Beanie Baby

has produced many other stuffed animals, some of which are variations of Beanie Babies:. This is a partial listing of them:. Ty Inc. Many communities of dedicated programmers have taken it upon themselves to patch the old Ultima games to run under modern operating systems, or to remake and/or revise their cherished series with modern gaming engines. Like the Internet stocks of the period, this was a recent example of an economic bubble.
. Estimates of the number of each Beanie Baby that would survive years into the future were much lower than the reality, however, and much like the Cabbage Patch Kid phenomenon, so many people had similar plans that very few people profited from the craze. In most cases, gameplay and graphics have been changed significantly.

Ty fed the frenzy by systematically "retiring" various designs of Beanie Babies and ceasing their production. Console versions of Ultima have allowed further exposure to the series, especially in Japan where the games have been bestsellers and were accompanied by several tie-in products including manga based on Ultima. In a buying frenzy reminiscent of the Cabbage Patch Kid mania of the early 1980s, several speculators purchased these collectibles en masse in hopes of making a fortune years later from being able to sell rare specimens. They are The Second Age, Renaissance, Third Dawn, Lord Blackthorn's Revenge, Age of Shadows, Samurai Empire, and Ultima Online: Mondain's Legacy. Starting in late 1996, a faddish craze of collecting Beanie Babies began. However, several expansions were released for Ultima Online, adding new features and areas to be explored. The bear model was frequently used for commemorative purposes, and special bears such as a Fourth of July model and even a Diana, Princess of Wales commemorative were created. UO spawned two sequel efforts that were cancelled before release: Ultima Worlds Online: Origin (cancelled in 2001) and Ultima X: Odyssey (cancelled in 2004).

One popular "series" within the Beanie Baby menagerie was the use of teddy bear-shaped Beanies, the basic pattern of which was repeatedly re-used, but with different colors and names. See Ultima Online for more information. As the years went on hundreds of different Beanie Babies were created, often resorting to more obscure animals such as aardvarks or chameleons in the process. In Ultima Online, thousands of players interact online in Britannia. Beanie Babies are a kitsch cubicle decoration, especially for women. A MMORPG version of the world of Britannia. Intended as upscale children's toys, they became a popular adult gift item. There is also a substantial community of Ultima fans known as the Ultima Dragons.

The condition of the hang tag is one of the main factors in determining a Beanie Baby's value, and hard plastic covers molded in a heart shape are available for its protection. The creator, Richard Garriott, no longer owns the rights to the game, nor participates in the development. This information was all contained on a red, heart-shaped hang tag usually affixed to the animal's ear. A nickname that fans gave such trinkets is "feelies". For example, the poem of Bongo the monkey went:. Made of metal or glass, they usually represented an important object also found within the game itself. Each Baby came with his or her own name, a birthday date, and a simple poem describing their personality. Starting with Ultima IV, small trinkets like pendants, coins and magic stones were found in the boxes.

The official Beanie Babies were mostly in the shape of animals, such as dogs, cats, pigs, hippos, and others and were all brightly colored and stylized. From Ultima II on, every main Ultima game came with a cloth map of the game world. Ty claimed rightful ownership of the name and of all of the designs of their various "beanies." There have been imitations by other companies that jumped onto the idea of creating beanbag-like stuffed animals, however, including one imitator who even produced a tie-dyed bear (reminiscent of Ty's "Garcia"), as well as parodies such as the "Meanie Babies". The Ultima games were also famous for the trinkets included in the game boxes. The original Beanie Babies were made by Ty Warner through his company Ty Inc. The earlier Ultima games were ported to many computer types, including 8-bit Atari (Ultima I-IV), Atari ST (Ultima II-VI), Commodore 64 (Ultima I-VI), Commodore Amiga (Ultima III-VI) and IBM PC (Ultima I-V). A Beanie Baby is thus a form of bean bag. All the games from Ultima VI on were developed on IBM PC compatible machines.

A Beanie Baby is a stuffed animal filled with plastic pellets, or "beans," rather than stuffing (see PVC). Ultima I-V were originally developed on and released for the Apple II family of computers. They are smaller versions of holiday-themed Beanie Babies, similar to the Teenie Beanies but of better quality. The third and final trilogy (Ultima VII-IX), the "Age of Armageddon" (also known as The Guardian Saga), pits the Avatar against an anti-virtue deity known as the Guardian. Jingle Beanies / Basket Beanies / Halloweenie Beanies: a seasonal product, sold during Christmas, Easter, and Halloween. The three principles of Truth, Love, and Courage echo the quests of the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion from The Wizard of Oz; though Garriott denies that they were the original source. Teenie Beanies: smaller versions of Beanie Babies that were used as free giveaways in McDonald's Happy Meals on three different occasions. The eight virtues are loosely based on the Hindu concept of Avatarhood, which involves sixteen paths of purification, with the final (sixteenth) path being to become one with God (according to 'the Official Book of Ultima' by Shay Addams.) The character of the Avatar is basically a Christ figure without any religious overtones.

Punkies: extremely fuzzy animals. The character had to attain the eight virtues of honesty, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, spirituality and humility. Pluffies: stuffing-filled animals, with a terrycloth-like fur. The next three games (Ultima IV-VI), the "Age of Enlightenment" trilogy, add a revolutionary moral element into the fantasy game genre. Pinkys: pink stuffed animals. Ironically the antagonists of the first three games appear to do nothing but reside in their castles, while the protagonist has the option of stealing and murdering. (These are not a type of Beanie Baby, although due to the word "Classic," some people may incorrectly believe that the name refers to the "original 9" Beanie Babies). The first three games (Ultima I-III), the "Age of Darkness" trilogy, are the typical "kill the evil overlord" fantasy games.

Classic: stuffing-filled animals. The Ultima series can be divided in three parts. Beanie Buddies: larger versions of Beanie Babies, filled with stuffing. As time passed, that hero would overcome several obstacles and fight several entities (both in Britannia and in other planes), and gain the title of Avatar, becoming the embodiment of virtues. Baby Ty: various baby animals and humans in cute-little baby clothes. The ruler of that world is called Lord British, and his pleas would be answered by a stranger coming from another world known only as Earth through a magical portal. Ultima tells the story of a hero who would be summoned by the ruler of a different world known first as Sosaria, later as Britannia, whenever troubles would arise and put in danger the peace of the land.

. Today, Electronic Arts holds the brand. Several games of the series are considered seminal games of their genre. Lord British.

Ultima was created by Richard Garriott, a.k.a. Ultima is a series of fantasy computer role-playing games from Origin Systems, Inc. The Time Lord. Zipactriotl.

Johann Schliemann Spector, a.k.a. Dr. Smith, Iolo's talking horse. Shamino.

Minax. Mondain. Iolo. The Guardian.

Exodus. Dupre. Chuckles. Lord British.

Lord Blackthorn. Beh Lem. Batlin. The Avatar.

EUO (website) - A MORPG based on Ultima IV and Ultima V. It tells the story of several companions of the Avatar who are notably absent from Ultimas after Ultima VII, and their quest to root out Fellowship remnants who have fled to not one, but two of the lost continents of Old Sosaria. Lost Sosaria is an expansion to the Ultima storyline being developed by Withstand the Fury Dragon and Time Immortal. (4-10-2005).

Currently the project is in the pre-planning stage. This game will be developed with the Neverwinter Nights 2 game engine (due for release in 2006) developed by Obsidian Entertainment. The goal of this project is to allow free download of a module template based on the Ultima universe for multiplayer, single player, and hosted DM-lead games. Realms of Ultima is a Persistent World Template project under development by The Grumpy Strumpet.

Ultima: The New King is a planned new adventure chronologically set after Ultima IX. Ultima IX: Redemption is an effort to create an alternative Ultima IX, writing a new ending to the series "for the fans". Titans of Ether merges two former development efforts, both based on Morrowind game engine. Currently in pre-alpha, but they have released a demo of their technical systems.

The Ultima VI Project - a remake of Ultima VI also using the Dungeon Siege engine. The game was released on the 22nd of December, 2005. Ultima V: Lazarus - A remake of Ultima V by voluntary programmers using the Microsoft Dungeon Siege engine. Currently abandoned.

The System Shock Hack Project - An open-source, work-in-progress portable Ultima Underworld (and System Shock) engine. Underworld Adventures - An open-source, work-in-progress portable Ultima Underworld engine. Pentagram (website) - An open-source, work-in-progress portable Ultima VIII engine (may later work with Crusader games, too). Exult (website) - An open-source, portable Ultima VII: The Black Gate and Serpent Isle engine (works with the expansions as well).

Nuvie - An open-source, work-in-progress portable Ultima VI engine (works with Savage Empire and Martian Dreams, too). nu5 - A planned open-source, portable Ultima V engine. xu4 - An open-source, portable Ultima IV engine. u3project - An open-source, work-in-progress portable Ultima III engine.

Ultima Classics Revisited - An open-source, work-in-progress portable engine, currently covering Akalabeth (complete) and Ultima I (partial). Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (PlayStation) — Released in Japan only. Japan only, cancelled in the US. Ultima: The Savage Empire (SNES) — A graphical update using the Black Gate engine for the SNES.

Includes plot changes and reduction in violence. Ultima: The Black Gate (SNES) — Gameplay adapted for the game pad. Includes plot changes and reduction in violence. Ultima: The False Prophet (SNES) — Gameplay adapted for the game pad.

Ultima: Runes of Virtue 2 (Game Boy, SNES). The antagonist is called the "Black Knight.". Ultima: Runes of Virtue (Game Boy) — Non-canonical, action based gameplay and puzzle solving. Ultima: Warriors of Destiny (NES).

Ultima: Quest of the Avatar (NES, Master System). Ultima: Exodus (NES). Ultima X: Odyssey (cancelled in 2004). Worlds of Ultima III: Arthurian Legends (cancelled in 1993).

Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds (1992). Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (1991). Ultima Underworld: