Media Diary: Tamagotchis
I only had one briefly when I was a kid and knew that they used to be a big thing. But still didn't know much about them. I just stumbled upon some ad for a Tamagotchi and Pokémon collaboration and remembered these devices after all these years. I had really missed how huge it actually had been.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/new-pokemon-tamagotchi-collaboration-launched
So if you're not familiar with them...
Usually it’s a small egg shaped computer with three or more buttons. In the game you have simple characters that look like objects or some sort of animals.
The story behind the critters is that the Tamagotchi is an alien that’s sent to Earth as an egg to see how the place is like. You have to raise the creature. The better you take care of it, the happier and smarter it will become. The pet will hatch from an egg, then become a baby, child, teenager and finally an adult.
There are different types of Tamagotchis, some require more caring and later models have added more complicated features. In general they have meters for hunger, happiness and discipline.
You feed them to decrease hunger, play minigames to increase happiness and scold them from time to time if they refuse to do things you want. Your pet will get sick if you don’t clean their droppings or you feed them too many snacks. The pet will also go to sleep during the nighttime.
The original aliens.
http://www.973fm.com.au/entertainment/the-feed/try-not-to-freak-out-but-original-tamagotchis-are-back
http://www.973fm.com.au/entertainment/the-feed/try-not-to-freak-out-but-original-tamagotchis-are-back
The models released after 2004 are considered the new models and they have infrared for communication between players.
The second new generation Tamagotchi includes a shop to buy things for your pet. You could play minigames to earn the currency to buy things.
Next versions included a Tamatown website to play games on and you could transfer the prizes to your Tamagotchi.
In the fifth version you could have a family and have 3 pets at the same time.
And lastly in the sixth version you will raise the Tamagotchi to become a music star.
The Tamagotchi was first released in 1996 by Bandai in Japan. Aki Maita, the inventor, won an Ig Nobel Prize (a prize for unusual or trivial research) for economics for the device.
It was a huge thing in the early 1990’s. In 2017 there was over 82 units sold. There are 44 different versions of Tamagotchi released. And now, Bandai is currently selling new versions of the first and second generation machines.
There are several Tamagotchi games on different platforms, mainly for handheld consoles. Then there are party games and roleplaying ones. Also Tamagotchi L.I.F.E. for phones. Newest release is My Tamagotchi Forever in 2018 for phones. Then a film was released in 2007, Tamagotchi: The Movie. It was number 3 at the box office during the opening weekend. There are also several Tamagotchi animes made in 1997, 2007 and during 2009-2015.
In the early 1990’s Tamagotchis were even banned from some schools, since they were considered a disruption from studies. Times have really changed now. And now you know a lot of useless information about this topic.
I guess this was the fate of many Tamagotchis, including mine (I think I just lost it somewhere).
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/new-pokemon-tamagotchi-collaboration-launched
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