WHAT ARE THESE THINGS, ANYWAY?

Image coming soon!

Tamagotchi are egg shaped devices which were released by Bandai in 1996. They are one of a variety of virtual pets (also known as v-pets) released throughout the 1990s and 2000s which see the user raise a pet throughout its life. Canonically, the Tamagotchi device is a way for the owner to interface with the pet, since Tamagotchi cannot survive in Earth's atmosphere. Tamagotchi are little critters that come from the Tamagotchi Planet, which is why whenever a pet reaches its life expectancy a spaceship appears to take it back to its home planet.

WHY THE NAME?

There are several theories as to how Tamagotchi got its name. One of the most prevailing ideas is that it is a pun based on the Japanese words for egg (tamago) and friend (tomodachi). However, that simply isn't true. According to Bandai, the name is a combination of the Japanese word "tamago" and the English word "watch". Hence: Tamagotchi!

HOW DO YOU RAISE THEM?

While the nitty gritty on how you raise a Tamagotchi depends on the device you play, all Tamagotchi have the same core features. The devices have three buttons (A, B and C) positioned underneath a square LCD screen. These buttons are the way that players can select icons which allow them to interact with their pet. As soon as you pull the insulation tab from your device (or put fresh batteries into it) the device will start up and you have to set the time. The time you set it to isn't important, and many players avoid setting it to the actual time in favor of a time that better suits their schedules. Tamagotchi are early to bed and early to rise, and a lot of vpet fans don't wake up at 7 AM. Once the time is set, pressing the A button will highlight icons on the screen and pressing the B button will select them and allow you to perform an action.