New Tamagotchi released for digital pet’s 20th anniversary
The original toy was a hit, selling 82 million units in the 1990s. Now Bandai have released a smaller version of the high-maintenance digital pet, hoping to cash in on nostalgia, while trying to attract a new generation of fans
Before fads such as the fidget spinner and Furby, when the world was just getting acquainted with the Backstreet Boys and clamouring to watch Titanic in cinemas, there was the Tamagotchi.
The Japanese digital pet on a key chain was a sensation, racking up sales of 82 million units since its release in 1997. It was a precursor to mobile gaming, a pocket-sized electronic device that taught legions of children to feed a pixelated critter and pick up after its business.
It was also controversial, as fads tend to be, having been blamed for being too morbid (the pet died if you didn’t feed it) and its screen too addictive (you had to tend to it every 15 minutes). If they only knew.
Now, the company behind the gizmo has announced plans to re-release the Tamagotchi to mark its 20th anniversary (the device has remained available in Japan). Bandai America, a subsidiary of the Tokyo-based Bandai Namco, hopes children of the iPhone generation will embrace the retro gadget while also banking on ’90s nostalgia to drive sales.
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The decade that gave us grunge, Tommy Hilfiger jeans and the Game Boy is cool again. It’s perhaps why Nintendo has quickly sold out of its relaunched retro consoles and pop star Katy Perry dangled a white Tamagotchi from her Prada gown at last year’s Met Gala.
