By: Kristen McGregor

Tamagotchi's have to be the coolest things in this world! In case you're not on the virtual pet bandwagon, let me help you figure out an aspect of this craze.

Tamagotchi's are the most popular in the virtual pet world. They cost between $15-$25 dollars; don't pay more than that for one. They have many stages in life and turn into different characters with different personalities depending on how you parent it. Here's a list of what your thing can turn into.

First there's egg-babitchi (the cutest little dot you've ever seen!) and babitchi-marutchi (looks like the Joe Boxer dude) Then it will grow into either the Tamachi (good guy) or the Kuchitamatchi (the bad guy). From the bad guy, there are three outcomes. The Kuchipatchi, which is the main character of the game (the one that looks like a duck). He's the best bad guy you can get. : ) Go down one on the scale, and you get the Tarakotchi. This is the strange one; it has skinny little legs, and big lips, and a bit of hair. Only a Tamagotchi owner could love it. And then we have mister Nyorotchi. The guy you get if you barely keep it alive. He looks like a snake, or whatever you decipher it as, and he lives for 7-9 years.

Okay, now on to the good guys. There's Mister Mametchi, the perfect, smart, pretty, happy, and serious one. This one lives the longest and is the best behaved. You have to take extremely good care and give lots of love to get this one. Never miss a beep. Next down the list, is the Ginjirotchi. He looks like a fat penguin. I don't know much about him. Then we have the Masktchi, who looks like a raccoon with scrawny little legs. He's going and going, from 11 am to 11 p.m. (He probably fits most teenagers' schedules anyway.) This is the dude that can turn into the secret character, the Gaijintchi. I've had him before, and he's perdy cute. : ) He has a long nose, lotsa hair, and scrawny little legs.

From then on, you live a happy but short life with your pet, until one day, the black skull starts beeping. Slowly but steadily, the pace of the beeps continues, shorter and shorter intervals, until you come to a single, "beeeeeeepppp" Your Tamagotchi has
turned into an angel.
But don't be too sad. You can always hit the restart button.