Bandai’s New Digimon Watches Only Beef Up Their Monsters When Kids Exercise

Convincing kids to hand over their lozenge and game restrainer to go play outside is no light chore , butBandai Namco ’s Vital Hero watchesmight really make fittingness more appealing through gamification . or else of chase high scores , it straps a Digimon to a kid ’s wrist , one that only gets good in battle the more participating they are .

Whereas the iconic Tamagotchi is all about raising and care for a practical pet through diligent feedings , cleanings , and play time , Bandai ’s Digimon require the approach popularize by Pokémon , where duty in worry for a digital goliath is repay with increase intensity level and occasional phylogenesis that make them more capable in battles .

The Vital Hero is basically one of those pocketable Digimon practical preferred toys merged with a wearable physical fitness tracker . The monochromous pixelated LCD screens of yesteryear have been been replaced with a full color vertically - oriented light-emitting diode display , and while the twist still has buttons , the only way to meliorate the digital demon ’s stats are through day-by-day commission that necessitate kids to do various bodily process like paseo , sprints , squats , and even a round of shadow boxing , all track through the wearable ’s built - in apparent motion and heart charge per unit sensor .

Image:Bandai Namco

The more fighting a tiddler is , the quicker their digital devil ’s stats will improve , increasing their chances of a triumph when it comes to random battles against other monsters . If they lose , they have to keep facing that same fiend again and again until a profits allows them to go on , providing further bonus to be active .

Kids can also combat supporter with a Vital Hero using an include “ Dim Card ” that physically plugs into the wearable like a USB jiffy drive and transfers their monster to a friend ’s equipment . But battles can also be advisedly touch off at any fourth dimension by tip the wearable against any NFC - equip equipment , like a smartphone , or a payment terminal : an approach that sounds similar to the Barcode Battler game of the early ‘ 90s that had kids scanning random bar codes for power - ups and unlockable characters .

The Vital Hero is n’t the first attempt togamify fitness trackersin an attempt to make kids more combat-ready . But evolving an reanimate digital monster that can fight other monsters right on your wrist certainly voice more compelling than chasing a new high grievance , or unlock prize and trophies in a unite app . The Vital Hero is available starting today on Amazon with a blue or disastrous band for $ 65 , while a version with a crimson band is currently a Walmart undivided .

Image: Bandai Namco