Giga Pet facts for kids
Baby T-Rex (The Lost World) v2, released in 1997
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| Type | Digital pet |
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| Inventor(s) | REHCO LLC |
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| Country | United States |
| Availability | 1997–present |
Giga Pets are fun digital pet toys. They first came out in the United States in 1997. Back then, virtual pets were very popular! Tiger Electronics made the first Giga Pets.
Each Giga Pet is small enough to fit in your hand. It has a tiny screen and a key ring. You take care of your Giga Pet like a real animal. This means feeding it, cleaning it, and playing with it. The goal is to keep your digital friend happy and healthy!
Contents
How to Play with Your Giga Pet
Giga Pets start their lives on a small LCD screen. You pull a tab on the back to "wake them up." Each pet begins in a special way. For example, a Baby T-Rex hatches from an egg. A Compu Kitty arrives with a stork!
Keeping Your Pet Happy
Your Giga Pet will make a beep sound when it needs something. An icon on the screen will also show you an alert. To find out what your pet needs, you scroll through different choices. Then you push a button to pick an activity.
You can do many things with your pet. This includes bathing it, helping it exercise, or even teaching it good behavior. Sometimes, your pet might not want to do what you pick. If that happens, just try a different activity!
Pet Health and Life Span
A score on the screen shows how well your pet is doing. If you don't take care of your pet, it might get sick. Sadly, it could even "disappear" or "pass away." When a Giga Pet dies, it grows angel wings on the screen.
Most Giga Pets live for about two weeks. But if you take really good care of them, they can live even longer! When Giga Pets were first tested, girls often named their pets first. Boys usually started by teaching their pets rules.
Giga Pets and Furby Toys
Roger Shiffman helped create Giga Pets. He also helped make another famous toy called Furby. Furbies are furry pets with big eyes and ears. They could talk, move, and even sneeze!
Furby was meant to be the next big thing after Giga Pets. In 1998, Hasbro bought Tiger Electronics. Furby was part of that big deal. Hasbro paid US$335 million for Tiger Electronics. About 20 million Furbies were sold in just six months after they came out in 1998.
New Giga Pets in 2006
In 2006, Hasbro launched new Giga Pets. They released a TV game system called Giga Pets Explorer. They also made new handheld Giga Pet devices.
Giga Pets Explorer TV System
The TV game system cost about US$40. It came with three pets built into the unit. It also included a separate handheld Giga Pet, which was a Hamster. You could see your pets on your TV screen!
New Handheld Giga Pets
The new handheld pets were sold in packs of 12 or by themselves. Some characters you could buy individually were Pixie, Tomcat, Puffball, Dragon Lizard, Scorpion, and Bunny. Each one cost about US$15. The Puppy character, called Pup, was only sold at Toys "R" Us.
On these handheld devices, you could feed, play with, and bathe your pet. You used different food items, toys, and medicines. You could get more supplies at the General Store in the game. You paid for them with in-game money called Bucks. You could find Bucks by having your pet dig for hidden items. You could also plug these handheld Giga Pets into the TV game system. This let you see your pet on the TV!
Giga Pets AR Relaunch in 2018
In 2018, Giga Pets made a comeback! A company called Top Secret Toys LLC brought them back. This company was started by the same people who owned Lehco LLC, the original creators.
Modern Giga Pets AR Features
The new Giga Pets AR (which stands for "augmented reality") are very similar to the old ones. But they have some cool new features! You can earn trophies for completing tasks. There's also a special phone app you can download.
With the app, you can scan your trophies. This unlocks new games. You can also see your pet doing actions in augmented reality! This means your pet appears to be in your real-world surroundings through your phone's camera.
New Giga Pet Characters
Right now, there are six types of Giga Pets AR available. These include Puppy, Unicorn, T-Rex, and three kinds of Trolls. Fans even helped design some new pets! A "Magical Garden Pixie" is being made. Two more fan-designed pets, "Star Cat" and "Baby Bigfoot," will come out later.
