Pokémon Pikachu, also known as in Japan, is a limited series of two portable '' Pokémon''

digital pet A virtual pet (also known as a digital pet, artificial pet, or pet-raising simulation) is a type of artificial human companion. They are usually kept for companionship or enjoyment. People may keep a digital pet in lieu of a real pet. Digital ...

s (similar to

Tamagotchi The is a handheld digital pet that was created in Japan by Akihiro Yokoi of WiZ and Aki Maita of Bandai. It was released by Bandai on November 23, 1996 in Japan and in the USA on May 1, 1997, quickly becoming one of the biggest toy fads o ...

) featuring the famous yellow electric-type Pokémon,

Pikachu is a fictional species in the ''Pokémon'' media franchise. Designed by Atsuko Nishida and Ken Sugimori, Pikachu first appeared in the 1996 Japanese video games ''Pokémon Red'' and ''Green'' created by Game Freak and Nintendo, which w ...

. It debuted on March 27, 1998, in Japan, on November 2, 1998 in North America, and in December 1998 in Europe.

Gameplay

The first release, a yellow unit resembling a

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...

, features a black and white LCD screen used to display animations of Pikachu's activities. Gameplay differs slightly from other portable virtual pets in that Pikachu does not need to be fed, watered, or cleaned up after. Instead, the Pokémon Pikachu unit can be strapped to a belt and used as a

pedometer A pedometer, or step-counter, is a device, usually portable and electronic or electromechanical, that counts each step a person takes by detecting the motion of the person's hands or hips. Because the distance of each person's step varies, a ...

. With every twenty steps it counts, the Pokémon Pikachu credits its user with one watt, a virtual currency used to buy Pikachu presents. Additional activities become available as the player spends more time with their virtual Pikachu. If neglected, Pikachu will express anger and eventually refuse to recognize the player. The second release, Pokémon Pikachu 2 GS, is available in clear and silver casing with a color display featuring more animations. It features an

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

port for interacting with ''Pokémon Gold'', ''Silver'', and ''

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macro ...

'' via the Mystery Gift option, which utilizes the Game Boy Color's built-in infrared communication port. This allows players to trade watts for items in the Game Boy games. Although there is a limitation on how much the Mystery Gift mode can be used between Game Boy cartridges, Pokémon Pikachu's only limit is that of available watts (and it is region locked). Watts can also be sent to other ''Pokémon Pikachu 2'' units.

Other models

''Pokémon'' and its character Pikachu are not the only media franchises that are used by this Nintendo-made device.

Sakura Taisen is a Japanese steampunk media franchise created by Oji Hiroi and owned by Sega. It is focused around a series of cross-genre video games. The first game in the series was released in 1996, with five sequels and numerous spin-off titles be ...

, a media franchise of SEGA and licensed by

RED Entertainment is a video game developer and publisher based in Japan. Originally founded in 1976 as (though it did not begin doing business until 1985), it was reorganized and succeeded by a new company on December 4, 2000, under its current moniker of Red E ...

released a virtual-pet with pedometer, in the same style as the Pokémon Pikachu 2 GS, called Pocket Sakura (ポケットサクラ) and Sakura Taisen GB, developed by

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...

. Sega could not publish either, due to their rivalry with Nintendo. Similarly,

Sanrio is a Japanese entertainment company. It designs, licenses, and produces products focusing on the ''kawaii'' ("cute") segment of Japanese popular culture. Their products include stationery, school supplies, gifts, and accessories which are sold ...

, responsible for the

Hello Kitty , also known by her full name , is a fictional Character (arts), character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphi ...

franchise, licensed to Nintendo the development of the Pocket Hello Kitty. This featured a similar design to the first Pokémon Pikachu, with a game based on Hello Kitty and her friends, available in a pink-colored case. Pocket Hello Kitty was released in Japan on August 21, 1998.

Pokéwalker

In 2009, a device similar to the Pokémon Pikachu called the Pokéwalker, came packaged with ''Pokémon HeartGold'' and ''SoulSilver'' which communicates directly with the Nintendo DS game cards via infrared. It allowed the player to transfer one Pokémon at a time from their ''HeartGold'' or ''SoulSilver''. The user is able to catch Pokémon and find items by spending watts.

References

External links

*
Pokémon Pikachu on IMDB
{{Dedicated consoles 1998 video games Handheld electronic games Video games about mice and rats Video games developed in Japan Virtual pets Pokémon spin-off games Monochrome video game consoles