Tamagotchi Is Officially Making Its Comeback Next Month

Tamagotchi was a huge thing for kids born in the 1990s and early 2000s, with a whopping 76 million being sold worldwide by 2010. Requiring a mere three buttons - and a whole load of care and attention - kids did everything they could to make sure their digital pets would survive the cruel, harsh world.

Unfortunately, as with all must-have toys before them, they faded into obscurity along with other kid's items like Pokémon cards and Beyblades.

However, the youngest generation is about to revel in the greatness that Tamagotchi provides, with Japanese toy company Bandai announcing it will release a mini-version of the 90s toy.

You can pre-order your Tamagotchi on Amazon from today for just $15 (£11.30), but will also be available at American retailers like Toys 'R' Us, Walmart and Target. At the moment it appears that its only being offered in the US, but naturally there will be demand around the world.

This Tamagotchi will also be much smaller than the ones you remember.

Hopefully Bandai's version of 'finite' means that everyone can get one without having to storm through retail stores like Black Friday.

But will the toy will be at odds with the young kids of today? After all, they're more used to touchscreens and incredibly realistic video games, instead of the Tamagotchi pet's pixelated form.

What was it about these wonderful little things that catapulted them to the top of every kid's wish list?

Peter Jenkinson, editor of Toyologist told LADbible: "It was the first truly 'real time' toy - you didn't need to make it do stuff, it did stuff that you then had to react to. It was always on, always with you, you had little/no control over it and it was without doubt the first truly virtual pet that behaved like it had its own personality/destiny. In a way, a very early example of how AI might pan out.

"It was ahead of its time and although tech has evolved hugely this past two decades, our love of nostalgia hasn't diminished. In fact, there is an upsurge of nostalgia everywhere - board games, beards, cereal cafes bringing back favourites, retro merchandise and gifting all over the place, old-films getting CGI updates... bloody hell, even Mary Poppins is being upgraded."

But Bandai is hopeful that this new product will provoke some nostalgia in those who remember the Tamagotchi fondly.