The latest pet craze to sweep Japan isn't warm and cuddly; in fact, it doesn't even breathe. Tamagotchi is a digital pet that lives inside a plastic egg.
More than a half-million Tamagotchis have been snatched up in Japan. The most ardent fans are teenage girls. But toy distributor Bandai Co. counts many salarymen among the million-plus daily visitors to its homepage.
While Tamagotchis may be virtual, taking care of them is no small task. After they hatch on a tiny LCD screen, your pixel pal must be fed, nurtured, and disciplined via three buttons. The more interaction, the longer your critter lives.
Bandai, whose Pippin set-top Web box flopped in US markets last year, hopes its one-chip wonder will spark a Western phenomena; it arrives in the US and Europe in May.
ELECTRIC WORD
Pixel Pet
