General Startup Instructions

All tamagotchi are different but all of them start the same way. When you receive a brand-new tamagotchi it will have a tab sticking out of the side. If it is new and doesn't have a tab, you may have a problem.

1. Before starting up your tamagotchi you should have some things ready. First of all, a long pointy thing like a sharpened pencil. Second, you should have your guide or instructions. Often instructions come with the tamagotchi but if they don't you can follow my general ones. If the tamagotchi in question is in Japanese, don't panic, just use the handy naming chart I have displayed below. This works for pretty much all Japanese tamagotchi. If you have a version with more than two characters and are trying to get a specific one, have a growth chart ready. Ok, that should be all your materials.

2. When you are ready to start it up, pull the tab out of the side firmly but gently. You should hear a Piiiii sound. If you don't, or if the screen is blank, don't worry, just continue to the next step.

3. Now turn the tamagotchi over and find the reset button. On English versions it is grey and indented. On Japanese versions it is the same color and level as the case. Press this button gently but firmly with your pointy object.

4. Turn the tamagotchi over to the front again. There should be an egg on screen and it should make the Piiiii sound again. If it is still not doing this, skip to step #???. If there is an egg you should press the B button (the center one) and it will take you to the time screen.

5. Now you have to set the time screen to the correct time. Use the A button to scroll through possibilities and press the B button to choose when you have got the correct one. If you want to go back use the C button. If you have a different layout of buttons, please go to the individual page for the specific tamagotchi.

6. After setting the time press the B button to go to the next screen. Now it will ask you to fill out your birthday (month/day.)

7. On some tamagotchi it will ask you to fill out a user name or select a character but this is usually self-explanatory.

8. Once you are done filling out all these settings, it will take you back to the main screen and you will see your egg. It will sit there for one or two minutes. If you have waited for more than two minutes, press the B button. It should take you to the time screen and you should be able to see the seconds ticking. If you can't, or if it says set, you have forgotten to fill something out and you need to go through the process over again.

9. Once your egg has hatched, if it is a connection, you will see whether it is a boy or a girl. In general, boys are black and girls are white. In some tamagotchi, such as the Entama and Uratama, there are more than two baby characters. If so, you should have a growth chart ready when you hatch your tamagotchi.

10. Next, press the B button and it will take you to the naming screen. In Japanese tamagotchis, you are allowed a maximum of five syllables and in the English versions, a maximum of five letters. In Japanese ones, you also have the option of several symbols in addition to the characters.Below is a naming chart for the Japanese ones. a="ah" i="ee" u="oo" e="eh" o="oh" so the pronunciation of tamagotchi is tah-mah-goh-chee even though english speakers like pronouncing it tah-mah-gah-chee.

11. Once you are finished naming it and your cursor is on the last letter press the B button. This will take you back to the main screen. The tamagotchi will immediately call for your attention by beeping and the attention icon will be lit up. When tamagotchi hatch they are very hungry. The way that you can tell when you have fed them enough is by going to the health meter. It will display four hungry hearts and four happy hearts respectively. One meal will fill one hungry heart and one snack will fill one happy heart. To feed it go to the food icon. The first option is always meal and the second is always snack. Games can fill from zero to four hearts depending on how well you do. I recommend playing the games because if you feed it too many snacks it will get a toothache.

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