Back when everyone had a Tamagotchi

[Save_Tamagotchis]

Ever since Bandai had started making Tamagotchi starting with the first Tamagotchi Connection, whenever a new one, like the Tama Go, comes out I always have this thought: I wish the old days would come back.

You know when Tamagotchi's were REALLY popular and EVERY one you knew had one or some variation of the types companies made to make money off the idea?

In my neighborhood back when Tamagotchi's were brand new and popular EVERY store sold Tamagotchi's or Giga Pets or Nano's or some variety of a virtual pet. Dogs, cats, alien's baby's, dinosaurs, characters from popular children shows at the time along with the official Tamagotchi's were covering the windows of small businesses in my area along with the local Toys R Us. There wasn't a single kid or teenager that didn't have one, two or three or even more of them along with a speckle of adults and elderly people.

I wish and hope that it can be that way again. I miss seeing Tamagotchi's in the windows of the stores. I still look in them at times wondering if I'll see one in the window next to the Digimon, Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh cards.

Anyone else feel the same?

 

[SailorRosette]

Yes, I too miss the Tamagotchi and other virtual siblings/copies/cousins were around. They seem so rare to see a good vitual pet anymore besides the seriously cheap knock-offs. They tried again, but they changed what people loved to begin with... (Giga pets in particular) Tamas I think will be around for a while longer, but no actual new version, just updating with figures for the Tama-Go since they decided to create so many... Its cheaper then re-designing a whole new tamagotchi.

I remember when everyone wanted my very first tama. (P2, Black/Grey)ffrom me when I was little. I almost traded it but decided not to because I was in love with it... and the clock feature that I could actually read at the time. I still have that little guy, shameful condition in my book because of how I removed the back battery cover... But it works still. Just sad how I got it open. Sharp Scizzors. So.... uhh ya.

I think when Digimon arrived in the USA, shortly followed by Pokemon... The craze slowly died out. I was in both crazes at once... I'm still loyal to them all. It seems like nobody around me cares about them anymore. They go, "you are too old for that..." etc... Not acordding to the Tama-Talk users here who've done polls... I think not. We only have one store local to me (to my knowledge) selling Tamagotchi anything anymore. Since Music Stars have clearanced too... My ToysRUs only sells them. And that is a bit away from me....

Shows how one thing we all treasured (If we were around in 1997-ish and old enough to have one)dropped off most people's radar to be forgotten until "garage sales" come up or they are moving.... whatever causes them to look in a old box... I really wish those people would come back.

 

[Save_Tamagotchis]

I wonder what could be a way to get Tamagotchi's to be noticed again...the idea of a virtual pet still interests people that's a fact...with Neopets and other stuff like it. But those that weren't in with what was popular when Tama's were everywhere and those too young to remember or those who have forgotten due to other stuff in their lives.

This forum may be a large place for Tama Fans to hang out...but really most of us are from that time when Tama's were popular or are those small few who randomly came across it due to finding a family member's Tama or saw it in the store and wondered what it was.

I wonder how we could spread intrests in Tamagotchi's again...it wouldn't hurt Bandai to make some commercials...I haven't seen one for the Tama Go at all.

 

[SailorRosette]

The Tama-Go commericail is out, but I haven't watched any channel that I think would have it on... Like Nickelodeon. Its probably on bandai's channel on youtube and then their normal site.

I would easily say, giving out our precious tamas to other kids... But I wouldn't do that. I instead would wear them on me at all times.... and I have TONS. get a kid to ask what they are and be wanting one... Kids always come up to me and ask "what is that" I think part of it is the price of them in general and the cell batteries they take are kinda costly to a parent for a toy... That some parents end up caring for during the day... all sorts of excuses.

I know most of us are from the first genration of the Tamas... In the long run, its not really that big of a lists of people who still enjoy them. Not everyone on this site has them anymore or are here because a friend directed them here...

I know, If the originals came back for one day, many people would be buying them off the shelves like crazy. Including me. Even if they were twice as much... I remember my original one was like $8 for one...Really. Its almost twice that, not including the Tama-Go....

 

[Alicefly]

It would be awesome if everybody was into Tamagotchis again. Mainly because then they might sell them in the UK again >_<

Imagine how many friends you pet could encounter; and you could make and entire family tree of them without ever needing the matchmaker or inbreeding XD

 

[PretzelNymph]

It would be really cool if they were popular again. There are NO stores I know of in my area that carry them. I always have to browse online, and personally I prefer going out to shop rather than on the Internet.

Also I think if they were carried in hobby/game stores, they would be surprised how many people my age would buy them. Just for the nostalgia and geeky thrill that is tamagotchis. Selling them almost exclusively in walmart and toys r us is a marketing failure on bandai's part, in my opinion.

 

[Save_Tamagotchis]

Bandai put in the connection feature to allow people to connect and have their Tama's mate...but I only ever came across one person...and that was when the first Connection's came out and it was back when I was in high school. We connected and mated our Tama's and they had two girls together...that was the only time...I doubt I'll ever run across someone who has a Tama Go or a Music Star to connect with.

A lot of kids were buying the Connection's when they came out from what I remember. They were in a metal basket at the entrance to the Toys R Us and kids were at it complaining that they couldn't find the color they wanted.

Reminded me when I finally got my first two real Tamagotchi's after buying a few other non-Tamagotchi virtual pets...a purple Tamagotchi with pink swirls on the shell and a pink and silver Angelagotchi...it reminded me of back when they were popular how every kid was running around trying to find the Tama with the shell color or pattern they wanted or was looking for one of the rare shell colors.

 

[Pantheratchi]

I totally agree with you guys. Tamas virtually disappeared in my country - even the people in our Toys R Us look at you funny if you ask them if they have Tamagotchis........most of them have never even heard of it. But since my husband has been feeding his hobby by buing over the internet it doesn't seem so strange for me to do so as well. It was really a lot of fun when both our parcels arrived at exactly the same time But, yeah, it would be awesome if we could see more people/kids playing with them.....

 

[SailorRosette]

I wish everyone could enjoy them again, really. Its sad that the UK won't be getting anymore. We all need to try to do something to get them popular again. Expcially since Thanksgiving/Christmas is around the corner. We need to get them WAY more popular then those (Quite Ironically) "Silly Bands" Those came out of nowhere.....

Us who still have a Tama from the old days, we should wear them like jewelery. Everyday. (Old days, when tamas were popular) I really think younger kids will come up and ask... Curiousity will help. Even the McDonalds toys from ages ago...

 

[kuchipatchi love]

Haaah, the good old days... I loved it when I could connect my sister's one to my friends, and they would all scream and shout and cry if we saw the "Lovey Lovey Dance" (which was the two adults turning from side to side which indicates mating)... haaah. It's good now for me because all my friends are willing to give away or let me buy their tamas for a very reasonable price, like a girl Brittany I know, she gave me 5 tamas, and a girl called Alanna gave me four, including an Akai! I was very very happy.

 

[zacksims123]

Yeah... I saw a whole aisle of clearence v4s at walmart. I bought one, just for old times sake. The only thing I see now is tama-go.

 

[MintyDreams7]

I remember that time. Every kid in my class had a virtual pet of some kind. Dinosaurs, cats, Tamagotchis, rabbits, aliens, dogs, fish, babies, monsters... There were so many different types.

I still collect them now, and I am especially fond the old v-pets. I guess it must be the nostalgia factor. XD

The craze had been long dead when I was in 8th grade. I remember asking all of the boys in my class if they still had their "Digimon - Digital Monster virutal pet". Only one of them did. I traded a card to him for it. XD

Sadly, the popularity of keychain v-pets never recovered.

I always had my Digimon with me. I took it everywhere I went. I was probably the only one in High School who still had or remembered virtual pets. Sometimes the other students would ask what it was, but if I uttered the word "Digimon" I would usually get "Oh, you mean that little kid's show?" and ended up having to explain that Digimon originated as a Tamagotchi-like toy from Bandai way before it was ever dreamed up into that lame cartoon.

So I mostly stuck with referring to it as "A game with a handy clock function" to avoid that. XD

 

[Save_Tamagotchis]

I usually have some people remember what they are when they see me caring for the one I have running at the time.

I've had a few of them say I'm too old for that. I answer them by asking if they have a video game console or have a computer they play games on or even if they play a sport of some kind or watch sports. More often then not the answer is yes and then I tell them that their Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 or whatever handheld they have or PC games they have or their basket ball or soccer ball or whatever are just as much a toy as my Tamagotchi...and of course with the hardcore mindset with that sort of stuff they don't want to hear that despite it being true.

There seems to be this weird negativity these days with hobbies or enjoying things from your childhood...or just doing something for fun. Like you should be working 24 hours a day or something. Sometimes you just need to put the work away and just enjoy yourself...I've noticed a lot of people seem to be forgetting that over there years.

I understand fooling around constantly is a bad thing to do...but nothing but working isn't healthy either...balance is everything.

 

[SailorRosette]

I totally agree with the negiativity of childhood toys.

Its really a shame... People don't know what they are missing anymore.

 

[Save_Tamagotchis]

People just have this stigma about looking immature.

This has been said a thousand times: Don't worry about what people think, do what makes you happy.

 

[Alicefly]

People just have this stigma about looking immature.

This has been said a thousand times: Don't worry about what people think, do what makes you happy.

It's a funny one that.

Because I grew up loving Tamagotchis since 1996 when they first emerged, I found that the stigma attatched to things like Tamagotchis happens in stages:

-First, you're a kid at school. The craze hits, and everybody wants one. Owning a Tamagotchi is cool.

-Next, you're at High School. The craze has passed on, and owning a Tamagotchi is not only uncool, but in a world where every other kid is trying as hard as they can to appear grown up, it's embarrassing.

-After that, you're in your late teens. You go to college, and people have forgotten all about them. You pull one out of your bag and people say things like 'OMG do they still exist?!' and turn their noses up.

-But when you leave college, and maybe get a full-time job or go to university, suddenly you're an adult. Buying them is no-longer embarrassing because everybody assumes you're buying it for a child. When you have one attatched to your bag, some people think you're quirky, but not necessarily in a bad way.

My colleagues at work always ask if my current Tamagotchi is still alive, and my boyfriend generally has a little mess around with it. Nobody seems to reject them as being stupid or uncool anymore. Younger kids think it's great when adults have things like that. The kids at the school I worked at last year loved my Tamagotchis.

I think when you're an adult, you no-longer have to be afraid of playground bullying, so I have no bad feeling about clipping my Tamagotchi to my handbag or playing with it in the queue at the shops. They've even become a talking point at the bar a few times (even with men, woohoo!). I think if I was 10 years younger though, I'd be a little shy about having them with me in public

Maybe that's just me though!

 

[Save_Tamagotchis]

Some of the younger people at my college and some of the adults who were my co-workers at my high school and college internships thought they were childish.

The trying to look cool thing still exists in college to the point of high school level with some people there...depending on how bad it is at your college.

And as for my co-workers my guess is because their trying to look professional in front of the boss...when in both those places...my high school internship being at a veterinarian hospital and my college internship being at the schools book store, the boss had more important things to do then to worry about you messing around a bit. Especially when there was absolutely nothing to do at the time at all...which happened A LOT at the book store since the beginning and the end of a semester is the only time its really busy... the beginning being where everyone was buying their text books for class and any supplies they needed...and the end where they were selling their books back and buying anything else they needed. Also having to change the books on the shelves for each semesters needs.

As far as they were concerned as long as you came in on time and did your job and your fair share of the work they didn't care about anything else other then getting what they needed to get done themselves.

 

[Alicefly]

Don't get me wrong, I would never 'mess about' with my Tamagotchi when I was supposed to be working- I only play with it during breaks, but it's always attatched to my handbag I don't think my boss would appreciate it distracting us from work, but so long as it's not a distraction, it's okay

 

[Maruten]

I'm with everyone above.

Except, I love shoping online.

I, mainly, just wish my friends were into them.

 

[adamshines]

This thread caught my attention because I seem to be going through a phase where I'm longing for those "Good ol' days". I recently pulled out my vintage Tamagotchi P2 and am playing with it again. I'm 28 years old, married, work as an Art Director for a publishing firm, a grown responsible adult- and I LOVE my Tamagotchi! I bring it to work with me and take care of it whenever I have a few seconds of downtime.

It's important to relive those moments, cherish them, those moments are what helped create who you are today.

There is a social stigma out here in the West (and maybe across the globe for all I know) is that while you grow older, you become more serious, you become more "responsible". Often we forget the things that made us happy and excited from our childhood. When we were kids, we knew exactly what pleased us and we didn't worry about what we were "supposed to be", we just were. Tamagotchi was a very happy and exciting part of growing up for me. This phase that I'm going through, its giving me the opportunity to reflect on my life and its also give me the opportunity to listen more closely to my heart, to just be.

I would encourage all of you to live like you're in the "Good ol' days". Because someday, these will be the good ol' days! Its only in retrospect that we can reflect and miss that period of time. You don't have to worry about what social norms dictate or even what your peers think, this is your experience and its important to live it how you intend.

The reason I feel so strongly about this subject is because now, in my late 20's, I'm beginning to figure out how to really live my life - and it's really easy! I just sit back, close my eyes and remember all the good times from my past. It helps me remember how in the moment I was, how I enjoyed life without judgement. Strangely enough, Tamagotchi is one of those mediums that helps me live more in the moment. I embrace it, however, as it brings a smile to my face. And that's the most important thing.