The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2023
Tamagotchi Uni: Bandai's virtual pet goes online in the Tamaverse — first Wi-Fi model
The first Wi-Fi Tamagotchi: a colour, rechargeable pet that connects to the Tamaverse for co-op games, online marriage and downloadable updates.
Bandai (Bandai Namco Group)
What it had to solve
The 1996 Tamagotchi sold tens of millions, but in a smartphone era its single-screen caring loop had lost novelty, and earlier online play lived on a separate PC website rather than on the device. Bandai wanted the toy to feel relevant to a generation that never knew the original — without simply replaying nostalgia.
How it works
Tamagotchi's 1996 caring loop made Bandai a global toy phenomenon, but by the 2020s its single-screen devices competed with smartphones that had novelty built in. Rather than reissuing the original, Bandai built the Uni around a native internet connection — the first Tamagotchi whose online world lives on the device itself, not on a PC website.
That world is the Tamaverse. Over Wi-Fi, players meet other Tamagotchis from around the world, join Tama Arena co-op and competitive mini-games, buy and upload outfits in Tama Fashion, and take Tama Travel tours where pets greet visitors in their native languages. Adult pets can meet at Tama Parties and marry without a matchmaker or a second device, and downloadable updates arrive directly on the unit.
The hardware keeps pace with the idea: a colour screen, USB-C recharging that lasts roughly 1.5 weeks, individual personalities, decorated multi-room homes and achievement medals deepen the loop, while an included wristband turns the pet into a wearable watch. Priced at US$59.99 (AU$129.95/£69.99) and released on July 15, 2023, the Uni was reviewed by GamesHub as 'a major generational leap' — five stars — and as a design that rarely leans on nostalgia.
Why it lands
- Wi-Fi is used to expand the fantasy rather than just sync it: the Tamaverse gives pets a shared world with co-op games, fashion and guided tours.
- Tama Parties remove a decades-old friction — an adult pet can meet another and continue its line online, with no matchmaker or second device required.
- Downloadable updates over Wi-Fi turn a one-time toy into a service that can grow after purchase, keeping the device alive for months or years.
- The colour screen, USB-C charging and wristband-watch form make the pet feel native to 2023 instead of a reissue of a 1990s gadget.
What it did
Critics received the Uni as a genuine generational leap rather than a nostalgia reissue: GamesHub gave it five stars, praising the Tamaverse as a delight and writing that it 'rarely relies on nostalgia'. The July 15 worldwide release date and multi-country pricing let reviewers in the US and Australia assess the same connected toy at once, and Bandai's bet was that Tamagotchi could evolve into a live, internet-native product instead of an app.
What you can take
Don't replay the classic — give the original loop a native network: connectivity, shared play and updates made a 1996 toy feel new, and solved old frictions like needing a second device to marry.
Since then
Reviewed in the US and Australia at the same July 2023 release, the Uni showed Bandai treating Tamagotchi as a connected product rather than a nostalgia rerun: the colour screen, rechargeable battery and on-device Tamaverse made the pet feel contemporary, and the wristband turned it into a wearable for children who never owned the 1996 original. GamesHub called the result a torch-passing moment that rarely relies on nostalgia — proof that a 27-year-old toy could keep its caring loop while gaining native online play.
Sources
- The Tamagotchi Uni device features the 'metaverse of the Tamagotchi world'
- Tamagotchi Uni review – A major generational leap
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