Tamagotchi

The Tamagotchi (たまごっち) [tamaɡotꜜtɕi] is a handheld digital pet, created in Japan by Akihiro Yokoi (ja) of WiZ and Aki Maita[citation needed] of Bandai. It was released by Bandai on November 23, 1996 in Japan and May 1997 in the rest of the world, quickly becoming one of the biggest toy fads of the 1990s and early 2000s. As of 2010, over 76 million Tamagotchis have been sold world-wide. Most Tamagotchi are housed in a small egg-shaped computer with an interface usually consisting of three buttons, although the number of buttons may vary.