Second coming of the Tamagotchi
The infamous Tamagotchi is to return in March. Armed with an infrared port, the new version's selling point is that this time, your 'Gotchi can socialise with others, ultimately getting married and having kids. How well your Gotchi and your partner's get on is determined by the presents you exchange (is this a microcosmic social commentary on Japan?), which range from cakes and flowers to ghouls and, entertainingly, shit. Not that it is strictly necessary to find a partner; once your darling beast reaches a certain age a matchmaking old woman appears and starts showing you photos of potential partners (this is a social commentary!), with whom you can get married and have kids without interacting with anyone outside your own electronic lozenge of desire.
Bandai sold 40 million of the original version, though thankfully they're only aiming at 2 million this time. May sanity prevail.
Isn't this kind of thing, like, a cellphone app these days anyway?
[Via ITmedia (Japanese)]
Posted by aragoto at February 03, 2004 08:52 PM | TrackBack