Adopt a Virtual Pet Today

In this day and age, technology is tightly integrated into people's lifestyles. In fact, virtual pets or digital pets have become a popular and less expensive alternative for real live pets like dogs, cats, and hamsters. Virtual pets can serve as a substitute for the usual warm-blooded human companions. Some people even prefer to look after a virtual pet instead of live pets.

Virtual pets have gained popularity because looking after a real live pet can sometimes be practically impossible due to time commitment. When the pet becomes a part of the family, it automatically becomes the responsibility of the owner. It's not just another house decor that can be left in one corner of the room. Most of the time, a virtual pet can be the better choice because it can give you the same sense of ownership minus the huge responsibility.

There are three basic types of virtual pets: virtual pets played in gadgets, virtual pets adopted from websites and game app virtual pets. Gadget-based virtual pets are sold as a self-contained device such as a palm-sized computer. The gadget has a small screen where the image of the virtual pet appears. It has control buttons that the player uses to perform different tasks like feeding the pet, playing games, or giving the pet a bath. When virtual pets are left unattended, the gadget usually has an alarm that goes off to notify the player.

Players have a lot of options for website-based virtual pets. Many popular websites include virtual pet adoption as a feature of their chat rooms. Other websites provide players with a special web page for the adopted virtual pet. Members of these sites are encouraged to create their own creature, adopt from other members, and breed the various species together.

The last type of virtual pet is the game app-based virtual pet that typically comes in the form of software that runs on desktop machines or video game consoles. Since these have more powerful computing abilities than website-based and gadget-based virtual pets, app-based virtual pets usually have better graphics and interactivity.

More advanced technology makes it more realistic for the player. Modern video games allow players to interact with the virtual pet through body language and facial expressions. Because of this, players can develop short-term and even long-term interactions with virtual pets. Short-term interactions usually happen virtual pets respond to simple actions such as petting the head using the mouse cursor. Long-term interactions are user actions that affect the pets’ growth, behavior and life span. It happens when players begin to recognize the needs of a pet through its behavior. This way, players form a relationship with their virtual pets.

Over time, it wouldn’t be surprising if players begin to become quite attached to their pets. It’s a natural response that only reinforces their sense of responsibility. This is why getting a virtual pet is good practice for people who plan to eventually adopt live pets.