Don't...Wait, Do - No Don't Feed The Animal

Jane stop this crazy thing!

One Christmas in the 90's my wife and I were given the gift of digital life, life in the form of Tamagachi (probably misspelled but oh well). The novelty of that year, we carried these things around on our keychains or whatnot. Like a real animal, it demanded food and play on a constant basis. Now, I have a real dog which I love but still I gave this LCD critter some time. Just not enough time. This thing kept yapping and chirping or whatever sound it made and was never satisfied with the amount of play I gave it. In the end it kept dying, which was depressing.

The thing seriously needed an off switch. Or maybe it had one and I didn't figure it out. Anyway, instead of being a fun distraction Tamagachi was more like an unwanted litmus test for parenting skills I suppose. Which I guess you fail automatically because anything you're raising shouldn't be carried in your pocket next to your keys. It made me feel like the MCP in Tron, here I was torturing this electronic creature trapped in a malfunctioning Casio watch. So I threw it in my desk and never looked at it again except for its eventual trip to the garbage can.

Who the hell made up a toy like this? Unless you have the free time and dedication needed to keep this critter happy it guilt tripped you like no tomorrow. I tell you I have neither, for a creature that ran on lithium it sure was unhappy all the time. I don't think it even told time. I'm sure there are people who had a good time with this picachu looking creature, I'm just not one of them. Picachu, I don't choose you.