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Life

11th Sep 2018

We’ve reached peak 90s nostalgia as Tamagotchis are set to return

Wil Jones

What a time to be alive.

Tamagotchis – the so-called ‘digital pets’ which first appeared in Japan in 1996 and around the world soon after – are coming back and we couldn’t be more excited.

Before Pokemon, before Digimon, before The Sims, Tamagotchis supplied a little LCD blob for you to look after.

Encased in a little plastic egg, the blob-thing would bleat and demand digital food, and could also be praised, and scolded. And if you forgot to look at it for a day or two, it would die, and you’d feel bad and pray for its digital soul.

That was the extent of the gameplay, but somehow, we were obsessed with them.

Japanese toy manufacturer Bandai has continued to release new versions of the Tamagotchi ever since their first release, in various new designs and with new features – but now they are going back to the classic original.

A representative for Bandai said that the company has “decided to bring back the original Tamagotchi with some new additions that will keep the classic look and feel of the original game, but with new colours that will bring the device to life like never before.”

The new units will have the same packaging as they did back in the late 1990s, and come in sixteen different colours – eight vintage designs, and eight new ones.

Both Generation One and Generation Two versions of the device will be available. Gen One units having the character game where you have to guess your pet’s next move, and the latter units featuring a number guessing game.

The new, old Tamagotchis will available to pre-order from 30 September and cost $30 in the US.

Main image via Facebook Tamagotchi USA

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