mmm TAMAGOCHI .... and karaoke, that was born in a cafe in kobe

background info:

Tamagotchi was released on November 23rd, 1996 by Bandai (makers of Power Rangers) and was finally released in May 1st 1997 for the US. A second released of a Generation 2 was made available about 6 months later.
The Japanese story, and the one I believe is this: They are little alien creatures from Planet Tamagotchi, who crash landed on earth, and The Professor and his assistant Mikachu found them. The Professor built them little egg shaped protection cases so they could survive on earth, then Mikachu painted some, took them to school and started the Tamagotchi craze...