What Happened to…? Your Tamagotchis

Some topics may be often discussed, still they’re too rarely supported by real knowledge and unbeatable arguments. With the help of my best friend Google, I pick a few fun facts, helping you shine at dinner parties… like the true serious grown-up that you are. Today’s episode: Tamagotchis.

The Internet is a place full of fun facts. This might have been the only place where I would ever learn that Saddam Hussein’s campaign song for the 2002 Iraqi elections was Whitney Houston’s “I will always love you”. Also, from time to time and almost accidentally, Google reminds you of things that were once cool for school, or amazing forgotten inventions of genius scientists. Memories that belong to you or others.

Ever wondered what happened to your Tamagotchi?

Those whose birth years range from the early 1980s to 2000 — a.k.a., the so-called ‘Millenials’ — will know what I’m talking about. Some schools banned them, but we all had to have one.

This plastic toy was the size of an egg. In fact, its name partly comes from the Japanese word ‘egg’ (tamago) combined with the English word ‘watch’. The Tamagotchi came in different colors. You were able to raise dinosaurs, dogs, bunnies. You could — precisely — take care of eggs. You could watch it die in case you’d forget to give it food. It was as though you were learning how to (digitally) take care of a pet, or a plant, or perhaps another human being.

Because we barely had Internet access, there is a lot we didn’t know about Tamagotchis then. Today, you’re just aWikipedia page away from reading all about it — for instance, that it was created by Akihiro Yokoi in 1996.

Some parents saw in Tamagotchis the warning signs of an evil Japanese invasion, and the outrageous penetration of technology in our lives. Others still see it as a good way to learn a few life skills. Yet can you compare the levels of responsibility and empathy felt towards a toy to those felt towards another human or an actual living thing? And wasn’t the relationship you had with your Tamagotchi a first step towards having an affair with your operating system, as suggested in themovie Her?

Beyond these ethical considerations (we love to attribute negative externalities to anything that’s cool or exotic), Tamagotchis may be back with a vengeance and join the so-called Internet of Things to cash in on our nostalgia.

The website www.tamagotchi.com seems to be in preparation, with not much else on it than this message:

Fear not — like many others, the newest generation of Tamagotchis is merely taking advantage of today’s increasing data exchange and capacity. You can now use it to play games with your pet, or link it to a friend’s to try activities such as hang outs, playdates, text messaging, measuring friendship in meters. If our old Tamagotchis would have come with such options, maybe we wouldn’t have let so many of them die.

Given our typical Millenial attitudes of moving from one country to the next, postponing pregnancy out of fear, commitment issues or love of wine, I for one absolutely see the potential Tamagotchis have to offer. For your information, Tamagotchis have become like anything else in the world, or almost: you can buy them on the Internet.