The Tamagotchi virtual pet will soon be available with a color display.
The egg-shaped portable toy from Bandai Co., which shows a graphic image of a cartoonlike pet on a tiny screen, has been a hit worldwide.
Some 40 million were sold in about two years after it first went on sale in 1996. Revived in 2004 with an infrared connection, it became a hit again, selling another 34.6 million units so far.
The revamped ¥5,040 Tamagotchi, set to go on sale in Japan on Nov. 22, is the first to have a color liquid crystal display, Bandai said Thursday. Overseas sales are pending.
The creatures inside the Tamagotchi must be "fed" and "nurtured" by the toy's owner by periodically pushing buttons on the toy. Should an owner forget, the animal may get angry or even die.
The new version offers colorful backdrops including kitchens, bathrooms and playgrounds. The pet's face turns blue when sick and red when angry, according to Tokyo-based Bandai.
Targeting girls between 7 and 9, Bandai plans to sell 200,000 color Tamagotchis in Japan by the end of March.
"By portraying more realistic and varied scenes, the product is designed to intensify the attachment users feel toward the Tamagotchi they raise," it said in a statement.
