Some time ago, XKCD, an online comic, released a comic called
'Tamagotchi Hive':
I happened to be at a time of my life where I wanted to take on a new project to do, but didn't have any
access to my normal hardware tinkering tools: I only had my laptop and the Internet. I knew that
a hacker called Natalie Silvanovich already managed to
reverse engineer the Tamagotchi and
dump the internal ROM. In the meanwhile, the datasheet for the microcontroller running the show
also became available on the Internet, allowing me to make a rudimentary but functional
Tamagotchi emulator. I added some state-machine-based 'artificial intelligence' to it to
keep the Tamas alive and happy, and some logic to make them able to communicate with eachother
and a webserver. The end result is the website you're looking at.
But what is the use of the website?
Nothing. I made it because it entertains me, and I hope it will be able to entertain others too. You
can view it as an art project, if you so please.
Your AI is going haywire! It does strange things and not what it needs to do!
Yes, the AI is far from perfect, and sometimes it misses a button press or seems to give priority
to the wrong thing. It is mostly self-correcting, though: usually after 15 minutes or so, it works its
way out of whatever situation it got itself into and will take good care of its Tamagotchi again.
But I want to play with the Tamagotchis!
Sorry, that's not possible. The AI is running the show. Don't worry, while the AI may not be that
intelligent and sometimes seems to do something stupid, it has never killed a Tamagotchi or made
it unhappy for a long amount of time. The Tamagotchis are well cared for.
I still wanna play!
Then go and buy one! That
way, you also support Bandai, the company who made these wonderful little devices.