Tamagotchi (Japanese: たまごっち, IPA:[tamaɡotꜜtɕi], "Egg Watch") is a brand of handheld digital pets that was created in Japan by Akihiro Yokoi of WiZ and Aki Maita of Bandai. It was released by Bandai on November 23, 1996 in Japan and in the United States on May 1, 1997, quickly becoming one of the biggest toy fads of the late 1990s and the early 2000s.
Cool Facts
- According to Bandai, the name is a portmanteau combining the two Japanese words tamago (たまご), which means “egg”, and uotchi (ウオッチ)”watch“.
- After the original English spelling of watch, the name is sometimes romanized as Tamagotch without the “i” in Japan. Most Tamagotchi characters’ names end in tchi or chi (ち) in Japanese, with few exceptions.
- Tamagotchi was invented by Aki Maita and Akihiro Yokoi in 1996. They both won the 1997 Ig Nobel Prize for economics, dubbing them the father and mother of Tamagotchi.
Evolution
Evolution, referred to in early Japanese media as transforming (変身 henshin) is the natural process in the Tamagotchi Life Cycle when a Tamagotchi progresses through its life, through aging or other conditions.
All Tamagotchis naturally evolve over time as they age, starting from the egg to the baby, child, teen, and adultstages. On some occasions, it can evolve into a Senior stage. The majority of Tamagotchi characters have a variety of different forms they can evolve into, but what they become depends predominantly on how they were cared for in their current stage.
The Baby Stage is the second stage of the Tamagotchi life cycle. After the egg hatches, a baby will be born from it. The baby starts off with both the Hungry and Happy meters depleted, therefore requiring immediate care. On versions that include the naming feature, the baby must be named before the user can begin caring for it.
The Child Stage (also known as the Toddler Stage) is the third stage of the Tamagotchi life cycle. The child stage can last from 24 to 72 hours, depending on the release. What child can be achieved is often directly associated either with what baby is born or what two Adult characters married to create it. The child stage where the user’s care and resulting consequences become more apparent, especially when it evolves further into the Teenager stage.
The Teenager Stage (also known as the Teen Stage) is the fourth stage of the Tamagotchi life cycle. The Teenager stage can last from 24 to 72 hours depending on the release, and all care done at this stage directly dictates which Adult character is achieved. Teenager characters tend to be more physically developed than child characters, usually having both arms and legs.
The Adult Stage is the fifth stage of the Tamagotchi life cycle, and is the final result of all of the user’s care throughout the Tamagotchi’s life. Many factors such as Skill Level, Discipline, how quickly the Hungry and Happy meters are filled, family bonding, etc. all come into play with determining which adult character is earned. Adults will stay around for the remainder of the Tamagotchi’s life span, and at this age, they may marry and produce babies. They can even evolve further into the Special, Parent, or Senior stage. On the Tamagotchi Connection Version 5 and related releases, adults can evolve into other adults through neglect, which can be reversed using certain foods or items.
The Senior Stage evolves from an unmarried Adult stage character, and can no longer evolve any further. Senior stage characters’ lives will last indefinitely if they do not marry, and will only pass away after accumulating enough Care Mistakes. A senior Tamagotchi can only marry another senior.
