativity and life out of it. It's a fun one to play around with because it has a pretty fun breeding mechanic
The online community for these games were bonkers. People went to message boards to find other Petz to breed with and would adopt out the puppies and kittens, and of course there was the hex editing to create your own 'breedz.' I always enjoyed downloading as many weird species as possible and then making them breed into bizarre monstrosities. I spent a lot of time on these games. This was a great bit of nostalgia.
Recently was playing Dogz on a virtual machine and I found online that you can download a hex that is a freaking pine tree. Sadly couldn't get it to work.
@topotondo It probably required a dual-install with Catz (which turns the game title into just Petz). Or it could have been for Petz 5 and you didn't have that specific version. Also, yes, I know this comment is half a year old (at the time of writing this reply) and the original comment was 2 years (again, at the time of writing.) I still wanna give advice though. :3
I literally GASPED and went YES at the title of this video!!! A lot of the titles on here I don't have nostalgic value for, but I played SO MUCH PETZ!!! People had these geocities kennels and shit and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
Back in 1995/1996 my PC didn't have a soundcard, but once (and literally only once) whilst playing Dogz I distinctly heard my PC bark! I remember shouting to my mum and excitedly telling her to come listen to the computer, but it never did it again. Remains a mystery to this day
Thanks for this video. I had a massive rush of nostalgia of the hours and hours i spent on these games as a kid. Oddballz was so tactile, the sound effects and animations were so slick looking back and became a big part of my childhood. I was transported back to my childhood home and it really made me smile. Great work!
The sound effects of some of the aliens are fantastic! Especially when you did something like change Walret into a chicken or drop them into that chamber of..."terror."
omg! petz 3 4 & 5 were my childhood! I recently found and started playing catz 3 again. it still runs in windows 10 with the backwards compatibility mode + a little fanmade program called PetzA to make the sound work (it also gives you access to some nifty "advanced" game settings, but really, i just downloaded it for the sound patch). I've just been downloading crazy fanmade breedz to play around with in it. i have a lot of weird abominations- my favorite is a chicken that makes low-quality chicken noises and, when he gets too excited, "lays eggs" (read- spawns a bunch of ballz around it that then follow it around weirdly)
These games were the best. The series Petz 3 through 5 allowed you to breed your pets, generating a whole industry online of folks committed to selectively breeding their dogs and cats to look more like other real life breeds. There was also a huge community of hackers called "hexers" who made "hex breeds", basically breaking into the game code to completely rewrite the body shape of the dog or cat to look like a different animal. Usually it was a different breed of cat or dog, but some folks made really fanciful hex breeds. Horses, eagles, dragons, weird technicolor freaks of nature made of vegetables. All interbreedable, so you could generate an army of monstrosities. You could download these for free off custom websites, and there was webrings dedicated to sharing more information in the age before Google. You could also make your own custom backgrounds, adding custom sound effects and boundary boxes. It was all a really great introduction to modding and game design for a young audience.
The Petz series was my childhood, my parents got me the first game after I played the demo and was hooked. I had every dogz and catz game in the series and would love to play them again.
I remember owning the Babyz game as a kid, and I spent way too many hours messing around with the different rooms of the house. It was such a pointless game, but something about the way the 'babyz' reacted with the environment, throwing items around, playing with the RC car, wearing stupidd clothes; it was so much fun!
Dude. Petz 5 (specifically) was the first game I modded, and created mods for. I was like..7 or 8 when I started playing? It was my first experience with forums, too. The game had a whole damn community (and still does) and I was a breeder for it at one point. Damn.
Yes! I'm so happy someone is talking about this series! Petz 3 and Petz 5 were my favorite video games as a little kid, but I don't have a computer that will play them anymore. :(
Petz 3, 4 & 5 can still run on modern Windows systems. The biggest issue is to never install them in Program Files, always run as Admin, lower the screen resolution and run in WinXP compatibility mode. I have no problem running these three sequels on Windows 7 and many petz fans are able to play them on Windows 10 without too much trouble.
You're welcome! If you have any trouble with getting the games to run you can check out the forums for more solutions. RKC Petz Forums / petzforum.proboards.com/ and Whiskerwick / whiskerwick.boards.net/ are a couple good places to start; lots of petz players willing to lend a hand. ;)
I grew up playing Catz and Dogz. This video is awesome. Not too many people talk about the history of this game. Thank you so much LGR! You have became one of my favorite game reviewers as of recent, and it all started with your Sims Collection. Hahaha
I remember these, I had a demo of Catz I think. The massive influx of "desktop companions" was crazy at the time. Thanks for all these memories I'd forgotten.
I had the original Catz as a kid. I remember having the most fun just spraying the poor kitties with water and watching them run around like crazy in fear. It’s the Rollercoaster Tycoon murder dilemma - if you can get away with doing something terrible in a video game, why not do it?
Hey, Clint. Ever done a review of that old Creatures game from 1997, where you have to train this "super advanced" AI of your creatures that supposedly learn with positive and negative reinforcement? I was so excited about that game back in the day. All the promises had me thinking I'd have a living, breathing brain, devouring new information with every click of my mouse. The reality was a lot less fascinating. Basically, the little guy just walked around looking at stuff. It was basically a screensaver, despite all the promises. Anyway, it might make a good oddware episode. My memory could be hazy about how good it actually was.
If you really dug into the series there actually was some pretty advanced stuff going on behind the scenes. Which lead to some hilarious problems later on, like in the second game they tried to make them learn better by increasing the reward and punishment chemicals but they lasted so long it was basically random teaching and they'd forget how to eat. They ended up fixing it by having one of the community members fix it for them, IIRC. I remember in the third game I tinkered up a breed that was basically the tribbles from Star Trek. Turns out you could tweak the aging to make them adolescent almost immediately, and change how young the breeding capabilities turned on... most of the third-party detection tools for 'fastagers' looked for adults too, so I slipped under the radar and was able to infest the world with trillions of norns. Good times.
AHHHHH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I remember fiddling with neurons in the brain, there was a program (I think it was a third party or a fan made one) called Brain in a Vat (or something similar), for Creatures 3, that let you fire some neurons and basically force memories into the brain of the creature. You could also manipulate the DNA (again, with another program), cheating your way to the Super Norn: water breathing, no pain, no need for eat, since you could alter the glucose respiration reaction to produce glucose as a byproduct, effectively having an infinite supply of glucose. Good times
My favourite Oddball was Snowbo. He would sing along christmas tunes when the radio was turned on. Plus he was always laughing and happy while there was nothing to be happy about. Couldn't steal his eyes though.
Dogz was the very first video game I ever played and I completely forgot about it until now!!!!! I'm seriously about to cry! Thank you for reviewing these 😭
Oddballz was one of my most prized games in 4th grade. I even let a friend borrow the CD and install it on his computer because it was one of those rare games that didn't require a disc to be inserted in order to play. Modvark was my favorite one. I also downloaded all the free DLC, and I remember there being something like 9 or 10 pages of egg slots, despite only the first page +1 being used officially.
When I saw the thumbnail it was a total blast from the past! Then I saw you mention Babyz in the video and omg did I love that game too. My 10 year old self didn't realize though that they were all connected but now it makes so much more sense. Would love to see a Babyz video from you!
Aww I miss my catz, dogz and oddballz. You should do 'Babyz' as well because it had a massive community back in 2000-2001. Babyz consumed my teen life for over a year.
The Babyz community (and Petz community) STILL exists even today if you're still interested! It's a bit smaller than it was but it's still going strong and they're more forum-based now but there still are some websites here and there. A few places to get started: RKC Petz Forum: petzforum.proboards.com/ Whiskerwick: whiskerwick.boards.net/ Milk: milkbc.proboards.com/ You can still get the games running on newer systems today without much issues. The forums are very helpful.
Catz was my young childhood...as was petz 2... I couldn't find the game after searching and searching so thank you for giving me a name for this...it was some of my best childhood memories
Petz 3 was my life as a kid! In the later games, it's worth noting that the breeding process was actually rather involved with pretty convincing and complex genetics.
About 10 years before these, I remember finding a pet app called Fishies. You loaded it and it simulated a fish tank. Press the T key, and the fish would change directions like you tapped the glass. F fed them, and pressing the space bar would send either a submarine or a SCUBA diver from one side of the screen to the other. It didn't show up correctly on the Apple green monochrome monitor, so my partner connected an unused portable color TV.
Oh my GOD! These games were my CHILDHOOD! I remembered playing Oddballz, Dogz 4 + 5, and Catz 4 + 5 on my old Windows 95 in my Dad's house when I was a little lass! Man, that real brings me back! 🥰
2:46 Wow, you have the whole Sierra SWAT series in their original boxes. That's really cool! SWAT 2 was my very first PC game. Your channel is awesome! Keep it up.
The shovel-ware-ization of the pets series will forever be one of my saddest moments in gaming. I played 3-5 as a child and loved the game, still do as an adult. But even as a child when my parents bought me the new "petz" game published by ubisoft I could clearly see the differences (and dumbing down) in the series!
Back when I was toddler, my grandfather had a Mac and I have vague (or would you say, fuzzy) memories of playing a game that looked like Dogz. Now that I've seen this video, I believe that was the game I played! Thanks for helping me find this game again, Clint.
I have that original version of Catz. I think it's some kind of a budget re-release because it comes in a jewel case only. I didn't touch it for years and it doesn't work with newer versions of Windows. Until I decided to install Windows 3.1 on dosbox for the hell of it and realized this thing supports that too, so I installed it, made a cat loosely based on my late real life pet, watched it play around for a little and cried inside.
I started playing when Catz and Dogz 3 was out and oh my god this game was my all time favorite next to The Sims (1) of course. I looooved it, and in later games your pets could Run Away and you could get them to have puppies and send them to different locations like the beach, the carnival, the wild west and some other cool places., you could dress them up and get toys...was always SO much fun!! I never played Babyz and didn't even know Oddballz existed but this game definite began my love for simultators :D Thanks for the nostalgia LGR!!
Catz 3 was my favourite game when I was in primary school. Breeding the petz was somewhat difficult and the tiny kittenz were so adorable. Having a unique family line of mixed breeds felt really special.
Ah, I was hoping to relive the Petz and Catz that I got to use on Mac when my family couldn't afford Nintendogs. I recognize those round bodies though!
I started out with Dogz and Catz 3. I bought all of them up until the last original game which was Dogz and Catz 5. The genetics in the game always blew my mind and still do all these years later. A year or so ago I got into the game again and surprisingly enough there is still a huge modding community and tons of people who still play the game. Most of us think Petz 4 was the best one.
I remember getting one of the newer Ubisoft Petz Catz PC game in a fast food meal when I was a kid. (I think it was Wendy's?) I played the crap out of it, I think I still have it somewhere. Honestly the most interesting "toy" I've ever seen in a fast food kid's meal.
I played this shit like crazy back in the day. I randomly just recalled it (it wasn't even really mentioned, was just watching a Ricky gervais gg 2020 reaction....). I was 5 in 95 so... I remember dogz and catz.
I had Petz 5 as a kid, and at some point my sister downloaded a cheat add-on for it that would let you mess with a bunch of things. It allowed for force-breeding petz, skipping the pregnancy process, and changing a pet'z age. This paired with a program that let you create new breeds opened up a whole new world of genetic horrors. I had one cat that was really tiny and green and had no legs, even though both of her parents had legs. I also found that my chinchilla persian would overreact to water, screaming and sprinting around the place before curling up into a ball, which you could absolutely bowl. This behaviour trait was in every single one of their offspring. Also, one time my yorkshire terrier buried my great dane alive in the backyard. 10/10 game
Catz was my very first video game, before playing that only experience I had on the computer was playing that Pinball game that comes already installed but Catz was definitely my first. I remember my mom sitting me on her lap at the computer as I played with my virtual cat & she'd help me out with stuff. I must of been around 5, maybe 6 at the time. I'd get each Catz game as they came out.... well maybe not as they came out, I was a small child in the 90's who didn't know how to keep track of the release date of the games so whenever I went to Costco with my parents, I'd check out the section that had the PC games, you know the section I mean if you went to Costco in the 90's as a child, there were books on one side & a whole bunch of computer games on the other. I'd check the computer game side to see if there was a new Catz game there. Ultimately, I wanted to play Petz so I'd get Catz & my little sister got Dogz & we'd combine them & share a game. We had a rule to not mess with each other's pets but sometimes I'd find mine painted funny colors or wearing weird outfits so I knew she'd mess with them. I think Petz 4 was the one I poured most of my time into because I remember spending so much time in the kitchen, don't know why there of all places, trying to make my petz fall in love like I'd use the love potion & sit there for HOURS waiting. My first successful breed was between a persian & a tabby, it was a blue colored persian which I think is an alternate color you can get for it? My mom had a blue persian named Shadow, I named this cat after him & during this time, I do believe it was the early 2000's when I had my brown tabby named Ruby so I named a tabby in the game after her so weird little me bred two cats who looked like cats I had in real life that were named after the cats I had in real life together. I got this weird blue persian kitten with brown stripes all over it, I thought it was the coolest pet ever.
Haha. Some of those comments are fun. "Of course they should be immortal! My computer would be terminally depressed if my dogz died!!" "What fool wants to kill virtual pets???" "All I have to say is: WHAT ARE YOU? INSANE?"
fun fact: members of PF magic later went on to use the AI technology they'd started developing for these games in the development of facade. yes, THAT facade, the "i think you need to leave" facade. OG petz is just the middle of a must-be-seen-to-be-believed sandwich of bizarre games. also, PF magic officially stands for "pure fucking magic". no, really.
This was a great video! I spent the most time with Catz and Dogz 3 and 4. I didn't know about the Night Trap connection! It's funny to see the first PF Magic game, it's so clear what those shapes will be later. :)
I remember when I was younger I used to play Catz 5 this was after the Ubisoft acquisition and I played it in the early to mid-2000s, and looking back it's amazing how they were able to get so fluent animations in the first one
Me too! Well, I had Catz, friend had Dogz. At some point one of us got Oddballz. That purple caterpillar creature was always my pet. They weren't quite Norns but they were a blast.
I remember having Catz when I was a kid and loving the heck out of it, but I seem to remember there was an option that if you also had Dogz you could combine the two and let them play together. Thinking harder, though, when you mentioned sequels, I think it may have actually been Catz 2 that had that ability, and that what I had. The basic functionality was identical as far as I can tell, with that one exception.
While the cover to dogz and cats did look familiar to me it wasn't until seeing the actual dog on the computer screen did I realize I actually did have this back in the mid 1990s. Before "Giga Pets" became a 90's trend that had me collect the dog, koala, bugs bunny, frog, and Salem from Sabrina the teenage witch as handheld pets there was a dog I took care of that made himself at home on the computer. I do remember that now! This video is giving me some serious feels! As always LGR I love your video!
Ehhhhhhhhhhh................. you just know it'll be a completel downgrade from previous pet expansions.... The whole game has been an entire downgrade of every single other expansion so far.
PrehistoricBiiirds? I've been following it all on the Sims forums, and I can confirm for certain that yes, it's a total downgrade. They didn't include doghouses or any pet beds apart from two flat rugs, but hey, you can make a rainbow dog and put him in a hotdog costume... 😑
Man, I remember getting my first PC and having my dad install Catz. Nothing made me more happy than getting home from school and checking up on my cute fluffy ball of adorableness. Definitely a lot of happy memories from this program.
I had a massive hit of nostalgia about 2 weeks ago and furiously tried to find these games to play them again and now you make a video on them... Cue the twilight zone music! Loved these games then, love them now. Thanks for this video it was awesome :)
Lord, I remember playing the Dogz demo they had on the Games for Windows 95 sampler and not really getting the concept of a "demo" as a tiny tot, so I'd always be disappointed that I couldn't do much with it.
God, I wasted years of my childhood playing a couple of the sequels to these games. Also remember crying when I was about seven or eight because I forgot to use the computer one day, and I thought some of the 20 or so dogz and catz i had adopted would die of starvation. Good times.
I had so much fun with Oddballz, thanks for the nostalgic trip. Loved Dogz too. It was weird when I went to Target yesterday and there were Tamagotchis lol.
I had great memories of downloading lots of custom Petz that people made and putting them into the game, then having them breed. The results were...interesting.
Man I played the crap out of Petz 5. I remember my parents buying it for me at a scholastic book fair at my elementary school. I might reinstall it to have some nostalgia
I was crazy about these games as a kid, and still play with them once in awhile. It introduced me to the world of modding. There were fan websites all over the place with all kinds of crazy things to download. New breeds, playrooms, toys, and all kinds of fun stuff. Carolyn's creations is still around the last time I checked, if you want a blast from the past. Then there were all the breeders. Some of the craziest people I've ever come across, even to this day. Ever fill out a detailed form for a virtual pet? I did so many years ago. The petz shows made people breed the cutest pet so they could win a little MSpaint style badge to stick on a website. I never got into that but it was pretty competitive.
LT9TSilver CAROLYNS CREATIONS good lord that is a blast from the past! I was obsessed with mods for Dogz 2 and Catz 2. This video is so nostalgic. Haven’t touched the game in at least 10 years. Maybe I should download it for old times sake.
Carolyn's Creations is definitely still around though it's not updated anymore, though we petz fans still regard it as a cherished resource. homebody.eu/carolyn/ And the Petz Community is STILL active today, though a little smaller than we used to be, haha. There are still some active websites but you'll find most of the community hanging out in forums now.
WE STILL PLAY THIS!! Petz 4 specifically. Please do the Creatures series someday! We still play that as well! My girlfriend has set up a computer to run nothing but Creatures wolfing runs
I had Petz 5 (Dogz & Catz) as a kid and man it was one of my favorite PC games. I still have it to this day actually. Different animals of course but it's crazy to play those games nowadays. Really fun.
I used to love Oddballz. I remember buying it with my parents at Costco when I was 5 or 6 years old. The "free DLC" you mention, where you had to register your copy, was the first interaction my family had with the internet. Thanks for the video, Clint, and for the nostalgia, too!
Still have my petz I hexed years ago, I remember using Sherlock Software's series of hacking programs to make custom breedz, toyz and clothez. Nowadays I just force really strange custom petz that I've accumulated to breed using PetzA.. what have I become?
AH! I remember asking you a few years ago if you were going to review these! Sorta wish you were able to get into the crazy hex editing people did to the Dogz/Catz games. People made crazy things and the breeding got insane. So fun.
I didn't realise this was from the same franchise as the current Petz that we have now. So crazy how far it came from a spherical mass of 3D illusion on your chunky desktop to a handful of completely different realistic animals to play with on your pocket sized device. I hope you talk about the other parts of this franchise a little more, its so interesting :)
Have you ever taken a look at the Creatures series? There's no video on it at least. It's a much more in-depth attempt at the virtual animals idea, complete with pretty sophisticated genetic, behavioural and learning simulations.
Holy shit PLEASE do a video on Babyz I always try to explain that game to people and nobody remembers it. I got it at Marshall's sale bin in the late 90s as a kid... Sometimes I forget it was a real thing
Very fond memories of these 3 early games. My sister arguably played them more, which was also cute. Then the two of us introduced our new step-sister to them, and she got obsessed with Catz. She actually learned how to edit and create her own toys and other objects, and was active in a community who created and shared similar items. I wouldn't be surprised if she participated in that poll.
That "abandon" button and accompanying sound effect were like a nail to the chest for 10 year old me. I never forgot how disgustingly manipulative that screen felt.
The person responsible for writing/programming that screen… history's greatest monster
Shit, that damn near killed me NOW! As a grown-ass adult! I never had any of the Petz programs so I was not expecting that. Seriously messed up stuff right there.
I'm an adult who grew up with the DS Petz iterations and it still hurt my soul.
@@Solaceon My condolences. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.
I think I felt a piece of my soul get punched and ripped out during that part.
I love when I open my laptop in the library and it yells "LET'S TALK ABOUT BALLS"
did you get into trouble?
Man, I loved the Petz series. The biggest thing I remember was holding on to a toy and, when the dog or cat latched on it, just swinging them around. Man, this was a blast from the past!
yes. that was hilarious
Pretty sure that was Nintendogs? Maybe you could do it in pets too though!
Peta wants to know your location!
Oh, but Peta! I haven't even shown you what this ray gun does to the Oddballz yet!
Holy WOW Clint! I had CATZ back in '98 and my virtual cat was named Plurp. Plurp7 had then later become a screen name that I used for nearly 15 years!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane, and I totally miss those little sounds that Plurp used to make while playing and trying to get my attention all the time while working on things and ignoring him, lol... (loved the water spray bottle feature too!)
plurp7 - The impact of Plurp!
Love the comments on the PF Magic poll, e.g. "It's bad enough the real turtle died last month, what a nightmare."
Oh man. Read the seventh one down. All Caps lock, and a nightmare of grammar.
I can't get the poll to work? It just shows me the submission form but it doesn't even look like a proper website.
PF Magic was my first foray into modding
"There is no point in having it die. If I want death I'll play Quake for a few hours."
I really recommend that you check out petz 5. It's basically the last true petz game before Ubisoft took it and syphoned every ounce of creativity and life out of it. It's a fun one to play around with because it has a pretty fun breeding mechanic
The online community for these games were bonkers. People went to message boards to find other Petz to breed with and would adopt out the puppies and kittens, and of course there was the hex editing to create your own 'breedz.' I always enjoyed downloading as many weird species as possible and then making them breed into bizarre monstrosities.
I spent a lot of time on these games. This was a great bit of nostalgia.
The petz community STILL exists! You should come by and check it out. ^_^
Recently was playing Dogz on a virtual machine and I found online that you can download a hex that is a freaking pine tree. Sadly couldn't get it to work.
@topotondo It probably required a dual-install with Catz (which turns the game title into just Petz). Or it could have been for Petz 5 and you didn't have that specific version.
Also, yes, I know this comment is half a year old (at the time of writing this reply) and the original comment was 2 years (again, at the time of writing.)
I still wanna give advice though. :3
Okay, now I must figure out how to hex-edit a Pikachu into Petz 5! Move aside, Spore!
Sam
I literally GASPED and went YES at the title of this video!!! A lot of the titles on here I don't have nostalgic value for, but I played SO MUCH PETZ!!! People had these geocities kennels and shit and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
Back in 1995/1996 my PC didn't have a soundcard, but once (and literally only once) whilst playing Dogz I distinctly heard my PC bark! I remember shouting to my mum and excitedly telling her to come listen to the computer, but it never did it again. Remains a mystery to this day
Thanks for this video. I had a massive rush of nostalgia of the hours and hours i spent on these games as a kid. Oddballz was so tactile, the sound effects and animations were so slick looking back and became a big part of my childhood. I was transported back to my childhood home and it really made me smile. Great work!
The sound effects of some of the aliens are fantastic! Especially when you did something like change Walret into a chicken or drop them into that chamber of..."terror."
omg! petz 3 4 & 5 were my childhood! I recently found and started playing catz 3 again. it still runs in windows 10 with the backwards compatibility mode + a little fanmade program called PetzA to make the sound work (it also gives you access to some nifty "advanced" game settings, but really, i just downloaded it for the sound patch). I've just been downloading crazy fanmade breedz to play around with in it. i have a lot of weird abominations- my favorite is a chicken that makes low-quality chicken noises and, when he gets too excited, "lays eggs" (read- spawns a bunch of ballz around it that then follow it around weirdly)
Man this sounds so fun
petzA also works for babyz which had loads of cool AI in it, i mean the first babyz of course
I am saddened this opening didn’t say “C:\> Lazy Game Reviewz”
that would cause an error
"Bad command or file name"
pezhead53 It'll leak on the wallpaper!
A shame really, but I guess it's more work than necessary.
+hhog Ahhh the good old days of dos.
Shelly O. is now 30.
I hope she's now helping people find a touch of reality.
These games were the best. The series Petz 3 through 5 allowed you to breed your pets, generating a whole industry online of folks committed to selectively breeding their dogs and cats to look more like other real life breeds. There was also a huge community of hackers called "hexers" who made "hex breeds", basically breaking into the game code to completely rewrite the body shape of the dog or cat to look like a different animal. Usually it was a different breed of cat or dog, but some folks made really fanciful hex breeds. Horses, eagles, dragons, weird technicolor freaks of nature made of vegetables. All interbreedable, so you could generate an army of monstrosities. You could download these for free off custom websites, and there was webrings dedicated to sharing more information in the age before Google. You could also make your own custom backgrounds, adding custom sound effects and boundary boxes. It was all a really great introduction to modding and game design for a young audience.
Yeah, and that community is still very much alive and thriving today. It's awesome.
I genuinely think that circle sprite effect is really effective. Looks great!
The Petz series was my childhood, my parents got me the first game after I played the demo and was hooked. I had every dogz and catz game in the series and would love to play them again.
I remember owning the Babyz game as a kid, and I spent way too many hours messing around with the different rooms of the house. It was such a pointless game, but something about the way the 'babyz' reacted with the environment, throwing items around, playing with the RC car, wearing stupidd clothes; it was so much fun!
Dude. Petz 5 (specifically) was the first game I modded, and created mods for. I was like..7 or 8 when I started playing? It was my first experience with forums, too. The game had a whole damn community (and still does) and I was a breeder for it at one point. Damn.
Yes! I'm so happy someone is talking about this series! Petz 3 and Petz 5 were my favorite video games as a little kid, but I don't have a computer that will play them anymore. :(
Petz 3, 4 & 5 can still run on modern Windows systems. The biggest issue is to never install them in Program Files, always run as Admin, lower the screen resolution and run in WinXP compatibility mode. I have no problem running these three sequels on Windows 7 and many petz fans are able to play them on Windows 10 without too much trouble.
Really?! Thanks for the suggestion!
You're welcome! If you have any trouble with getting the games to run you can check out the forums for more solutions. RKC Petz Forums / petzforum.proboards.com/ and Whiskerwick / whiskerwick.boards.net/ are a couple good places to start; lots of petz players willing to lend a hand. ;)
I grew up playing Catz and Dogz. This video is awesome. Not too many people talk about the history of this game. Thank you so much LGR! You have became one of my favorite game reviewers as of recent, and it all started with your Sims Collection. Hahaha
I remember these, I had a demo of Catz I think. The massive influx of "desktop companions" was crazy at the time. Thanks for all these memories I'd forgotten.
I had the original Catz as a kid. I remember having the most fun just spraying the poor kitties with water and watching them run around like crazy in fear. It’s the Rollercoaster Tycoon murder dilemma - if you can get away with doing something terrible in a video game, why not do it?
Hey, Clint. Ever done a review of that old Creatures game from 1997, where you have to train this "super advanced" AI of your creatures that supposedly learn with positive and negative reinforcement? I was so excited about that game back in the day. All the promises had me thinking I'd have a living, breathing brain, devouring new information with every click of my mouse. The reality was a lot less fascinating. Basically, the little guy just walked around looking at stuff. It was basically a screensaver, despite all the promises.
Anyway, it might make a good oddware episode. My memory could be hazy about how good it actually was.
It's one I plan to cover!
If you really dug into the series there actually was some pretty advanced stuff going on behind the scenes. Which lead to some hilarious problems later on, like in the second game they tried to make them learn better by increasing the reward and punishment chemicals but they lasted so long it was basically random teaching and they'd forget how to eat. They ended up fixing it by having one of the community members fix it for them, IIRC.
I remember in the third game I tinkered up a breed that was basically the tribbles from Star Trek. Turns out you could tweak the aging to make them adolescent almost immediately, and change how young the breeding capabilities turned on... most of the third-party detection tools for 'fastagers' looked for adults too, so I slipped under the radar and was able to infest the world with trillions of norns. Good times.
AHHHHH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I remember fiddling with neurons in the brain, there was a program (I think it was a third party or a fan made one) called Brain in a Vat (or something similar), for Creatures 3, that let you fire some neurons and basically force memories into the brain of the creature.
You could also manipulate the DNA (again, with another program), cheating your way to the Super Norn: water breathing, no pain, no need for eat, since you could alter the glucose respiration reaction to produce glucose as a byproduct, effectively having an infinite supply of glucose. Good times
Ugh, my friend had that game when we were kids. I was INSANELY jealous.
So creepy when viewers use youtubers real name when they don't usually mention it...
My favourite Oddball was Snowbo. He would sing along christmas tunes when the radio was turned on. Plus he was always laughing and happy while there was nothing to be happy about. Couldn't steal his eyes though.
th-cam.com/video/opklG4Q-NpA/w-d-xo.htmlm53s
Hey your channel is great I subbed
The old one or my new current one? My old channel doesn't get new content.
Dosgamert both XD
You're awesome, thnx!
Dogz was the very first video game I ever played and I completely forgot about it until now!!!!! I'm seriously about to cry! Thank you for reviewing these 😭
Oddballz was one of my most prized games in 4th grade. I even let a friend borrow the CD and install it on his computer because it was one of those rare games that didn't require a disc to be inserted in order to play. Modvark was my favorite one. I also downloaded all the free DLC, and I remember there being something like 9 or 10 pages of egg slots, despite only the first page +1 being used officially.
If I had a nickel for every time my Tamagotchi pooped everywhere and then died... :P
Sounds like a very realistic simulation of death, they just put the process backwards.
Just like the 10 year old girl said, everyone needs a touch of reality.
Lmfao
I miss my Tanagotchi
Tamagotchi sucked compared to the petz series
When I saw the thumbnail it was a total blast from the past! Then I saw you mention Babyz in the video and omg did I love that game too. My 10 year old self didn't realize though that they were all connected but now it makes so much more sense. Would love to see a Babyz video from you!
Aww I miss my catz, dogz and oddballz. You should do 'Babyz' as well because it had a massive community back in 2000-2001. Babyz consumed my teen life for over a year.
Adrianna H. Saaaame. I don't know why though bc it's kinda creepy
Omg me too
YUP same. Babyz was so many preteen/teen girls' entry into modding haha.
The Babyz community (and Petz community) STILL exists even today if you're still interested! It's a bit smaller than it was but it's still going strong and they're more forum-based now but there still are some websites here and there.
A few places to get started:
RKC Petz Forum: petzforum.proboards.com/
Whiskerwick: whiskerwick.boards.net/
Milk: milkbc.proboards.com/
You can still get the games running on newer systems today without much issues. The forums are very helpful.
@drkasdawn This comment warms my heart! It's so great seeing such old games still holding on tight!
Catz was my young childhood...as was petz 2... I couldn't find the game after searching and searching so thank you for giving me a name for this...it was some of my best childhood memories
Petz 3 was my life as a kid! In the later games, it's worth noting that the breeding process was actually rather involved with pretty convincing and complex genetics.
About 10 years before these, I remember finding a pet app called Fishies. You loaded it and it simulated a fish tank. Press the T key, and the fish would change directions like you tapped the glass. F fed them, and pressing the space bar would send either a submarine or a SCUBA diver from one side of the screen to the other. It didn't show up correctly on the Apple green monochrome monitor, so my partner connected an unused portable color TV.
I played Catz 4 as a kid, I loved it. ^_^
I've had the Dogz game for quite a while back in my childhood. Loved to mess around with it whenever I could.
Oh my GOD! These games were my CHILDHOOD! I remembered playing Oddballz, Dogz 4 + 5, and Catz 4 + 5 on my old Windows 95 in my Dad's house when I was a little lass! Man, that real brings me back! 🥰
2:46 Wow, you have the whole Sierra SWAT series in their original boxes. That's really cool! SWAT 2 was my very first PC game.
Your channel is awesome! Keep it up.
The shovel-ware-ization of the pets series will forever be one of my saddest moments in gaming. I played 3-5 as a child and loved the game, still do as an adult. But even as a child when my parents bought me the new "petz" game published by ubisoft I could clearly see the differences (and dumbing down) in the series!
Back when I was toddler, my grandfather had a Mac and I have vague (or would you say, fuzzy) memories of playing a game that looked like Dogz. Now that I've seen this video, I believe that was the game I played! Thanks for helping me find this game again, Clint.
I have that original version of Catz. I think it's some kind of a budget re-release because it comes in a jewel case only. I didn't touch it for years and it doesn't work with newer versions of Windows.
Until I decided to install Windows 3.1 on dosbox for the hell of it and realized this thing supports that too, so I installed it, made a cat loosely based on my late real life pet, watched it play around for a little and cried inside.
A better love story than Twilight.
THANK YOU for that burst of nostalgia. Catz has to have been one of my earliest computer game experiences. Great video as always!!
They may not have been able to die, but in the sequels they could run away, which was equally as heart-breaking.
I started playing when Catz and Dogz 3 was out and oh my god this game was my all time favorite next to The Sims (1) of course. I looooved it, and in later games your pets could Run Away and you could get them to have puppies and send them to different locations like the beach, the carnival, the wild west and some other cool places., you could dress them up and get toys...was always SO much fun!! I never played Babyz and didn't even know Oddballz existed but this game definite began my love for simultators :D Thanks for the nostalgia LGR!!
MaksPlayground YES remember you could charm the snake and it would do a dance! So funng
YES I was all about The Sims and Petz franchise!! I got Petz 4 first but then 3 and 5 and they were so so so good ❤️❤️
The Petz Community is still alive and kicking! The online community around these games shaped my childhood.
Catz 3 was my favourite game when I was in primary school. Breeding the petz was somewhat difficult and the tiny kittenz were so adorable. Having a unique family line of mixed breeds felt really special.
Thank god you made this video. I needed to revisit this huge piece of my childhood.
I remember grabbing a demo of Dogz as I couldn't afford to buy a copy. It played with that demo so much
Ah, I was hoping to relive the Petz and Catz that I got to use on Mac when my family couldn't afford Nintendogs. I recognize those round bodies though!
I hope you take a look at creatures long as we're looking at virtual pets.
I started out with Dogz and Catz 3. I bought all of them up until the last original game which was Dogz and Catz 5. The genetics in the game always blew my mind and still do all these years later. A year or so ago I got into the game again and surprisingly enough there is still a huge modding community and tons of people who still play the game. Most of us think Petz 4 was the best one.
I remember being so addicted to Dogz Catz and Oddballz. Thank you so much for reviewing these! It made my day :D
I remember getting one of the newer Ubisoft Petz Catz PC game in a fast food meal when I was a kid. (I think it was Wendy's?)
I played the crap out of it, I think I still have it somewhere. Honestly the most interesting "toy" I've ever seen in a fast food kid's meal.
software from fast food?
Burger King also made games for the Xbox.
What!!! Sneak King is the best game on Xbox
I got that too. I think it was Wendy's.
I played this shit like crazy back in the day. I randomly just recalled it (it wasn't even really mentioned, was just watching a Ricky gervais gg 2020 reaction....). I was 5 in 95 so... I remember dogz and catz.
I had Petz 5 as a kid, and at some point my sister downloaded a cheat add-on for it that would let you mess with a bunch of things. It allowed for force-breeding petz, skipping the pregnancy process, and changing a pet'z age. This paired with a program that let you create new breeds opened up a whole new world of genetic horrors. I had one cat that was really tiny and green and had no legs, even though both of her parents had legs.
I also found that my chinchilla persian would overreact to water, screaming and sprinting around the place before curling up into a ball, which you could absolutely bowl. This behaviour trait was in every single one of their offspring.
Also, one time my yorkshire terrier buried my great dane alive in the backyard.
10/10 game
Catz was my very first video game, before playing that only experience I had on the computer was playing that Pinball game that comes already installed but Catz was definitely my first. I remember my mom sitting me on her lap at the computer as I played with my virtual cat & she'd help me out with stuff. I must of been around 5, maybe 6 at the time. I'd get each Catz game as they came out.... well maybe not as they came out, I was a small child in the 90's who didn't know how to keep track of the release date of the games so whenever I went to Costco with my parents, I'd check out the section that had the PC games, you know the section I mean if you went to Costco in the 90's as a child, there were books on one side & a whole bunch of computer games on the other. I'd check the computer game side to see if there was a new Catz game there. Ultimately, I wanted to play Petz so I'd get Catz & my little sister got Dogz & we'd combine them & share a game. We had a rule to not mess with each other's pets but sometimes I'd find mine painted funny colors or wearing weird outfits so I knew she'd mess with them. I think Petz 4 was the one I poured most of my time into because I remember spending so much time in the kitchen, don't know why there of all places, trying to make my petz fall in love like I'd use the love potion & sit there for HOURS waiting. My first successful breed was between a persian & a tabby, it was a blue colored persian which I think is an alternate color you can get for it? My mom had a blue persian named Shadow, I named this cat after him & during this time, I do believe it was the early 2000's when I had my brown tabby named Ruby so I named a tabby in the game after her so weird little me bred two cats who looked like cats I had in real life that were named after the cats I had in real life together. I got this weird blue persian kitten with brown stripes all over it, I thought it was the coolest pet ever.
Haha. Some of those comments are fun.
"Of course they should be immortal! My computer would be terminally depressed if my dogz died!!"
"What fool wants to kill virtual pets???"
"All I have to say is: WHAT ARE YOU? INSANE?"
I had every single Dogz and Catz game for the PC. Loved it so much! So nostalgic
fun fact: members of PF magic later went on to use the AI technology they'd started developing for these games in the development of facade. yes, THAT facade, the "i think you need to leave" facade. OG petz is just the middle of a must-be-seen-to-be-believed sandwich of bizarre games. also, PF magic officially stands for "pure fucking magic". no, really.
Facade was just a dumb flash game though...
@@BunnaySango it's a pretty goofy game, but a lot of work actually went into the AI
WHAT!! I had no idea, that's so cool! I didn't know any of that.
This was a great video! I spent the most time with Catz and Dogz 3 and 4.
I didn't know about the Night Trap connection! It's funny to see the first PF Magic game, it's so clear what those shapes will be later. :)
The hours I spent on these games was amazing. Loved them as a kid.
I remember when I was younger I used to play Catz 5 this was after the Ubisoft acquisition and I played it in the early to mid-2000s, and looking back it's amazing how they were able to get so fluent animations in the first one
I HAD THIS!
I feel sorry for you ;)
Same, I completely forgot I had Catz growing up. So much nostalgia right here.
i still have this
I also had Oddballz... don't say that to people without context.
Me too! Well, I had Catz, friend had Dogz. At some point one of us got Oddballz. That purple caterpillar creature was always my pet. They weren't quite Norns but they were a blast.
I remember having Catz when I was a kid and loving the heck out of it, but I seem to remember there was an option that if you also had Dogz you could combine the two and let them play together. Thinking harder, though, when you mentioned sequels, I think it may have actually been Catz 2 that had that ability, and that what I had. The basic functionality was identical as far as I can tell, with that one exception.
Is there still a Game like that? A Desktop App i can basically run in the background most of the time?
Yah, I actually have Catz and Dogz 5 as CDs. It actually runs fine on Windows 10...
While the cover to dogz and cats did look familiar to me it wasn't until seeing the actual dog on the computer screen did I realize I actually did have this back in the mid 1990s. Before "Giga Pets" became a 90's trend that had me collect the dog, koala, bugs bunny, frog, and Salem from Sabrina the teenage witch as handheld pets there was a dog I took care of that made himself at home on the computer. I do remember that now! This video is giving me some serious feels! As always LGR I love your video!
Who needs sims 4 cats and dogs!
I can say with full honesty that Petz (mostly in Petz 5) are more interesting and complex than the ones in Sims 4.
I don't need the Sims 4, I need a decent screensaver !
catz and dogz*
Ehhhhhhhhhhh................. you just know it'll be a completel downgrade from previous pet expansions.... The whole game has been an entire downgrade of every single other expansion so far.
PrehistoricBiiirds? I've been following it all on the Sims forums, and I can confirm for certain that yes, it's a total downgrade. They didn't include doghouses or any pet beds apart from two flat rugs, but hey, you can make a rainbow dog and put him in a hotdog costume... 😑
Nostalgia hit hard with this video. I fondly remember playing Oddballz back in the day! Great video.
Remember Creatures from Cyberlife Technology ?
Man, I remember getting my first PC and having my dad install Catz. Nothing made me more happy than getting home from school and checking up on my cute fluffy ball of adorableness. Definitely a lot of happy memories from this program.
This video has inspired me to reinstall Dogz 5. My first Video Game
I had a massive hit of nostalgia about 2 weeks ago and furiously tried to find these games to play them again and now you make a video on them... Cue the twilight zone music! Loved these games then, love them now. Thanks for this video it was awesome :)
Lord, I remember playing the Dogz demo they had on the Games for Windows 95 sampler and not really getting the concept of a "demo" as a tiny tot, so I'd always be disappointed that I couldn't do much with it.
So many memories. I miss playing these.
God, I wasted years of my childhood playing a couple of the sequels to these games. Also remember crying when I was about seven or eight because I forgot to use the computer one day, and I thought some of the 20 or so dogz and catz i had adopted would die of starvation. Good times.
I had so much fun with Oddballz, thanks for the nostalgic trip. Loved Dogz too. It was weird when I went to Target yesterday and there were Tamagotchis lol.
This and Creatures were both fun
I had great memories of downloading lots of custom Petz that people made and putting them into the game, then having them breed. The results were...interesting.
They should make Dogz an app with the original 2D designs and features 🙏
THIS GAME
Man I played the crap out of Petz 5. I remember my parents buying it for me at a scholastic book fair at my elementary school. I might reinstall it to have some nostalgia
I was crazy about these games as a kid, and still play with them once in awhile. It introduced me to the world of modding. There were fan websites all over the place with all kinds of crazy things to download. New breeds, playrooms, toys, and all kinds of fun stuff. Carolyn's creations is still around the last time I checked, if you want a blast from the past.
Then there were all the breeders. Some of the craziest people I've ever come across, even to this day. Ever fill out a detailed form for a virtual pet? I did so many years ago. The petz shows made people breed the cutest pet so they could win a little MSpaint style badge to stick on a website. I never got into that but it was pretty competitive.
LT9TSilver CAROLYNS CREATIONS good lord that is a blast from the past! I was obsessed with mods for Dogz 2 and Catz 2. This video is so nostalgic. Haven’t touched the game in at least 10 years. Maybe I should download it for old times sake.
Carolyn's Creations is definitely still around though it's not updated anymore, though we petz fans still regard it as a cherished resource. homebody.eu/carolyn/
And the Petz Community is STILL active today, though a little smaller than we used to be, haha. There are still some active websites but you'll find most of the community hanging out in forums now.
WE STILL PLAY THIS!! Petz 4 specifically. Please do the Creatures series someday! We still play that as well! My girlfriend has set up a computer to run nothing but Creatures wolfing runs
I had Petz 5 (Dogz & Catz) as a kid and man it was one of my favorite PC games. I still have it to this day actually. Different animals of course but it's crazy to play those games nowadays. Really fun.
Did the PF stand for "pure fucking" Magic? Because that seems appropriate.
Apparently yes :) But only behind the scenes, of course.
Some of us definitely think so.
The child friendly alternative is poop fart
Omg my heart! I remember these games! I used to have both catz and dogz. Ohhh the memories of staying up late to play with these little guys
"I don't know" - literally my outlook on life
Oh man, I remember these from when I was a kid.
Thanks for the Nostalgia and thanks for the Video, Clint! :)
4:15 Thanks doc
Sixpounder daily dose
Came here to post this.
daily doze
You know what it ia
I used to love Oddballz. I remember buying it with my parents at Costco when I was 5 or 6 years old. The "free DLC" you mention, where you had to register your copy, was the first interaction my family had with the internet.
Thanks for the video, Clint, and for the nostalgia, too!
Still have my petz I hexed years ago, I remember using Sherlock Software's series of hacking programs to make custom breedz, toyz and clothez. Nowadays I just force really strange custom petz that I've accumulated to breed using PetzA.. what have I become?
hexed as in BinHexed or cracked?
AH! I remember asking you a few years ago if you were going to review these! Sorta wish you were able to get into the crazy hex editing people did to the Dogz/Catz games. People made crazy things and the breeding got insane. So fun.
Wow never would’ve guessed that those generic petz games came from an old computer program.
I didn't realise this was from the same franchise as the current Petz that we have now. So crazy how far it came from a spherical mass of 3D illusion on your chunky desktop to a handful of completely different realistic animals to play with on your pocket sized device. I hope you talk about the other parts of this franchise a little more, its so interesting :)
Maaan Catz, Dogz and their iterations on and on was my shit as a kid
Oh man I used to play Oddballz constantly on my old PowerMac as a kid. I loved it so much! Never thought I'd see you do a video on it.
Have you ever taken a look at the Creatures series? There's no video on it at least. It's a much more in-depth attempt at the virtual animals idea, complete with pretty sophisticated genetic, behavioural and learning simulations.
I had completely forgotten about these games, thank you for the blast from the past!
Holy shit PLEASE do a video on Babyz I always try to explain that game to people and nobody remembers it. I got it at Marshall's sale bin in the late 90s as a kid... Sometimes I forget it was a real thing
Very fond memories of these 3 early games. My sister arguably played them more, which was also cute.
Then the two of us introduced our new step-sister to them, and she got obsessed with Catz. She actually learned how to edit and create her own toys and other objects, and was active in a community who created and shared similar items. I wouldn't be surprised if she participated in that poll.
I had catz on my 95 PC lol played with that thing all the time instead of homework hahaha