Tamagotchi, the electronic pets that were first released by Bandai in Japan in 1996, have returned. But this time in the form of an app in which you can feed, discipline and even play "rock, paper, scissors" with your not-really-there pet.

The bonus is that you can feed him anything — even recycled plastic probably — and the Tamagotchi won't know the difference. Because, you see, he's not real. But this is not a problem. In fact, it's an asset. These days, we prefer things that aren't real. Don't we? I mean, isn't that the problem with real pets? You can't play paper, scissors, rock with them?

I have a suspicion that the first Tamagotchi virtual pets weren't actually pets but plants. Being that they were never real anyway, it's hard to prove, but since all you had to do was feed them to keep them alive, an electronic plant seems more likely. But paper, scissors, rock is where I draw the line. We're definitely talking real electronic pets this time.