Tamagotchi is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and I am way too young to feel old writing that sentence. Regardless, to honor the fact that these 8-bit pocket pets are now of car-rental age, Tamagotchi has a special release planned. And fans of the original can rejoice knowing that, yes, their prayers have finally been answered. If they’ve been praying for a Tamagotchi smartwatch, that is. The new Tamagotchi Smart brings a colorful pet to your wrist with new ways to interact, including a touchscreen and voice capabilities. Hit the jump to keep reading.
Tamagotchi Smart watch adds 25 years of fun to your wrist
We’ve all been there — nine years old, bawling profusely, mourning a digital mound of pixels all because we left its house buried in between the couch cushions for a few weeks too long. Well, now, you’ll never have to worry about misplacing your pixel-pooch again with Bandai Namco’s new wearable Tamagotchi Smart. Featuring a fresh color touchscreen, voice recognition, plus a slew of new and classic extras, there have never been more ways to keep in touch with your crypto-cat. (I’ve got a million of these.) Plus, now it tells you the time so you can check just how many hours you’ve spent coddling your little wrist-robot. (Told ya so.)
Like the original Tamagotchi, this latest iteration isn’t all fun and games. It’s just, like, 95-97% fun and games, plus the usual responsibilities. The Tamagotchi Smart also includes a pedometer, upgrades, and exclusive items installed via “TamaSma cards” and a microphone so your pet can hear you call for it. You can pet and interact with your Tamagotchi through the touchscreen, too. And thanks to the new Bluetooth upgrade, it can also interact with other Tamagotchis in your vicinity.
As seen above, the Tamagotchi Smart will be available in either coralpink or mintblue, and release is scheduled for November in Japan. Pricing starts at around $60 US, but there’s no information regarding an international release quite yet. In the meantime, we’ll all have to make do with the myriad of toys already on the market.
gadgetnewsonline’ take:
Whether you’ve been keeping a Tamagotchi on life support since 1996 or you consider 1996 to be “basically the middle ages” — (something my cousin’s 10-year old actually said to me) — there’s a lot to love about the funny little dudes. And the Tamagotchi Smart captures not only captures what made the original so popular but amplified it. Between the Bluetooth playdates and being able to “pet” your Tamagotchi via touchscreen, I’m certain these will fly off the shelves in Japan and introduce a new generation to these joyful, frustrating, and oddly morbid little guys.
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