Avoid Childhood Trauma with an Immortal Virtual Hamster
A while back, I lived in an apartment in San Francisco with a friend, and we decided to get a hamster. This was my first time caring for a little furry pet by myself, and both my roommate and I were really excited. We wanted to treat our new little buddy like we would a dog or a cat, showering her with love and letting her explore freely. To give her some fun, we bought a ball enclosure so she could roll around the apartment. We had a great time watching her zoom around, and we couldn’t help but laugh as we cheered, “Look at her go!” It felt like we were a happy little family.
But the next day, we woke up to find that our hamster hadn’t gotten up. Even now, I still don’t know what went wrong. There wasn’t anyone around to find out for us. Some people think she was already sick when we brought her home from the pet store, and that her little ball adventure was her last big joy before leaving us. Others think she might have hurt herself while rolling around and bumping into things. Whatever the case, it broke our hearts. Since then, I’ve felt too scared to get another rodent, afraid of going through that pain again.
On a brighter note, we now live in a time when electronic pets are quite popular, and they won’t ever die. Coming this fall, there’s a new toy called the Bitzee Hamster Ball, made by Spin Master, the same company that created the Bitzee Digital Pet, which lets you interact with a virtual pet. This new hamster ball offers a different experience. It’s an electronic hamster that stays inside its ball. You can roll the ball around to make the hamster move just like a real one. It can sense when you touch or move it because of sensors placed on all sides, so it knows how to react when you tilt, roll, or lift it.
There are 20 different hamsters you can collect, and each one starts as a baby that you’ll need to help grow into an adult, or what they call a “super” hamster. The toy includes fun mini-games and lets you customize your hamster with different outfits. You can also play with items, make friends, and feed your hamster through the interactive features in the ball. Each set of three AA batteries will last around three to five hours of playtime, but you can use the Bitzee Hamster Ball for about 14 hours before completing everything.
Unlike real pets, the hamsters in this virtual experience don’t just disappear if you leave them alone. If you ignore them for too long, they’ll block you, and you’ll have to roll the ball around to get back into their good graces. Each hamster has a phone, and if you don’t answer their friends when they call, those friends may “ghost” you until you reach out. The key is to keep your hamster engaged; otherwise, you’ll have to begin the process over again.
Bitzee will showcase the Hamster Ball at the upcoming Toy Fair in New York City this weekend. The toy is set to retail for $40 and will be available this fall, just in time for the holiday shopping season.
