Every Kid Wanted a Tamagotchi: The Digital Pet OBSESSION!

life isn't always sunshine and Roses but as children we always tend to see it that way rainy days can be just as great as the sunny ones Through The Eyes of an innocent child that is until an unexpected traumatic event shakes their perception of life forever nobody is ever truly prepared for it now what if I tell you there was a small egg-shaped virtual pet that could offer some sort of solution to this or at least a cushion to the impact enter the world of Tamagotchi where pixelated creatures kep activate the attention of children across the world were they just distractions or something more profound the rise of the virtual pet the concept of tagoi may be unfamiliar to those who didn't grow up during the 1990s or to those who avoided interactions with children or Society at large during that time so let me explain atagi was a portable digital pet created by Aki Maita and Yoko akiro from the Japanese toy company Bandai these vegetal pets were were first introduced in Japan in November 1996 and quickly spread to other parts of the world by 1997 the tagoi gained Mass popularity due to its unique nature the world having never seen anything like it before the only other virtual pet on the market by this time was dogs and later cats released in 1995 and 1996 respectively also quite unique with the Zeds really quirky those games had much more of a literal take on the the idea of pet though as I'm sure you could figure out by the names the tagoi offered something completely different though let's go back in time to November 1996 the month that the tagoi Generation 1 appeared this product acts as a base which all subsequent models would be constructed that base is a nearly 2-in tall plastic egg with a keychain a low resolution black and white screen and three buttons underneath it the Nostalgia hits hard with this about 4 months after the first generation Rel least then came the second I know not much time in between and it is almost identical to the first but here are the key differences the Gen one has a checkerboard pattern while Gen 2 has a ripple pattern wo wow we what an evolution to be fair though the Gen 2 had new characters which is like the main appeal for these toys and it also had its own miname but because the first two generations of tagoi are so similar they get loved together as The tagoi Originals the OG's one of the best things about the tagoi originals is that they are some of the most accessible versions out there wait what how does that make sense if they're the oldest and newer models have proceeded them something isn't adding up well in 2018 they actually began making reproductions of The teoi Originals using the same programming as used in 1997 how am I only just finding this out these TTY creatures were in need of your constant care feeding cleaning playing giving medicine if you ignored them they would grow into even more dependent adults according to the rules of the game you could start over but each tagoi had a limited lifespan the taguchi's overall lifespan is based on both what the adult evolves into and how well it is cared for for example terrai will often die within 3 days of evolving while mamachi can live for 20 days or more yeah each of them have names by the way we'll get into that later were tagoi is good or bad now back to my original thought were tagois a source of distraction for children or a valuable educational tool well many schools across the globe decided to ban them completely as they grew in popularity including my primary school I went to which is a good indication of how most adults felt about these toys however this B ultimately led to tagoi being left at home to starve and children rushing back to make sure they hadn't died to give them food and water immediately and yeah I was one of them as were my two brothers in my opinion it would be disingenuous to say that these vegetable pets didn't instill a strong sense of responsibility and accountability in kids I would feed that little guy long before I ever thought of feeding myself and yeah that's the other side of the argument imagine your parent hearing that critics of the tagois argue that they were nothing more than distractions diverting children's attention away from more conventional learning activities the constant need to attend to a virtual pet could potentially detract from school work and social interactions I'd be interested to know which side of the debate do you guys sit on lessons of life and loss responsibility and accountability are great things for a child to learn but tagoi potentially touch on something much deeper these virtual pets fleeting existence provided a moving illustration of how fleeting life is for many kids the moment the tagoi died was the first experience dealing with a [Music] loss through this encounter the idea of life's impermanence was gently introduced and a safe space to process sorrow was created children started to realize that all living things have a lifespan experiencing death for the first time at a young age in this virtual light-hearted way has to be better than diving into the deep end and experiencing the real things suddenly right lightening the mood who are the characters I can't express how much I love the designs of the tagoi characters especially in their adult forms to be honest I love these little nuggets too anyway here comes the speedrun of many characters to illustrate just how how great these were if you don't want to sit through that feel free to skip to here ready let's go mchi Mimi kapachi Kiki lovi is also known as lovelin in some regions Melody Chi Ki goari Violet Chi makiko spicy Chi chami masi gingeri Ichigo ringi moroi papachi po II happyi kishimi tusi Ki Mei oi Ki Tami sheli chuchi Kachi morichi princess tamago honi wateri Pachi love Mama love Mama muchi Spa Chi Secura muchi Gori Yi n Chi Yi kirii cofi rui shimari Baki dooi Moi Kachi pipo spec shashimi shashimi shim pH there's definitely more but let's leave it at those for now tagoi lasting Legacy tagois have changed with the times adding new features and personalities without sacrificing their essential qualities these devices neatly bundled into a little beeping keychain offered children across the world a lesson about life's complexity and acted as a doorway to developing responsibility Beyond simply being devices tagois represent the introduction of emotional development and caregiving to a generation so are the children who grew up caring for Tamagotchis better equipped to deal with the death of a loved one of course [Music] I'm kidding of course not that would be a crazy statement to make however I can't deny the impact that these virtual pets have had in terms of gradually introducing the concept that is the circle of life every child that had a tagoi knew that one day their pet would die and it's the acknowledgement of the inevitability that I think is the real lesson here they may not learn how to deal with loss on an emotional level but at the very least they know ahead of time that one day a final day will come and that's okay [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] ch ch [Music]