The first thing you’ll notice about both digital pet reboots is the colored-digital screens which are much easier on the eyes than the gray-scale pixels of old. Buy Tamagotchi and Giga Pet on Amazon 21st century releases and updatesīoth virtual pets have released newer models since the 90s in the hopes of capitalizing on nostalgia and reintroducing the toys to a new generation. However, by 2000, Giga Pets had lost most of its steam along with the Tamagotchi. While the Tamagotchi sold more, the initial fad died out pretty quickly, and Giga Pets proved to have a little more staying power, mostly thanks to tie-ins with franchises like Jurassic Park and Star Wars. While not as globally successful as Tamagotchi, Giga Pets addressed the demand for virtual pets based on real animals and were more readily available to American kids (they were also $5 cheaper than the Tamagotchi). Although Giga Pets would also fly off the shelves, for many 90s kids, Tamagotchi was their first choice – it was the originator of the whole virtual pet craze, after all. Giga Pets sold a lot less globally, as the electronic toy mainly appealed to the North American audience. Since its release in 1996, Tamagotchi has sold over 82 million units worldwide. Tamagotchi would usually beep when hungry, sad, sick, or when it had pooped, whereas the Giga Pet could beep solely because they wanted a treat or a little extra attention. Giga Pets were known to be the needier of the two digital pets. In contrast, Tamagotchi’s characters were fun original designs from the minds of its creative team.īoth virtual pets had a discipline meter, and the original Tamagotchi allowed the player to scold their pet for bad behavior, whereas the Giga Pet could earn discipline points for praising good traits or punishing negative ones. The most apparent difference between the two virtual pets is that Giga Pets were based on real animals. Main differences between both virtual pets Giga Pets’ game mechanics were very similar to that of the Tamagotchi, with some slightly different options (like bathing the pet for better hygiene). Each pet would come to life in different ways (the ‘Baby T-Rex’ would hatch from an egg, while the ‘Compu Kitty’ is delivered via stork etc.) Giga Pets are activated when the tab on the back is pulled back, at which point the device’s respective animal is born. If you took good care of your Tamagotchi during its adult life stage, an animation would play showing that it laid its own egg, prompting you to reset the device and start caring for the next generation. However, no matter how well you took care of it, the Tamagotchi would eventually die of old age (some could live to a maximum of 25 years or 24 real-world days). Notoriously, the Tamagotchi would die if you neglected to take care of it and its health meter reached zero. The Tamagotchi had a health meter influenced by the ‘care actions’ you took, like feeding, disciplining, and playing with your virtual pet. When they activated their Tamagotchi, kids would need to set the clock, after which the pet hatches, revealing one of four small alien species. Giga Pet and Tamagotchi had pretty similar life cycles from birth to demise The Tamagotchi Lifecycle No matter what toy they got, kids had to be ready to take care of their virtual pet from cradle to grave. While having some superficial differences, the game mechanics the Tamagotchi and Giga Pet were basically identical. Game mechanics…can I borrow your homework? There was also a small reset button on the back that cleared the game and let kids start fresh (something that many kids were regrettably forced to do when they neglected their pet for too long). The toy had three buttons on the front that allowed kids to navigate the game menu and select options like feeding or disciplining their Tamagotchi. Tamagotchi was released by Japanese company Bandai in 1996 To older generations, it merely resembled a computerized pocket watch, except that instead of telling time, it was purely designed to entertain kids (and perhaps teach them a lesson about responsibility). The toy came with a small chain that kids would often use to attach to their school backpacks or belt buckles so they could quickly respond to the needs of their virtual alien pet. The original Tamagotchi was an egg-shaped computer small enough to fit into your pocket, with a screen no larger than a postage stamp. The Giga Pet kept the same basic dimensions, but the overall shape differed based on which animal you had. The Tamagotchi’s simple, egg-shaped design is what helped made it so iconic.
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