The Tamagotchi was designed in Japan by a man called Aki Maita. Within a short time of its release it was already attracting much interest and the craze had already started. For a while it seemed as though every school child owned a Tamagotchi. It was so successful in Japan that it was later released in other countries such as the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. Surely enough the release of the Tamagotchi in these other countries was just as a success than in Japan. This is only one of a few products that have had a global craze in consumerism.
You may think that the Tamagotchi is just a children’s toy but it also has a complex story line that was created by the founder Aki Maita. According to the story, each digital pet are alien creatures originating from the Planet Tamagotchi. Unfortunately their space ship crashed on earth and ‘The Professor’ and his young assistant Mikachu discovered them. Because the Tamagotchi’s were unfamiliar with the atmospheric conditions of the earth, he built little egg shaped cases to protect them from the potentially dangerous gasses that inhabited earth. Because of the work of ‘The Professor’ and his assistant, the Tamagotchi’s were now able to survive on earth. Mikachu then painted several of the protection cases and took them to school to show to his friends and this is what started the craze.
The craze lasted longer than originally anticipated and the production of the units increased day by day. It took a long time for the craze to die down but soon enough it was clear to see that the craze had been and gone. Surely enough Bandai’s first idea was to release more versions. An estimated 36 Tamagotchi versions have been released in the period when the craze died down and the current day. Each version has its own differences and similarities. At first the differences was only slight with the release of the Christmas Themed Tamagotchi that was only produced in Japan called Snataclautch.
Over the years the Tamagotchi has been a huge success for Bandai and very popular for young users across the globe. The Tamagotchi has played a major role in defining young people’s childhood in countries such as US, Canada, Europe, Australia but more specifically in Japan. In the days of the Tamagotchi, major controversy aroused over the issue of whether or not children should be allowed to take them to class. Children would easily become distracted and need to look after their digital pets but not only that but fights over ownership disputes and a general distraction from not only class work but also homework.
Tamagotchi is a Japanese name meaning “eggâ€. It is a small, handheld oval shaped gadget that simulates the role of looking after a digital pet. The first model was released on November 23rd 1996 by the toy company Bandai and became a huge craze in Japan. It was so successful that it was later released in the US on May 1st 1997. The gadget is primarily aimed at junior school children aged between 6 and 10 years but can be great fun for any ages.
The Tamagotchi has the ability to keep young children entertained for potentially days or even months. Some of the functions that are undertaken when using the Tamagotchi include feeding, playing games, cleaning up feces, checking its stastics, and connecting with other Tamagotchis. The major role in looking after the digital pet is feeding. The user has the choice to either feed the animal either a piece of food or a piece of cake. The user must take responsibility from his or her own actions because if the user continues to feed the animal cake, it will get unhealthy and die at a young age, however if the user decides to feed it food, the animal will grow strong and will generally have a better quality of life.
Not only do you need to feed your Tamagotchi but you also need to keep it entertained. You can do this by playing games. In the original version there is only one game to choose but in the later versions you are able to connect your Tamagotchi to your computer and download games using your password. Playing with your Tamagotchi ensures that it grows up to be a happy and mentally stable pet. When your Tamagotchi is born it takes about an hour of constant attention much like a human baby. During this period of one hour you will have to feed it various times and clean up its mess and it will even sleep for 20 minutes giving you a chance to recover.
With the release of newer versions of Tamagotchi, there are many new features that are available for users. The toys were highly popular in the craze of the late 90’s but the demand has died down significantly. The newer versions released are by far better than the original model but we can now compare the new models with the old ones and say that it was better when it was simple. When thinking back to the days when I was a kid in the Tamagotchi craze, it was one of the better memories of my child hood and I was occupied for literally months however in my opinion the newer models look less enticing.