This Tamagotchi Is Larger Than Usual
It may not be the largest in the world, but Jens built a really big Tamagotchi — like an ostrich egg compared to a chicken egg.
We humans have a weird fascination with everyday objects scaled up to massive proportions. Nobody knows why and the best guess scientists have is “big stuff good.” The city of Casey, Illinois, for example, seems to exist solely as a plot of land on which to place oversized things, such as gigantic knitting needles and a particularly large birdcage. But most of those roadside attractions aren’t actually functional — the majority of birds would fly right through the bars of that cage, for instance. Jens, however, makes working things, which is why we like his Tamagotchi that is quite a bit larger than usual.
Yes, the title is a bit tongue-in-cheek. This Tamagotchi is actually really big, like a flattened ostrich egg (rather than a flattened chicken egg, like a normal Tamagotchi). It just doesn’t veer into “so huge it becomes a tourist landmark” territory. And it probably isn’t even the biggest Tamagotchi in existence.
If you’re old enough to have hands-on experience with a Tamagotchi, you know that they’re incredibly simple devices. Even back in the ‘90s, when every gadget was expensive, a brand-new Tamagotchi would only set you back $17.99. And those prices dipped fast. We’re not talking about anything high-tech here. But this is a one-off project and Jens only needed to make one mega-gotchi, so he was able to splurge on some components that are complete overkill.
The primary component is a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, which runs an open-source utility called TamaTool. That contains a first-generation Tamagotchi emulator (based on TamaLIB), as well as a RAM editor, a debugger, and more. Add a screen, a battery, some buttons, and a speaker, and you’ve got all the hardware you need for an embiggened ‘Gotchi. That’s exactly what Jens did.
Of course, half of the appeal of a Tamagotchi is that adorable ovoid enclosure and Jens needed to replicate it at a larger size. He designed that in Autodesk Fusion 360 and then 3D-printed it on his Bambu Lab printers. There is even a matching keychain.
But this isn’t quite a 100% faithful reproduction, because there is something on the back that the original Tamagotchi didn’t have: a “torture” button. Remember how TamaTool has a RAM editor? That gives a user complete control over every facet of the Tamagotchi and opened up an avenue for Jens to implement some sadistic hacks.
Check out the video to see what that torture button does — we’re not spoiling the surprise!
