Bandai launches new Tamagotchi with color screen and bluetooth

The Japanese toy maker Bandai is going to relaunch the Tamagotchi. The new version has a color screen with still three physical buttons underneath. The new Tamagotchi can connect with other Tamagotchis to go out for example.

The original Tamagotchi came out in 1997. The device had a monochrome screen and three buttons. The Tamagotchi ‘lived’ in it, a tiny animal that had to be fed, washed and entertained. Owners nurtured the critter from scratch to maturity, after which the game was over when the Tamagotchi was old enough to return to its home planet. However, if you did not give your animal attention for too long, you could lose it. The toy was very popular among the youth of that time.

The new Tamagotchi, called Tamagotchi On, doesn’t differ much from the outside. Bandai tells Wired that the new toy also wants to appeal to the same age group as then, so young children. The critters can roam the house, go to a park, go shopping, play games, play sports, and even visit other cities to meet different types of creatures and make friends.

In this new generation, players can also let their Tamagotchis play with each other and even get married to set up their own Tamagotchi bloodline. The animal can also receive mail from each other. This mutual connection is via infrared. Via bluetooth it is also possible to connect to an app that makes it possible, among other things, to meet Tamagotchis worldwide.

The toy should be released in the US this summer for $60, Engadget said. It is not yet clear whether it will come to the Benelux and for what price. A Tamagotchi app for the smartphone was also released in 2017, and in the same year the original Tamagotchi was re-released in much the same form in limited edition.