Furby, Tamagotchi, Hatchpet and Me, Reminiscing

HATCH: AN IRRESISTIBLE iPHONE APP

I am in love with my iPhone. Well, actually I’m in love with an app on my iPhone. Sounds silly, but this app is so cute. Your kids and grandkids will love it and I predict it’s going to be “the next big thing.” Move over, Angry Birds and make way for Hatch. But first, a personal reminiscence …

When my daughters were young, I bought them digital pets, toys, called Tamagotchis. (You remember those, right?) These little handheld, egg-shaped computers housed, as the story goes, little creatures that were deposited on Earth as eggs. It was up to the user to  nurture that egg through its stages of growth. My girls loved these things and had multiple Tamogotchis, Nanos, and other brands of virtual pet that were available at the time. They fed them, played with them and brought them back to health when they got sick. My kids did whatever was required to nurture these digital creatures from infancy to adulthood. And, they became quite attached to them.

These toys were so popular that they sold out within minutes of being placed on store shelves. Don’t judge me, but once, when I heard that a new shipment was going to arrive at a local toy store, I got up early and planted myself in line where I stood for three hours, with dozens of other moms, before the store opened. I scored Tamagotchis for my girls that day and, yeah, it was worth it to see their faces.

My girls carried their Tamogotchis everywhere except to school where they weren’t allowed. Now, getting these things to grow took work, as I’ve explained. A bit of neglect caused them to become sick. A lot of neglect caused them to run away or, gasp, die. No one wanted their beloved, albeit not alive pet to die, least of all me. (How could a toy die? How do you explain that to a child?) And so, when the girls were in school, I carried the damn eggs with me – to lunch, to meetings, while I worked. I didn’t want to be responsible for the death of my child’s toy. Heaven forbid! I remember sitting in the dentist’s chair, four Tamagotchis and Nanos strapped to my handbag, and caring for them during my cleaning. I’d often see other moms with Tamogotchis hanging from their handbags and we’d smile knowingly at one another as we passed, sharing in the understanding that we didn’t want to disappoint our kids by “killing” their toys.

But, like all fads, this one faded. My daughters moved on and, I’m willing to bet, still have a dead Tamogotchi or two in a drawer in their rooms. (I have several unopened ones on a closet shelf. These were meant to replace broken, lost or dead Tamogotchis.)

I won’t lie to you. I kinda enjoyed playing with these things. While they were only pixels on a small screen, they were interactive enough to keep me involved, for a short time, at least. (And then came Furby! But that’s another story.)

About a year ago, I learned about a new virtual toy, an app, actually, that was coming to market. It was called Hatch (or Hatchpets) and it was going to be a modern version of the virtual pet. Interested people could sign up to receive it as soon as it was available. I sent the information to my now grownup kids, my young nieces, a few friends who had young kids of their own and, yeah, I signed up for it myself. I didn’t hear anything for months and months, wrote to the company and was very kindly told they were “coming soon” and promptly forgot about it – until a few days ago when I got an email saying Hatch was coming in two days.

I’m not going to lie. I got excited. I love this confluence of technology and cuteness. Think early Furby.  So cute. Years ago, on a frigid Black Friday, I went on an early morning Furby run with a friend of mine who picked me up at 5 a.m. so we could be among the first in line to score Furbys for our kids.

So yeah, the second I saw the email that Hatch had arrived and was downloadable, I logged into the app store and grabbed me one. I was reticent to  “like” the Hatch Facebook page fearing that I’d be the lone adult – but comments and uploaded photos prove that I am in the company of my peers. (The app’s developers are not only brilliant – the app is adorable; the graphics are amazing – they are also very accessible and savvy, responding quickly to comments and questions.)

There’s something about this app. It purrs when you pet it, giggles when you tickle it, chomps in satisfaction when you feed it and it’s really cute. Some things are not so cute. It poops. A lot. With attendant noises. And in different quantities, which alarmingly causes me to think about why. You can buy it things, like blankets to sit on and a camera it uses to photobomb your photos. (I am fascinated by this and have taken dozens of selfies with my Hatchpet.) It doesn’t move very much except to race up to the screen to “lick” you when it’s happy or to move off its blanket to poop. It comes in different colors and markings and, did I say it already, it’s cute. Like, really cute. It sleeps when your phone is charging and turns off when you exit the app so it won’t take up nearly as much time as the earlier incarnations of digital pets. As with the other digital pets, Hatch will “run away” if it’s neglected but I’m pretty sure you can get it back by reloading the app. Plus, because the developers say they’re working on updates that will enable Hatch to do other things, I’m hooked.

I don’t know how many thousands of Hatchpets have been downloaded but, within a day, it was a top app on iPhone. (I wouldn’t be surprised to see plush Hatchpets staring at me from store windows in the near future. You heard it here first …)

Maybe there’s something to the story that the early digital pets were created to teach kids to nurture a baby. I’ve nurtured two and loved every second of it so it’s probably no surprise that I’ve been petting and kissing my iPhone a lot during the past few days.

I know. I know. You think I’m crazy. It’s ok. I may be, but I am not alone. Tell you what? If you see me walking down the street tickling my iPhone, just ignore me. I’ll understand.

But, if you’re curious and want a Hatch of your very own, or to give as a gift, it’s $1.99 in the app store. (Android and other mobile device users, you’re out of luck. Hatch is only available for iPhone.) The company says they will update constantly enabling your virtual pet to do more and more things. I kinda can’t wait. But for now, I’m happy just listening to it purr.

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