It seems that Tamagotchi just won't die, even if you don't feed them. I thought they'd all died out in the late nineties, but apparently not - the other day I was surprised to discover one of my students nonchalantly playing with her virtual pet during tea ceremony club. I asked her if they were still popular, and she said they were making a bit of a comeback. Sure enough, a quick bit of internet research confirmed that Bandai re-released the nagging computer animals a couple of years ago.
It seems like they're a bit more sophisticated this time around though - they can be connected via infrared so that users can exchange gifts and play games, and taking good care of them earns you "Gotchi" points which you can use to buy things for your pet. There's even a virtual community called TamaTown.
But, of course, the big question everyone's asking is: "Can you kill them through neglect?". Unfortunately I couldn't find the answer, but I did find out from tamagotchi.com that owners can care for their "egg-friend" by "cleaning up after its messes". Lovely.
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| A Nyu High School student demonstrates her beloved Tamagotchi. |
1 comment:
That's so cool! Now I'm thinking about reviving my old tamagotchi, for old times's sake. Hahaha! The newer versions sound more fun though, like playing SIMS Online or something to that effect.
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