Saturday, October 23, 2004
Tamagotchi
Hey! I have spoken before about my fascination with virtual pets. Well, thanks to Bandai re-releasing Tamagotchi toys this summer, I now am once again a proud parent. Of course, I realize how sad that it is for a soon-to-be 30 year old to be obsessing over a digital pet, but I can't help myself. :) It is pretty much like the old ones, which created the virtual pet craze in the 90's, except that the new ones can use an IR beam to communicate with other Tamagotchi. It even stores a friend list (up to 50 names) of who you have talked to! For me, the ingenuity behind these toys is amazing.
I bought the thing Wednesday, and smiled at how much fun the dumb thing really is. It is funny how $15 worth of plastic and LEDs can make you happy. The egg hatched, and a little blob appeared (I named him Carlo). It didn't do much, but I still fed it and "praised" it. It was funny to see it drink from a baby bottle, so I kept feeding it... until I made it sick. So then I had to give it medicine.
My poor parenting continued on day two, when the small blob turned into a larger, white blob (who looked like a cross between Pac-Man and a doughnut). It awoke from its sleeping at 8 AM, when it started immediately making noise. Unfortunately, Thursday was my ONE day to sleep in during my break. So my silicone and plastic child woke me up. :( I decided that I had better exercise the stupid thing, since it was getting fat. So I made it play one of the two games that it can play. Soon, it had jumped over enough hurdles, and played Simon enough to make my thumbs hurt. It was trim and happy, but was hungry. So I indulged it.
Later that evening, the blob changed into what I assume is it's final form. These things are programmed to give you one of a large variety of monster designs. Mine (the "ichigothci" according to www.tamagotchi.com) is a either a lady bug-like snail, or a living onigiri (rice ball). Either way, its kawaii and chibi! Kyaa! :-P
Day three came, and I was spending the day at the hospital (a family member had surgery Friday). I forgot to place the Tamagotchi on "pause", so it had a very bad day. When I got home (9 PM), it was already asleep (the thing sleeps from 8 PM to 8 AM, and in this time you cannot play with it. This is a favor to parents everywhere). The screen was filled with virtual poop. It had gone all day without exercising, eating, and cleaning. It had literally "shat" itself off the screen... so now I am waiting for 8 AM to come so I can at least get my pet's environment sanitary again. Oh, and the screen is also adorned with a huge skull... I am not sure if it is dead or sick... must be due to the poop.
For those of you who have never played with one of these, you are missing out. Nothing beats the ego-building power of being an educated, professional adult and having to press the "toilet" button to clear the screen of little piles of digital feces. Shouldn't I be reading up about the election, or studying for my anatomy test that is coming up? I mean, I hardly looked at any biochemistry this week. It feels as if I wasted a whole week, and as if I haven't been to school in months.
Anyway, once again I am addicted to a virtual pet. If you see my backpack lying about at school or work, and it has a lime green, egg-shaped keychain hanging from it, you'll know I am once again taking my pet in public with me. Why lime green? Because Bandai, in all their wisdom, released the thing in a cavalcade of bright colors (pink, orange, purple, lime green); all attracting way too much attention for my tastes. The green was the only one that remotely had a chance at not looking too freakish. Try not to judge me. :)
Oh, and if you have a Tamagotchi, track me down so we can hook up. The IR link allows these things to breed. *SIGH* Either I have an endearing, child-like view of life, or I need some serious help growing up...
See ya!
I bought the thing Wednesday, and smiled at how much fun the dumb thing really is. It is funny how $15 worth of plastic and LEDs can make you happy. The egg hatched, and a little blob appeared (I named him Carlo). It didn't do much, but I still fed it and "praised" it. It was funny to see it drink from a baby bottle, so I kept feeding it... until I made it sick. So then I had to give it medicine.
My poor parenting continued on day two, when the small blob turned into a larger, white blob (who looked like a cross between Pac-Man and a doughnut). It awoke from its sleeping at 8 AM, when it started immediately making noise. Unfortunately, Thursday was my ONE day to sleep in during my break. So my silicone and plastic child woke me up. :( I decided that I had better exercise the stupid thing, since it was getting fat. So I made it play one of the two games that it can play. Soon, it had jumped over enough hurdles, and played Simon enough to make my thumbs hurt. It was trim and happy, but was hungry. So I indulged it.
Later that evening, the blob changed into what I assume is it's final form. These things are programmed to give you one of a large variety of monster designs. Mine (the "ichigothci" according to www.tamagotchi.com) is a either a lady bug-like snail, or a living onigiri (rice ball). Either way, its kawaii and chibi! Kyaa! :-P
Day three came, and I was spending the day at the hospital (a family member had surgery Friday). I forgot to place the Tamagotchi on "pause", so it had a very bad day. When I got home (9 PM), it was already asleep (the thing sleeps from 8 PM to 8 AM, and in this time you cannot play with it. This is a favor to parents everywhere). The screen was filled with virtual poop. It had gone all day without exercising, eating, and cleaning. It had literally "shat" itself off the screen... so now I am waiting for 8 AM to come so I can at least get my pet's environment sanitary again. Oh, and the screen is also adorned with a huge skull... I am not sure if it is dead or sick... must be due to the poop.
For those of you who have never played with one of these, you are missing out. Nothing beats the ego-building power of being an educated, professional adult and having to press the "toilet" button to clear the screen of little piles of digital feces. Shouldn't I be reading up about the election, or studying for my anatomy test that is coming up? I mean, I hardly looked at any biochemistry this week. It feels as if I wasted a whole week, and as if I haven't been to school in months.
Anyway, once again I am addicted to a virtual pet. If you see my backpack lying about at school or work, and it has a lime green, egg-shaped keychain hanging from it, you'll know I am once again taking my pet in public with me. Why lime green? Because Bandai, in all their wisdom, released the thing in a cavalcade of bright colors (pink, orange, purple, lime green); all attracting way too much attention for my tastes. The green was the only one that remotely had a chance at not looking too freakish. Try not to judge me. :)
Oh, and if you have a Tamagotchi, track me down so we can hook up. The IR link allows these things to breed. *SIGH* Either I have an endearing, child-like view of life, or I need some serious help growing up...
See ya!
Comments:
hey! so thanks for leaving a comment on my new blog earlier today. i agree, $50 for an emblem IS outrageous. good ones (ie. with colour or wutever) cost like $80. insane. so i probably won't get one or get one for free via connections. by the way, tamagachi? i don't know... i never liked it when it first came out. all my friend's "pets" died very quickly. i wonder why. :)
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