P1 & P2 and Gen1 & Gen2 References Update on Mimitchi.com

Back in 1997 when I created this website, and up until now, I used the terms "p1" and "generation 1", and "p2" and "generation 2" interchangeably. I also used "gen1 / gen2" occasionally for P1 and P2 in my logs for years.

However, when Bandai re-released the P1 and P2 in 2017, they chose to call them "Gen1" and "Gen2".

So I am currently (July 2025) converting my whole website to call the 1990s Tama "P1" and "P2" and also trying to reference them as 1990s Tamas.

"P1" & "P2" and "Program 1" & "Program 2" Origins Explained
I learned, back in 1997, that "P1" and "P2" was the internal code names Bandai used when they needed to differentiate the two different Tamagotchi inside the company. This internal name refers, not to the shells but, to the actual programming (the circuit board) for each individual Tamagotchi that determines the characters and evolution, etc.

You might ask me to provide proof or a source of the information on the names P1 and P2. Well, I was very caught up in everything Tamagotchi in Japan before the 1997 holidays in the US that made Tamagotchi a household name here. In that time period I learned about the P1/P2 code names used internally within Bandai and this information came from someone "in the know". I have since forgotten who I got that information from. All these years later I am not sure if I have the source of that information. If I do, it is either on one of my old hard drives in storage, or in a pile of papers in boxes that I haven't opened in years lol :)

I wrote about the origins of P1 & P2 in my logs many years ago in the 1990s. At that time I made the guess that the "P" meant "Program" - Program 1 and Program 2 sounded rational to me. I was only guessing and, being that I'm a computer nerd, it just made sense to me.

I can see by a google search that my guess stuck because people tell it like it's a fact now and do not credit me or anyone else for that. I just came up with the idea that P1 and P2 was actually "program 1 and program 2" on my own. That was not from a source, I just guessed and ran with it.

I lived through the Tama craze from the start here in the US and looking at things online it is kinda funny to me some of what was recorded in history isn't entirely correct, but I also have learned that some of the things I read about at the time, and published on my website, did not end up being totally correct either.

To clarify one thing...back in the day on a computer you ran "programs" not "apps" so the definition of the word "program" has fallen out of popular use. At the time though.. to me it made sense to guess they meant "Program 1 and Program 2" because it was 2 different stories set within one world. I hope that makes it more clear to anyone reading.

Morino "screensaver" Term
I am a computer person... so with lack of any other information.. I just called that overhead view on Morino a screensaver. I was just in my late teens. I was excited to talk about Tamagotchi. On Windows 95 I had a screensaver that would turn on when I didn't use the computer for 15 minutes. After a set amount of time, the Morino switches from the character screen to an overhead view. At the time it just made sense for me to use that term.

So I had no idea that my terminology would catch on. I wrote it thinking I would change it later if I found the correct term for "screensaver".. but I never learned a different term.. so I left it as is.

Tamagotchi Shell Color: "Clear"
When I first made this website for some unknown reason I used the term "Clear" instead of the word "Semitransparent" or "Translucent" to describe shells that were colored but somewhat "see through". So that's how I ended up describing an uncolored translucent Tamagotchi as "Clear Clear" lol. I know it's a strange choice of word, but shrug, that's what my teenage mind came up with nearly 30 years ago lol.

Tamagotchi "Logs"
The term "blogs" did not exist when I started this website. Being a fan of Star Trek, I chose "Logs" for that reason. Captain's Logs.. ships, old and new, fiction and historic.. well it just made sense to me at the time. :)