Tamagotchi

The Tamagotchi (たまごっち Tamagotchi) is a handheld virtual pet created by Aki Maita and sold by Bandai. Three buttons (A, B, and C) allow the user to select the options to feed or play with the Tamagotchi, among other things. more...

To keep the Tamagotchi happy, the user has to play games with it. The Tamagotchi evolves into one of a wide range of "characters" three or four times in its lifetime depending on how well the user takes care of it, and which type of Tamagotchi the user has.

Name Origin/Pronunciation

The name combines the Japanese word for egg ("tamago") and the syllable "chi" which denotes affection, so it could be taken to mean "loveable egg". It is also a pun on both "wotchi" (ウォッチ; borrowed from English "watch", as in the time piece) and "tomodachi" (Japanese for friend). Also, because "tamago" is Japanese for egg, and "tomodachi" is Japanese for friend, Tamagotchi could be taken to mean "egg-friend."

In Japanese and most other languages it is pronounced with a long "o" sound — ta-ma-goh-chee — although in the United States it is typically pronounced with a short "o" sound – "ta-ma-gah-chee". In Japan, the final "i" is usually elided, thus becoming Tamagotch. This is a common occurrence in the Japanese language.

The Tamagotchi

The Original Tamagotchi

• The original Tamagotchi was released in 1997 in both Japan and America.
• It had a total of 7 adult characters, two teen characters, one toddler character, and one baby character, for a total of 11 characters.
• There was Generation 1 (also known as P1) and Generation 2 (also known as P2). They had different characters, and a number of other minor differences, such as different games and different Meal and Snack options. The screen was small on both.

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