Giga Pet

Giga Pets are digital pets (also known as virtual pets or artificial pets) that were first released in the United States by Tiger Electronics in 1997 in the midst of a virtual-pet toy fad. Available in a variety of different characters, essentially each is a palm-sized video screen attached to a key ring. To ensure a happy, healthy pet, its owner has to take care of it in some of the same ways one might care for a real animal. Among other things, Giga Pets have to be fed, cleaned, and played with.

How to use

Giga Pets are "born" on a tiny LCD screen after the owner pulls back a tab on the back. The pets come to life in different ways. For example, Baby T-Rex hatches from an egg. Compu Kitty is delivered by a stork. A beep sound and alert icon notify the owner that the pet requires attention. To determine what the Giga Pet needs, owners must scroll through various activities and push a button to select one. Activities include but are not limited to bathing, exercising, and disciplining the pet. Sometimes a selected activity is refused and the owner has to try a different one. A running score determines the pet’s overall well-being; neglect leads to the pet’s demise. The average life of a Giga Pet is 2 weeks but very healthy pets can live longer. When a Giga Pet dies it grows angel wings. When Giga Pets were initially tested, it was reported that the first thing most girls did was name their pets whereas most boys opted to discipline the digital creatures.