Seaman

""It'll cost you a buck.""

- Seaman, as an adult gillman

Seaman is a virtual-pet-raising game released for the Sega Dreamcast in Japan in 1999 and localized in 2000. It was re-released for Japan as Christmas Seaman and again as a Playstation 2 port. There were also plans for a PC release that allowed Seaman to interact with and manipulate your desktop and e-mails, but it was eventually cancelled. A sequel was also released on the Playstation 2 again, only in Japan for the Playstation 2. The game was one of the few in the Dreamcast library to take advantage of the microphone. It also features narration from Leonard Nimoy in the English version.

You play as a pet owner who had decided to adopt a new, unknown species dubbed "Seaman" by scientist and discoverer, Jean Paul Gasse. The titular creature is a fish-like animal  with a human face who would eventually be able to talk with you. You start out with a handful of food pellets and a seaman egg to start with where you must hatch the egg and raise the resulting seaman  to maturity. You are tasked with checking up on it to make sure it has enough air in its tank, the environment is warm and that they are fed, and eventually you'll be able to converse with the seaman and be asked various questions as you raise it. Although you are left to figure out how to raise the seaman on your own, Nimoy will also give you general hints and tips as you check in on your seaman.

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This game provides examples of:
"Seaman on love: Don't make me vomit.
 * A Date With Rosie Palms / Accidental Innuendo - You try bringing up Seamen without someone cracking up.
 * All There in the Manual - A good chunk of the backstory behind Seaman's creation are found in the instruction booklet, and although Seaman will occasionally shed light on his origins and his experience with Gasse he gradually recalls, it's only a quarter of what you could read in the manual.
 * Aw Look They Really Do Love Each Other - The seaman can act like a smartass for most of the game when it's mature enough to learn back-talk, but he also occasionally shows care for you by complimenting you and calling you nicknames like "fuzzy".
 * Deadpan Snarker - Seaman
 * Fictional Document - The Japanese marketing campaign had fake fossils displayed at museums, and even a book was published (The Journal of Jean-Paul Gasse).
 * Guide Dang It - Some aspects in raising your seaman, partly for certain acts you're supposed to perform to allow them to evolve that you won't have a clue to do, and partially because the seaman's voice recognition is limited.
 * Hey Its That Voice - Besides Leonard Nimoy, the seamen (from the adult-gillman stage onward) are voiced by Jeff Kramer, the man responsible for Agent York. Not George Takei, as popularly believed.
 * Jerkass - Your seaman to you.
 * Jacked up to eleven in the print ad:

Seaman on the f-word: I'm too polite to use that word, so I'll say... "Bite me, you baboon-faced ass-scratcher."

Seaman on his astrological sign: I need a middle finger to show you."


 * Product Placement - Try asking your seaman about Playstation, Nintendo or the Sega Dreamcast..
 * Shout Out: "You're a Brave Little Toaster, aren't you?"
 * Star Crossed Lovers - Apparently, Seaman was either the reincarnation or the descendant of a son of a pharaoh in the third dynasty of Egypt who fell in love with a priest's daughter. The priest had seeked advice from the god of wisdom Thoth, who turned the pharaoh's son into a fish and the priest's daughter into a bird, both of whom vanished. The priest, who was in charge of the construction of the pyramids, built a landmark that served as a beacon to guide the two lovers back someday, and was nearby where Seaman would have been discovered centuries later by Gasse.
 * The Dev Team Thinks of Everything - A handful of the things Seaman can respond to, and a few cases of him remembering an old response you made to throw back at you later
 * Trial and Error Gameplay - You only have a limited number of food pellets to feed your seaman with before you run out, and it is very easy to run out.
 * Uncanny Valley - Between its early attempt at realistic graphics and the ever-looming fact that you are having conversations with a fish-bodied man...
 * Unwinnable By Mistake - Use up your food pellets too soon  will lead to you being unable to get any more food, leaving your seaman to starve to death.
 * Videogame Caring Potential / Video Game Cruelty Potential