Wagner James Au / New World Notes

Zooby, popular creator of virtual babies and animals in Second Life, just birthed a new species in the virtual world: Puppies! And puppies particularly puppy-ish purportedly:

"Zooby Puppies can sleep in beds, poop/pee on puppy pads, relax on love pillows, chew on bones, snuggle with toys, and eat from food bowls," Zooby owner Carrie Tatsu tells me. "[They] can walk/run/fly while attached to you and while in travel mode they can be taken anywhere in SL."

Yes, fly: Watch the trailer above.  

Built with hundreds of animations based on real puppy videos (" my animator really loves dogs"), they are also programmed with an elaborate movement system to avoid obstacles, randomly wander, trot, run, and (again) fly. Ms. Tatsu is also attempting to make them a much more social experience than previous virtual pets in Second Life:

"They are a shared experience," as she puts it. "What this means is I can add you as a friend to all my dogs. Once I do that you can buy a food bowl and assign my puppy to use it. And then both you and I can feed the puppy from a bowl you purchased and rezzed. All friends and owners can pet/interact with the puppies."

SLurl to visit them here, and here's the Zooby Discord server. Priced at L$3000 (with accessories sold separately, of course), how Zooby Puppies are received is ultimately for the Second Life consumer market to decide. But lucky for you, dear NWN reader, Ms. Tatsu is generously offering a special discount:

The first ten people to post their SL name in Comments will get a 20% discount on a Zooby puppy. (Someone from the Zooby team will reach out to you to fulfill this discount.)