Bandai has launched the company’s latest collaboration, Pac-Man Tamagotchi.
The was a time when Tamagotchi ruled the world, and while these virtual pets aren’t quite as popular as they once were, they still make excellent gifts. Not every family can afford or wants a real, living pet, which is where Tamagothci comes in.
For those yet to set eyes on one, Tamagotchi is Bandai’s range of virtual pets. Kids feed, play with, and care for a virtual critter. If they don’t look after it, it becomes sad, so while it is a game, it’s also a minor responsibility.
This collaboration sees kids care for a cutesy critter, only this time with the help of everyone’s favorite ghost-eater, Pac-Man.
I can see the Pac-Man Tamagotchi being hugely popular with both kids and adults who grew up on Pac-Man. And with an affordable price to match, this is one gift that’s sure to be the must-have gift in certain circles.
The Pac-Man Tamagotchi is due for release on March 15, 2020, so get those pre-orders in ASAP.
Pac-Man Tamagotchi – $19.99 – $24.99
Now if this isn’t the coolest Tamagotchi ever made I don’t know what is.
The Pac-Man Tamagotchi is almost certain to be a collectible in a few years. Pac-Man has history, as do Tamagotchi. Both are pure nostalgia, so the combination of the two is sure to get a lot of people excited.
What’s brilliant about the Pac-Man Tamagotchi is how well the two different properties blend with one another. Would anyone have thought caring for a Tamagotchi with the help of Pac-man would be an enjoyable experience? Turns out, it sounds pretty cool.
As with regular Tamagotchi, you’ll be caring for your virtual pet from an egg, which takes on one of seven forms when it reaches adulthood depending on how you’ve cared for it. So be nice, yeah?
Care includes feeding them rice or Pac-Man’s favorite food, cherries, and calling on Pac-Man for help to chase away Ghosts when they come to bother your pet.
Not only that, there are also two mini-games to play with your new Pac-Pet: Pac Game and Catch Game.
In terms of what’s available right now, there are four different versions to choose from. Two versions come with a Pac-Man Tamagotchi case, and there’s two different colored shells to choose from – yellow and black.
Personally, I’m swayed by the black version, just because it looks like it’s been lifted straight from a game of Pac-Man. It. IS. LUSH!
All the different versions are listed below for your reading pleasure.
- Tamagotchi Pac-Man Device – Black Maze – $19.99
- Tamagotchi Pac-Man Device – Yellow Maze – $19.99
- Tamagotchi Deluxe Pac-Man with Case – Black Maze – $24.99
- Tamagotchi Deluxe Pac-Man with Case – Yellow Maze – $24.99
What is Pac-Man?
Originally created and published by Namco in 1980, Pac-Man is an arcade video game where players control a yellow creature and need to eat dots and food in the hopes of achieving or besting their previous high score, all while avoiding pesky ghosts who want to eat Pac-Man. They’re karma ghosts, essentially.
Having notched up sales in excess of $2.5 billion by the close of the 90s, making it the highest-grossing video game at the time, MoneyInc estimates Pac-Man is currently worth a staggering $510 billion.
Although Pac-Man may have been overtaken by his more contemporary peers – Pokemon and Minecraft, to name a few – he’s still one of the most recognizable icons in the gaming world.
What is a Tamagotchi?
Released in 1996 in Japan, Tamagotchi went on to become one of the hottest toys in the world, going on to sell more than 82 million units since its initial release.
If you were around in the 90s, Tamagotchi were everywhere. Almost every kid on the playground had one. You couldn’t take a step without someone asking you about your Tamagotchi, that’s how popular they were.
In short, Tamagotchi were an answer for parents who didn’t want pets. Kids could grab a Tamagotchi and care for a virtual pet without parents needing to worry about vet’s bills or damaged furniture, although I’m sure mini battery sales saw a boom during that period, too.
Kids would feed, play with, and take their virtual pets everywhere with them. Although Tamagotchi fell off, Bandai revealed the company was relaunching the toy in 2017 for modern audiences, complete with technical upgrades.
If you’ve yet to get your child a Tamagotchi, they really are well worth considering. Kids love playing with animals, and Tamagotchi also gives them a sense of responsibility. If they don’t care for their virtual pet, it’ll become sad. It’s a great way to test out how they’d fare with a real pet without the high cost involved with real animals.
Why You Should Buy: The Pac-Man Tamagotchi
A fair few parents who grew up in the ’90s will tell you just how much fun raising a virtual pet is. Not only do Tamagotchi stealth-teach kids about responsibility, they really are the next best thing to owning a pet.
Kids love looking after animals, that’s why animal playsets are such huge sellers. But plastic toys lack the same level of interactivity Tamagotchi offer, and with how far tech has come since the ’90s, owning a virtual pet in this day and age is vastly different from how it was back then.
Plus you get to play Pac-Man on it. Really, what more could you ask for?