If you have ever fancied a pet that doesn't make a mess, doesn't smell, doesn't drain your finances or roll in the mud, then I might have just the thing for you. But, if you need the love and affection of wet kisses and a waggy tail then you might find this pet a little lacking.

The Tamagotchi The first electronic cyber pet hit the world back in November 1996. It was a pet in your pocket, a computer chipped pet which you fed and played games with until it grew up. The tamagotchi is a small hand held computer game which is simple to use and fits within the palm of an adult hand.

The craze swept the UK in the 1990s but soon fizzled out. The tamagotchi craze ended because the pet was rather boring. You fed it, played games with it and if you forgot it died and you had to start again.

Enter the Tamagotchi Connection Version 2 The makers of the tamagotchi are Bandai, a Japanese company. They have recently come up with an ingenious idea to restart the tamagotchi craze. Version 2 was launched in 2005. This time round the tamagotchi is more of an interactive toy because you can connect them via infra red and make them become friends, share presents and have babies!

Cyber Pet The tamagotchi connections version 2 cyber pet is slightly oval in shape and has a hard plastic colourful casing with a screen in the centre. It is small (approx 3cm x 2.5cm) and has a key ring at the top so that you can attach it to a clip or whatever you like. Underneath the screen are three raised buttons to control the functions on screen.

Hatch and Go! When you first get your tamagotchi, a tab is released to start the life of the pet. An egg appears on screen and within a couple of minutes it hatches and you will discover if you have got a boy or a girl pet. You then choose a birth day for your baby and programme in a name of your choice (up to 5 letters). The aim is now to care for your pet by feeding it, cleaning up its mess, playing games with it and dishing out medicine if it becomes sick or gets toothache. To care for your tamagotchi pet properly you also need to discipline it so that it doesn't become a spoilt brat! It is possible to raise your pet to age 23+ if you are really caring!

Caring for your Pet A series of love hearts informs you whether you are caring for your pet properly. If it is hungry you will see 5 clear love hearts; when the pet is not hungry, all these hearts become black. There is a similar chart for the happiness of your pet. If it is unhappy, you need to play games with it, give medicine if it is sick (indicated

by a little tooth for tooth ache or a skull face for sickness), give your pet praise or buy it a treat from the shop. Playing games with your pet wins you money to be added to your account. With this money you can buy special items from the shop which are for sale These can be edible treats or goods like boots or a bow tie! The maximum you can have in your account is £99.99 but it takes a long time to achieve this as you only win a few pence per game.

Connecting The version 2 tamagotchi has an infra red connection at the top of the toy which if placed near another transfers information so that you can make a boy and a girl fall in love and have a baby! They can also share presents this way. This makes the toy much more fun than the old version because it can be played together with friends.

Recommend? This game is great fun and I would suggest best suited to children age 6 and above. It is great for car journeys (in daylight). Tamagotchi version 2 does not get boring, in fact over time you discover lots of new and interesting things about your pet. For example, the type of pet that hatches can be different each time, from a duck faced creature to an onion shaped thingy. Then there are moments when your pet appears on screen having a bath or watching TV. There are 4 games to play but you don't get them all until you've managed to care for your baby to various stages. When you progress far enough to get the best game called slot, where if you hit the jackpot of OOO, you get £9.99 added to your account and fireworks on screen!! The first time you do this you cannot be silent about your achievement!!

If you able to care for your pet well, you can proceed through several generations. The child of the parent grows to adulthood, reproduces and then the parent dies (symbolised by a pair of wings)..RIP ma/pa!

One of the best things about the tamagotchi is that you can start it again if your pet dies. You can get either a boy or a girl so if you are not happy with the sex of your pet to start with you can reset it by poking a sharp object in the hole at the back to restart the egg hatch. More about Tamagotchi

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