Tamagotchi

The origins of Digimon exist within the Tamagotchi (たまごっち Tamagotchi) a series of handheld Virtual Pets created by Aki Maita and sold by Bandai. Three buttons (A, B, and C) allow the user to select the options to feed or play with the virtual pet. There are a wide range of "characters" that the Tamagotchi can evolve into, depending how well the user takes care of it (features which eventually became evolution within digimon).

=Name Origin/Pronunciation= The name combines the Japanese word for egg ("tamago") and the syllable "chi" which denotes affection, so it may mean "loveable egg". It is also a pun on both "wotchi" (borrowed from the English word "watch") and "tomodachi" (Japanese for friend). Also, because "tamago" is Japanese for egg, and "tomodachi" is Japanese for friend, Tamagotchi could be taken to mean "egg-friend."

In Japanese and most other languages it is pronounced with a long "o" sound — ta-ma-goh-chee — although in the United States it is typically pronounced "ta-ma-GAH-chee". In Japan, the final "i" is usually elided, thus becoming Tamagotch. This is a common occurrence in the Japanese language.