must-watch deep dive into the technical side of tamagotchis: https://media.ccc.de/v/29c3-5088-en-many_tamagotchis_were_ha...
The 6502 makes an appearance there too.
Tamagotchi Connection
61–70 of 80 posts
Re: Tamagotchi Connection
#62I feel like theres a big opportunity to bring Tamagotchi back as a platform agnostic applet so you could have your Tamagotchi on Fitbit or other devices. There was something so weirdly, emotionally powerful about that toy.
The closest I saw was on ios. It was on the Apollo app for Reddit. I think they were called Pixel Pets.
Re: Tamagotchi Connection
#63Anyone know why it was called the "Connexion" in the UK and not the "Connection"?
because x is the coolest letter, don't believe me: just ask Elon
Re: Tamagotchi Connection
#64I wish they'd make one that works better as a keychain. Tamagotchis are pretty big. Maybe one a bit bigger than the screen and half as thick would be great.
Re: Tamagotchi Connection
#65I still have a perfectly working v4, these things were built to last. Lots of kids at my school had one back then, but they were mostly the more basic chinese knockoffs. If you had a real one, you were one of the cool kids.
At a school near me: The staff thought that the Tamagotchi were a good educational toy and liked the idea of kids developing a sense of responsibility in taking care of them. OTOH, they could not tolerate the kids being interrupted during class in having to feed/play/etc. with their toys. The solution: Kids would surrender their Tamagotchi upon entering school to a teacher's aide who would be responsible for feeding/…
I don't know if older models had this feature, but the one I have can be "paused" at any time by just pressing two of the buttons at once, so this sort of thing wasn't really a problem.
Re: Tamagotchi Connection
#66I'm kind of surprised that zoomers haven't brought tamagotchis back yet
Tamagotchis never exactly 'went away' except for a few years between the late 90s and early 2000s. They've actually been making new models pretty steadily every few years. Although not all of them make it out of Japan.
Re: Tamagotchi Connection
#67I'm kind of surprised that zoomers haven't brought tamagotchis back yet
I think they're becoming a bit of a fad again. Many streamers I follow have been obsessing over them recently (granted that they're mostly not zoomers, just millennials enjoying some nostalgia).
The newest model (Tamagotchi Uni) just dropped a few months ago, so that probably explains the uptick in interest.
Re: Tamagotchi Connection
#68I still have a perfectly working v4, these things were built to last. Lots of kids at my school had one back then, but they were mostly the more basic chinese knockoffs. If you had a real one, you were one of the cool kids.
You can still buy Tamagotchi models from the 90s 'new in box', never been opened by human hands, and they almost always still work. The only issue is that the LR44 batteries can leak and corrode the motherboard. But depending on where the corrosion is, it can be cleaned up.
I've personally bought a bunch of unopened 90s Tamagotchis and they've all worked.
Re: Tamagotchi Connection
#69Tamagotchi are an ingenious psychological and social gambit, paving the way for smartphones. An electronic dependent, halfway between a doll and a game that hooks into the formative maternal and caring instincts of a child, almost 20 years before the modern smartphone (1996 -> 2016). Don't feed it? It dies. Fail to socialise it? It gets lonely for friends. B.J Fogg eat your heart out! Now we grew up into mums and dad…
At least they don't generally require constant attention though. You can generally check in once every hour or so and it won't be the worse for wear. Definitely not as attention-hungry as a smartphone thankfully ;)
(and, at least these things don't come with the microtransaction / gacha elements that you see so often in mobile games...)
Re: Tamagotchi Connection
#70My daughter got into Tamagotchi last month (JUL-2023). It is interesting that such a simple game/toy fascinates my daughter, who was born after the iPhone's release and just before the iPad came to being. She can go on a long story and backstories that I wonder how I missed a lot of things growing up in the 90s. These toys are very costly and hard to come by in India.
I remember seeing a Tamagotchi on Indian Shinchan - I think they should try to get them into the local toy stores, they are great entertainment and I love seeing a new generation enjoy them.