Bush virtual pet game soars in China
By D. Ian Hopper April 13, 2001 | WASHINGTON (AP) --
In the aftermath of the downed U.S. spy plane, the Chinese apparently have
found a new way to ridicule President Bush -- a virtual pet modeled after him.
While the U.S.-made PortaBush software for handheld computers wasn't
released with much fanfare last week, it became a big hit in China very
quickly.
The software's American designers noticed a huge traffic spike Thursday
coming from China, at one point reaching about 2,000 downloads in an hour
and threatening to overwhelm their servers.
"About 80 percent of the downloads were coming from China," Eruptor
Entertainment President Brad Foxhoven said Friday.
The White House had no immediate comment on the new Chinese interest.
Released a week ago by Marina Del Ray, Calif.-based Eruptor Entertainment,
the software toy is similar to the faded Tamagotchi craze. Players feed
their PortaBush, keep him happy and help him make vital national decisions
like whether to bomb teen singer Britney Spears.
Get yours at http://www.eruptor.com/
