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Tamagotchi
Re-creation of Tamagotchi screenThe Tamagotchi
(????? Tamagotchi) is a handheld virtual pet created by
Aki Maita and sold by Bandai. The name combines the Japanese
word for egg ("tamago") and the syllable "chi"
which denotes affection, and is also a pun on the borrowed
English "wotchi", meaning "watch",
as in the time piece.
In Japanese and most other languages
it is pronounced with a short "o" sound — ta-ma-go-chee
— however in the United States it is typically pronounced
"ta-ma-GAH-chee".
The Pet
Tamagotchi are small, plastic eggs containing
a tiny computer with a simple black and white LCD screen.
Below the screen are three buttons. The egg is attached
to a keychain, to encourage owners to always keep their
Tamagotchi close by. The eggs have different colors and
designs on them, making them a collectors' item.
Caring for the Tamagotchi is fairly simple.
A tiny egg appears on the screen after the unit was turned
on. After setting the time and waiting for exactly five(or
one, depending on what version you have) minutes, the
creature hatches. Pressing the three buttons, the owner
can feed the Tamagotchi, turn the "light" in
the unit on or off (Tamagotchi had an hour when they would
wake up and an hour when they would go to bed, necessitating
such a function), play a game with it, give medicine to
it when sick, clean its living quarters, check its status
(age, weight, discipline, hunger, and happiness), and
discipline the Tamagotchi. An eighth function could be
used by the Tamagotchi to call on its owner. Each one
of the functions had an influence on how well you were
taking care of the Tamagotchi and determined what kind
of creature it would be in its teenager and adult years.
Tamagotchi evolved. They hatched as a
"baby," grew into a "child," evolved
once again into a "teenager," and one last time
into an "adult." Traditionally, there have been
two different kinds of teenagers, one associated with
good care, the other associated with poor care, and six
adults, three for each teenager form. There have also
been many secret characters with special prerequisites
to get them.
After a few weeks of the Tamagotchi being
an adult, it will eventually die. In the United States,
the story is that the Tamagotchi goes back to its home,
"Tamagotchi Planet" instead of dying.
There were many Tamagotchi spin offs
released, including Tiger Electronics' GigaPets. Bandai
themselves released several different variations on Tamagotchi,
listed below. Although most Tamagotchis have the same
basic concepts (happiness and hunger meters, discipline,
etc.), each different kind of Tamagotchi had their own
unique game, food, and sometimes had varying icons on-screen.
Cultural Impact
Tamagotchi were introduced in 1996 and
were a huge fad for a short time, with sales amounting
to 40 million units. Due to inventory problems after the
boom, it is said to have resulted in a 6 billion yen loss.
The name has become synonymous with "virtual
pet" in many places and has helped further peoples
interest in them. This has come at a price, according
to some, as many schools around the world banned them
due to the distractions they caused.
Tamagotchi generations
The following generations of official
Bandai Tamagotchi have existed:
Shinshu de Hakken!! Tamagotchi (Generation
Two, or P2)
- Released in February of 1997 in Japan with four
different designs. In May of the same year, four new
different designs were released. This was also released
in America, although it was named Tamagotchi as the
American P1 units were. The only way to distinguish
the two versions without opening the unit was by observing
the box and its pictures or the background in the
LCD screen.
Digimon
- Digimon had five different generations, each one
with different evolutions but with the same functions.
- This Tamagotchi premiered the feature of interconnecting
Tamagotchi which could communicate data to each other.
- In this case, the connecting was called "Dock
'n Rock" and was used for Digimon to fight each
other.
Digimon is not capable of pause.
Tenshitchi no Tamagotch (Angelgotch)
- Released in August 1997 with three different colors.
This was later released in America as "Tamagotchi
Angel."
- Premieres the feature of a touch-register LCD screen,
used to scare away bats that tried to steal your Angelgotch's
snack and call it back when it went on a walk. It
was also sensitive to your voice for the same purposes.
Discipline replaced by "praise" for this
pet only.
Mesutchi and Osutchi
- Released in December of 1997 in Japan only.
- Featured interlocking mating using the same concept
that Digimon premiered to have Tamagotchis give birth.
Five different generations of Tamagotchi were available,
but only one had a growth chart that was affected
by caretaking skills. The other four were linear,
and if one was to trip up on his or her care, the
Tamagotchi would become an unmateable creature. Something
interesting about this Tamagotchi is that if you feed
it too much and it gets to be 99 pounds, it turns
into a "Debutchi" which takes up the whole
screen. You have to get its weight down with games
before you can do anything else.
Mori de Hakken!! Tamagotchi (Mori No
Tamagotch)
- Released in February 1998 with four different colors.
It was scheduled for release in America as "Tamagotchi
Garden" but it was canceled.
- This Tamagotchi premiered the "predator"
function also used in Umi No Tamagotch. Occasionally,
a predator (one is a foot) would attack, and you have
to use the voice and touch-sensitive functions by
shouting and tapping at the screen to scare away the
predator. If its attack succeeded, the Tamagotchi
could be made sick or even killed.
- Another notable function of the Mori No Tamagotch
is its teenager phase: It is replaced by a cocoon,
which stays for 24 hours, during which time you had
to control a temperature dial. If the environment
was mostly hot, the Mori No would change into the
"warmer" creature for that quality of care,
and vice versa for cold.
Umi de Hakken!! Tamagotchi (Umi No Tamagotch)
- Released in March of 1998 with four different colors.
- This is known as one of the hardest Tamagotchi to
raise, needing near-constant attention. It included
a "water quality" meter in the status screen.
Flushing the screen could make the screen cleaner,
but if all four skulls on the meter were filled, the
water would become black and it had to be flushed
to see the Tamagotchi again. This was a secondary
use for the cleaning function which is not used in
any other Tamagotchi.
- This Tamagotchi was unique also in that it lost
happiness and hunger hearts as it slept.
Tamaotchi
- Named after Japanese actress Tamao Nakamura and
released in April of 1998.
Deviltchi no Tamagotchi
- Released in September of 1998 in four colors.
Yasashii Tamagotchi
- Released in October of 1998 in four colors.
- "Easy Tamagotchi," has slightly different
evolutions than Generation One. Also features a larger
case.
Santaclautch
- Santa Claus and Christmas-themed Tamagotchi.
Genjinchi
Mothra Tamagotch
- Winged beast Mothra Tamagotchi
Tamagotchi Plus
- The newest version, released in Japan on March
20, 2004 and in the U.S. on August 15, 2004 as Tamagotchi
Connection.
- Includes new characters and some older ones, as
well as some new features, including IR capability
for Tamagotchi interaction which has been used in
Japanese McDonalds to show the Tamagotchi eating a
hamburger.
- There are 3 main tamagotchi (new ones). These are
Tamagotchi Plus, Tamagotchi ConnECTion and Tamagotchi
ConneXions. These all have small differences.
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