Virtual pets are not just considered to be good companions for growing children, but also for adults. These electronic pets, or interactive desktop buddies as they are often referred to as, have become quite popular in the cyberspace today.
Lack of time in this busy world has tempted many people to explore the realms of virtual world – a parallel world largely based on computer technology. Much more flexible than the real life that we live in, virtual life offers a wide scope for defining oneself in the parallel world on the Internet. In fact, virtual identity has lately become a medium of expressing oneself more freely and escaping the social constraints implemented by the allegedly self-righteous society.
In this new world, a person gets to do everything that he would do in his real life but on a computer. Taking that into consideration, it isn’t quite surprising that social networking profiles have become virtual identities of people nowadays. From playing games to social interaction, this virtual world has it all. As in case of real world, new trends crop up in computer simulated world every once in a while, and adoption of virtual pets is just one of the several recent trends which have taken the cyberspace by storm.
Virtual Desktop Pets: An Overview
Virtual pets are personal pets which can be owned on your desktop computer or laptop. If, due to some or the other circumstances, you are not able to own a pet in real life, then owning a desktop pet of your own is undoubtedly your best bet. These e-pets don’t occupy much space in your house, nor do they require real food or caring. You are also saved from the tedious task of taking your pet for a walk before you are off to sleep every day.
More importantly, these pets can be good companions for your child and yourself – much safer than the real pets. Simply put, one doesn’t have to spend a lot of time or energy on these desktop pets, because most of the things are executed by computer commands using the keyboard and the mouse.
Virtual pets, range from dogs and cats to horses and snakes, are basically created by software programs. Advanced software technology is used to develop various animated cyber animals which resemble their real life counterparts in context of color, breed as well as behavior. The 2D or 3D cyber animals which you get to adopt as a pet are designed by professional artists to make them appear as close to real as possible. Their activities, which give them the feel of real pets, are executed by basic commands – which means you can make them walk, run or do any other thing which you would expect from your pet in the real world. And though they require regular feeding, playing and sufficient care, all this can be done without even having to get up from your desktop PC.
How Can You Adopt a Virtual Pet?
Virtual pets can be downloaded on your computer from various virtual pet download websites in the cyberspace. The best part of this is that you don’t need to be online to interact with these computer pets once you have downloaded them onto your desktop.
The process of downloading desktop pets onto your PC is as easy as downloading music onto it. While some websites require registration and a stipulated fee, others offer this facility without the hassles of registration and free of cost. Depending on how serious you are with this newfound interest of yours, you can opt for one of these two options available.
There also exist some websites which provide the option of adopting interactive pets online itself, without having to download them onto your desktop. In this case though, registration is mandatory. The norms of these websites differ from one website to another, with some making it mandatory for the user to visit the website and interact with the pet on a regular basis to make sure that ‘it’ remains healthy. Once adopted, the owner can name his pet, play with it and take its responsibility. Even some social networking websites provide such pet adoption facility. Irrespective of which of these services you opt for, you get to adopt a pet and treat it as you would treat a real pet, including feeding, training and seeing it grow.
While opponents of this trend question its ethics, the proponents argue that it helps the child become responsible as he takes care of his own pet. Even though they can’t give you the feel of a real pet, these desktop pets can be used for educational purpose as well as to give your child company. Taking these positives into consideration, you can go ahead and adopt a virtual pet for your child so that he gets a cute and interactive companion to play with!