Jonathan Shambroom
A working page for two chapters of internet history.
Jonathan was Director of Products at PF.Magic — the San Francisco studio that more or less invented the virtual pet — then went on to lead product at When.com, one of the first web calendars, which AOL acquired in 1999.
Two tabs below. Drop in photos, corrections, and stories as you like.
PF.Magic
San Francisco, 1991–2002 · Inventors of the virtual pet
Founded by Rob Fulop and a small crew in 1991, PF.Magic started life as a hardware company — the cancelled AT&T/Sega online-multiplayer accessory "The Edge." After AT&T pulled out, they pivoted to games. Ballz (1994) was the first hit-shaped object: a fighting game whose characters were made entirely of spheres.
The real breakthrough came when Fulop, after a conversation with a mall Santa, learned that puppies were still the #1 Christmas gift kids asked for. The team reused the Ballz technology to render animals — and shipped Dogz (1995), then Catz (1996). They effectively created the virtual pet genre. Mindscape acquired the company in 1998; Ubisoft owns the Petz/Oddballz/Babyz IP today.
Stats
Games shipped
- Ballz (1994) — sphere-based fighting game (Genesis, SNES, 3DO)
- Dogz (1995) — the original virtual pet on your desktop
- Catz (1996) — feline follow-up
- Oddballz (1996) — 13 weird creatures, alt to Dogz/Catz
- Petz 2 → Petz 5 — breeding, mixed breeds, expanded worlds
- Babyz (1999) — virtual babies in a virtual house (shipped via The Learning Company)
Jonathan's role
Director of Products (shrink-wrapped + online), c. 1994–1998. Shipped the catalog above through the studio's peak years.
Photos