“電子寵物”回歸，是復(fù)古還是炒冷飯？

For those who are too young to know what a Tamagotchi is, it’s an egg-shaped plastic device with a black-and-white screen on which appears a little pixelated pet. With the three buttons below the screen, you can feed the pet, care for it and clean up its mess. And just like a real pet, it gets sick and dies if neglected.

年紀(jì)小的孩子們或許沒(méi)有都聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)“拓麻歌子”這款電子寵物。這是一款有著蛋形塑料外殼的游戲機(jī)，在它的黑白屏幕上有一只小小的像素化寵物。你可以通過(guò)屏幕下方的三個(gè)按鈕喂養(yǎng)、照顧、清理這只寵物。它和現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中的寵物一樣，如果你疏于照顧，它會(huì)生病，甚至還會(huì)死亡。

When it was first released by Japanese company Bandai in 1997, this virtual“pocket pet” was so popular with schoolchildren that it was frequently sold out at stores all over the world. For many people, the Tamagotchi was their first ever experience of raising and caring for a “pet”.

1997年，日本萬(wàn)代公司首次推出這只虛擬的“口袋寵物”，那時(shí)它在小學(xué)生中掀起了一陣風(fēng)靡熱潮，在世界各地的商店經(jīng)常斷貨。對(duì)于不少人而言，拓麻歌子帶給他們?nèi)松械谝淮物曫B(yǎng)、照顧一只“寵物”的經(jīng)歷。

A lot has certainly changed in the last 20 years – especially when it comes to technology – so would it be a good idea to reintroduce the Tamagotchi to today’s world?

過(guò)去的20年發(fā)生了很大的變化 —— 尤其在科技方面 —— 那么，如今讓“拓麻歌子”這款游戲重出江湖會(huì)是個(gè)好主意嗎?

Bandai obviously thinks so since it’s going to re-release it next month, marking the device’s 20th anniversary. “We’re going after that nostalgia,” said Tara Badie, director of Tamagotchi’s brand management, according to The Verge.

很顯然，萬(wàn)代的答案是肯定的。在拓麻歌子推出20周年之際，萬(wàn)代將于下月重新發(fā)售這款產(chǎn)品。據(jù)科技媒體The Verge網(wǎng)站報(bào)道，拓麻歌子的品牌管理總監(jiān)Tara Badie曾表示：“我們正追尋那種懷舊之情。”

Modern features

現(xiàn)代功能

Nostalgia is all the rage these days. Just look at Nintendo’s Pokemon Go – the 2016 smartphone game derived from its 1996 version – and Nokia’s 2017 version of the 3310 – the mobile phone released in 2000 that it seems nearly everyone in the world owned. But these companies didn’t just simply copy from the past – they managed to update the old version and adapt it for the modern world.

懷舊如今風(fēng)行一時(shí)。任天堂2016年發(fā)行的手游“精靈寶可夢(mèng)G0” —— 這款手機(jī)游戲源于其1996年的經(jīng)典版本 —— 諾基亞3310機(jī)型的2017復(fù)刻版 —— 這款機(jī)型最初于2000年發(fā)售，幾乎全世界的人都曾擁有過(guò)這款手機(jī) ——看看這些你就知道了。但這些公司并非簡(jiǎn)單地從過(guò)去復(fù)制粘貼 —— 他們都嘗試著升級(jí)舊版本，使其適用于現(xiàn)代世界。

With Pokemon Go, Nintendo successfully combined cutting-edge augmented reality technology with the game’s original storyline.

任天堂成功地在“精靈寶可夢(mèng)Go”這款游戲中，將原來(lái)的故事線(xiàn)與前沿的增強(qiáng)現(xiàn)實(shí)技術(shù)結(jié)合在了一起。

“Pokemon Go tells us about the future of software and the nature of reality – and how they integrate into what we think of as entertainment,” technology writer Om Malik wrote on The New Yorker.

“‘精靈寶可夢(mèng)Go’向我們展示了軟件的未來(lái)以及現(xiàn)實(shí)的本質(zhì) —— 以及如何將兩者整合成我們的娛樂(lè)方式，”科技作家Om Malik 在《紐約客》雜志上寫(xiě)道。

And although Nokia’s new 3310 stayed faithful to the original phone’s design, it added a few modern features like a color screen, camera and internet access. It even kept the iconic game Snake, which many of today’s adults would have spent hours playing as teenagers.

而盡管諾基亞的新版3310機(jī)型忠于原來(lái)的外形設(shè)計(jì)，但它也加入了一些現(xiàn)代功能，如彩色屏幕、照相機(jī)以及網(wǎng)絡(luò)連接等。它甚至還保留了標(biāo)志性的游戲“貪吃蛇”，不少成年人如今還會(huì)像青少年時(shí)那樣玩上好幾個(gè)小時(shí)。

But while nostalgia is certainly a selling point to many people, not everyone is a fan.

但盡管懷舊對(duì)許多人來(lái)說(shuō)的確是個(gè)賣(mài)點(diǎn)，但并非所有人都買(mǎi)賬。

“I’m so sick of nostalgia as a ploy for profit. From the ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan, to the endless Star Wars and X-Men movies, we’ve become a world obsessed with looking backward for lazy sources of joy,” wrote tech reporter Thomas Ricker on The Verge.

“我受夠了將懷舊作為盈利的噱頭。從‘讓美國(guó)再次偉大’的口號(hào)，到無(wú)窮無(wú)盡的‘星戰(zhàn)’和‘X戰(zhàn)警’系列電影，我們這個(gè)世界已經(jīng)沉迷于回首過(guò)去，尋找怠惰的歡愉之源，”科技記者Thomas Ricker 在The Verge 網(wǎng)站上寫(xiě)道。

But will the magic of nostalgia work with the Tamagotchi? According to Julia Alexander, an editor for video game website Polygon, it seems pretty unlikely.

但懷舊的魔法會(huì)在拓麻歌子上起作用嗎?電子游戲網(wǎng)站Polygon的編輯Julia Alexander認(rèn)為，這一切看起來(lái)不大可能。

After trying the new product, Alexander soon found out that little has been changed since the original.

在試用過(guò)這款新產(chǎn)品之后，Alexander發(fā)現(xiàn)這款新品和原版相比，并未作出多大改變。

“I grew up and, unfortunately, the Tamagotchi didn’t,” she wrote.

“我長(zhǎng)大了，但不幸的是，拓麻歌子并沒(méi)有，”她寫(xiě)道。

So when it comes to nostalgia, maybe the fond memories of our favorite childhood products are best left as that – fond memories.

就懷舊而言，我們對(duì)待童年時(shí)所喜愛(ài)產(chǎn)品的最好方式，或許就是讓它成為美好回憶吧。