Why Tamagotchi (Virtual Pets)?

I haven't been on this forum in a while. What happens is I go through Tamagotchi phases: something piques my interest, my interest grows to near obsession, and then attention turns off. The reason I ask is I am in an intense period of transition currently, which is what happened with me the last time I turned to my Tama pals in 2013. I first discovered Tamagotchi in 1996, when I was in middle school. They were all the rage and I, being an easily influenced pre-teen, had to have one. Of course, this was problematic as I was a pre-teen boy and they were played with primarily by pre-teen girls in my day. I knew that I was transgressing societal expectations and norms by wanting to play with them (not that I would have said it in that manner at that age). Of course, I already knew I was different from most boys my age at that point, but I did everything in my power to hide that fact. I can trace a pattern from an early age of wanting to play with both girls' and boys' toys: beanie babies, tamagotchis, furbies; teenage mutant ninja turtles, mortal kombat, horror action figures. There has always been that push and pull for me between consuming both gendered media (toys, here are media in the broader sense). Tamagotchi and the wider virtual pet family were catalysts for expressing my sexuality in a way that wasn't permitted in the 90s; I was also transitioning from childhood to adulthood in that period. 

My second return to tamagotchi (intensely) was during my transition from my masters to the PhD. I was an American living in the UK completed a degree that would culminate my years of excessive study. Furthermore, that year, my partner and I got engaged. The combination of all of these life altering events had me turn to something I could control and care for in the way I saw fit, letting me stabilise an ever-changing, transitional period. This leads me to my present situation, where I am nearly 4 years married and living back in the US with my British partner, in a state I'm unfamiliar with doing a job I'm objectively overqualified to do. I want to clarify that it is by no means a bad job and it's a job that people turn into careers, but my educational qualifications, work history and intellect (not to be immodest) mean my current role in this particular strain of university administration is unchallenging. 

In essence, for me, I turn to my 90s pre-teen memorabilia, toys, films and music to provide me a sense of comfort because they are familiar. Tamagotchi in particular is something I understand at its basic core, despite it too transitioning and evolving (pun intended) throughout its short time on this earth and in our lives. 

My question for the rest of you is what brings you and keeps you loving tamagotchi? How do you think it impacts your daily living, helps your emotions and the like? It'd be great to get people's stories about their own personal 'fandom' with tamagotchi and/or other virtual pets.

-Patrick

I'm a little older than you were when you started playing Tamagotchi (I'm going into my senior year of high school next month for reference) and although i've only been exposed to them for a short time (Xmas 2018) I can say they've impacted my life a LOT.

It started off with me getting a re-release of the P1, then using my Xmas money to get two P2's, then I used my job money to get several Connections and a Friends, and soon an ON and even a Digimon re-release! I would run them at different times and see which Tamas I would get since I would go into them blind. but in March/April I got bored, and stored them all in my desk and didn't really think about them. That is until Summer, when I realized I had ALL the time in the world to look after them!

My favorite part about them is being my own pet! While yes, I own 2 dogs whom I love oh so very much, Tamagotchis require a LOT less attention and they can evolve into a lot of cool and unique things! I always found it fun to share my Tamagotchi experiences with friends and show them what rad things they turned into. But they've also helped me through some tough times, and seeing my little guys thrive and be happy in turn makes me happy!

I know this was mostly just me rambling as to why I like Tamagotchi, but they mean the world to me. Even if I have phases where I don't play with them for a month or two, they will always be a major part of me and who I am.