Bandai America is bringing back the original Tamagotchis later this month, complete with the original packaging and programming.
According to Bandai’s marketing director, after Tamagotchis returned to stores in 2017, people were “clamoring for the return of the originals”. Clearly being big believers in “the customer is always right”, Bandai responded by bringing the original Tamagotchis back, “with some new additions that will keep the classic look and feel of the original game, but with new colors that will bring the device to life like never before.”
There will be two generations of Tamagotchis for sale: Generation One and Generation Two. The Gen One Tamagotchis will include a “special character game that requires players to guess their Tamagotchi’s next move”, and the Gen Two Tamagotchis will include “a number guessing game where the goal is to successfully guess whether the next digit is higher or lower than the previous one”.
All I remember about my Tamagotchi was that it took as much work as an actual pet, and four year old me was not ready for that kind of responsibility. One day, I got so sick of it demanding food, eating the food, immediately pooping it out and then demanding I clean up the poop that I buried it in a pot plant so I wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore. Twenty years later, I am slightly more capable of shouldering responsibility, but also, I can just get an actual pet if I want to, so Tamagotchis have lost some of their appeal for me.
Will today’s kids even appreciate Tamagotchis? They seemed so impressive in 1997, but now every child is seemingly gifted with an iPad once they’re born. I suspect the biggest customers of these throwback Tamagotchis will be people who were kids in the 90s and remember them fondly, only to realise after purchase that they’re annoying and demanding. To all of those inevitably disappointed millennials, may I suggest burying yours in a pot plant?
They’re available for pre-order in the US starting on September 30th, so they should make their way to our shores soon.