I <3 Digital Doggie

GigaPets.

Does anybody remember GigaPets? Those little electronic toys with the little pet (mine was a dog) that you had to take care of? Looking back, those things are SO annoying; you had to play with them everyday, you had to feed them three times a day or they would die, they were always asking for treats, and you had to take it to the doctor like once a week.

Released in 1997 by Tiger Electronics (now a division on Hasbro), I was seven years old when Santa brought me my first GigaPet, it was the "Digital Doggie", as opposed to "Bit Critter", "Compu Kitty", or "Micro Chimp", looking back today- "Micro Chimp" would've been sweet to have). I loved that GigaPet. I hooked it onto my belt loop on my jeans when I went out riding my bike with the neighbors, onto my bookbag when I went to school, and onto the string you pull to adjust the blinds on the window in my room. I carried it everywhere.

I'm not sure what really happened to my "Digital Doggie", but I do know it consists of my 3.5 year younger sister and a bathtub full of water. So in comes my second GigaPet. It was also a "Digital Doggie", guess mom didn't think I'd notice the difference, too bad she didn't realize my old dog was dying because I didn't feed it enough, this little guy had a healthy heart. But I didn't complain.

Three months later I dropped my GigaPet in the driveway and didn't realize it till I went out riding bikes, who knows how long after I'd lost it, and saw it smashed at the end of the driveway, run over by a car. I never told my mom about the crushed GigaPet, but that's alright, because we know now, and possibly then also, that GigaPets were a fad that lasted MAYBE a year.

GigaPets were re-released in 2006 with new designs, new animals, and more advanced technology compare to the 1997 edition. But in reality, I'm not sure how successful that went considering I never heard about it. Looking back in the technological world, GigaPets were one of the very first digital pets to be released in the United States. Today, many companies have released similar digital pets for the 20th century youth, I've vaguely heard of Tamogatchis or something or other, but GigaPets set the digital world off.

If anyone knows where you can buy the classic "Digital Doggie" or "Micro Chimp" GigaPet, PLEASE, let me know! I SO want one now that I'm 18. Seriously.

We salute you, Tiger Electronics, for creating the GigaPet, one of the first digital pets in the US, also probably the most annoying.