November 3, 2025
Pet parenting at 1,800x
Show HN: Tamagotchi P1 for FPGAs
Retro Tamagotchi returns: 1,800x fast-forward sparks joy and chaos
TLDR: A fan-made core brings the original Tamagotchi to Analogue Pocket and MiSTer with a wild 1,800x fast-forward mode. Commenters gush over nostalgia, joke about “speedrunning parenting,” and debate whether turbo-evolving your pet is brilliant or cheating, while hoping for hidden easter eggs.
The internet just dug up its digital pet and strapped a rocket to it. A fan-made core recreates the original Tamagotchi on reprogrammable chips (FPGA = Field-Programmable Gate Array) for the Analogue Pocket and MiSTer, and the crowd came in cooing. One superfan screamed, “That’s insanely cool!”, and the vibe was instant nostalgia mixed with tinkering fever.
Then the bombshell: 1,800x turbo. Cue gasps and giggles. One commenter fired off “1800x turbo?” while others imagined speedrunning pet parenthood—“press shoulders, evolve in minutes,” “raise your digi-pet like a microwave dinner.” Some called it cheating; others called it self-care. The creator baked in savestates (instant pause-and-resume), automatic restoration, and adorable custom backgrounds, so your pet won’t vanish when you hop in and out. There’s even a setting to stop turbo when your pet beeps for attention. Responsible chaos.
A practical crew asked for dev war stories and FPGA tips, while nostalgia gremlins resurfaced the legendary Tamagotchi-with-a small rock memory, spawning jokes about “Pet Rock DLC.” Meanwhile, MiSTer folks traded notes on control remapping, Pocket players flexed Sleep+Wake like a portable time machine, and the entire thread felt like a cozy, chaotic reunion. The consensus: retro love with ridiculous speed, neatly wrapped in modern convenience, and just enough drama to keep it spicy.
Key Points
- •An original Tamagotchi P1 FPGA core was created by agg23 over three months using original Tamagotchi CPU documentation and insights from tamatool.
- •The core supports Analogue Pocket and MiSTer, with platform-specific installation and ROM requirements.
- •Features include savestates (Memories on Pocket), Pocket Sleep + Wake integration, and automatic restoration on launch.
- •Turbo modes range from 1x to Max (~1,800x), adjustable via shoulder buttons, with options to end on events and skip initial beeps.
- •Custom backgrounds are supported (including a P2 example), and settings cover sound, system speed, event handling, and display pixel styles.