The Tamagotchi (Japanese: たまごっち, IPA: [tamaɡotꜜtɕi], "Egg Watch")
is a handheld digital pet that was created in Japan by Akihiro Yokoi of
WiZ and Aki Maita of Bandai. It was released by Bandai on November 23,
1996 in Japan and in the USA on May 1, 1997, quickly becoming one of the
biggest toy fads of the late 1990s and the early 2000s. As of March
2021, over 83 million units have been sold worldwide. Most Tamagotchi
are housed in a small egg-shaped handheld video game with an interface
consisting of three buttons, with the Tamagotchi Pix adding a shutter on
the top to activate the camera.