Maxis's El-Fish makes great-looking guppies, but after you put them into your virtual aquarium, the interactivity is pretty much over. It was bound to happen that somebody would punch up the fake fish experience. Enter Japan-based 9003 Inc., maker of Aquazone, a virtual aquarium so real that the only thing missing is the smell.
How real? My fish will die if I feed them too much, or too little. Or don't clean the water. Water temperature, purity, light, medicine – all are mine to control. Optional disks let me grow aquatic plants to entertain my guppies, platys, and angelfish.
The fish grow, mate, and have offspring over months or years if you choose to draw out the drama (time frames are variable). The fish, water, and environments are so lovingly crafted, an untrained eye would take an Aquazone for the real thing.
"The whole concept of this software is that the standard computer user can create and enjoy an environmental simulation without gloves or goggles," said Ron Dicarlantonio, designer and system manager for 9003 in Tokyo. "It's visually beautiful, but I didn't want to make something just pretty. I want them to be alive."
Make no mistake, the 30,000-plus users of Aquazone are seriously into fish. The software has a library function with illustrated data on fish, plants and parasites, care, and breeding.
Better read up – and make a printout for the neighbors – 'cause those little sparks of light might be lying at the top of the screen if you're called away on a business trip.
"We had a couple who phoned us in tears when their fish died," said Takashi Mineyoshi, sales manager of Lits Compute in Tokyo. "People really become attached to this pet."
Reality check: The fish don't dance away when you tap on the glass. "We're working on that," says software writer Dicarlantonio.
Aquazone: 24,800 Yen (approximately US$240). 9003 Inc: + 81 (03) 5443 9858, fax +81 (03) 5443 9859.
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