Before Moshi Monsters, before FarmVille, even before Neopets, there was one name that to this day remains synonymous with the term "virtual pet": Tamagotchi.
Hatched in Japan during 1996, the Tamagotchi became a historic success story. In its first five months on sale in Japan, it sold 1.5 million units. When it launched in the UK the goal was to sell another million to Brits by that same year's end. Today, the total sales are in the tens of millions and the franchise continues to be exploited by creator Bandai.
Yet there was something dark about the Tamagotchi pets: they could die. In fact death was a chief marketing hook. For the UK launch, journalists invited to a party to pick up a Tamagotchi were warned that if they failed to attend they would be sent a funeral bill. Children, afraid that neglecting their pet during school hours would cause it to die, started having to literally send the toys to daycare -- a cottage industry of "Tamagotchi creches" rose to accommodate this need, and it achieved mainstream TV documentation. Stories about bereaved children needing counselling as a result of a dead Tamagotchi helped keep the toys in the public eye.
By: Nate Lanxon, Edited by: Olivia Solon
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via Wired.co.uk
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-08/21/death-in-games
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