Digital pet of '90s returning in updated form

TOKYO — Japan's popular digital pet from the 1990s is coming back. And this time Tamagotchi will be able to date, fall in love and even have babies.

Launched in 1996 but discontinued in 1998, Tamagotchi was an egg-shaped, pocket-size gadget with a cartoon pet that appeared on a screen. Owners reared it by punching buttons that would feed the creature, play games with it or groom it. In time, the pet "grew" from an infant into virtual adulthood, and better players could make it live longer.

The new, souped-up Tamagotchi Plus goes on sale in Japan on March 20 for 1,980 yen ($19), and will be introduced overseas this summer.

It will be able to talk with other digital pets through infrared signals, and owners can have them compete in eating contests or give flowers and other presents.

Tamagotchi Plus is programmed to cultivate intimacy, moving from friendship to love to marriage. In some cases, a child pops up on the displays.

Masashi Umeda, a spokesman for Bandai Co., the Japanese toy maker that produces Tamagotchi, acknowledged that matching the device's initial popularity will be a challenge. Forty million Tamagotchis were sold worldwide.