See also: Reports: Mental health: Psychiatry on rise for children
The Tamagotchi challenge is to raise a liquid-crystal-display chick that needs to be "fed," cleaned up and disciplined at odd intervals. If owners are remiss, the creature withers and "dies." The game has become so distracting that it is banned from classrooms in Hong Kong and South Korea. Fans carry the chick wherever they go -- on buses, on dates and even to work. In Singapore, at least five people have lost their jobs as a result. One restaurateur complained that some young waitresses were more concerned with nurturing their digital pets than serving customers.
The phenomenon has its semi-surreal dimensions. Different Asian societies saw youngsters so traumatized by their pets' demise that they needed counseling. Others created a Tamagotchi cemetery, with its own website. Most children do not bother with cyberburials, though. They know the chicks are easily resurrected for the next cycle of life, as the game can be reprogrammed.
The craze has begun to stir serious debate. Some scholars are investigating whether it may be desensitizing children to the consequences of death. And studies may yet emerge on gender differences in play. (Rather than see how long they can nurture the chick, some teenage boys are competing to see how quickly and ingeniously they can kill it off.) Perhaps, papers may even appear on how the device has usurped the maternal instinct in society.
Some worry about alienating effects, as youngsters seek companionship and affection in microchip and plastic. Educators in Seoul say the game not only disturbs classes by its cheeping noises, but could also "retard the development of students' human qualities." Yet others view the Tamagotchi as evidence that society is becoming increasingly at ease with technology. Unlike some other technological manifestations, the Tamagotchi is not seen as threatening in any way.
Whatever the case, it is best not to get carried away. Stripped of its novelty value, the Tamagotchi is, after all, just another electronic game. The difference is that the signal for "Game Over," in this case a digital tombstone, pops up much later. Rather than end after 15 minutes or an hour, the game may take a day, or a week or two. It is a hand-held version of the more elaborate role-playing games that keep youngsters glued to TV and computer monitors.
Fads are, by definition, fickle. That is why Bandai is cashing in as quickly as it can. The company is furiously marketing spin-offs such as stickers and notebooks for recording the growth of its cyberpet. To keep demand up, the Tamagotchi, like the Barbie doll, continually emerges in new colors and designs. Bandai's latest offering: the Tamapitchi, a mobile phone containing the cyberpet program. It thus combines two fads in one convenient package. For the toy-maker, it pays to put all the eggs in a single basket for now.
