TOKYO--Bandai is going back to the well and dredging up one of its biggest-selling products ever, Tamagotchi.

　　The giant toy company said it would soon release a new series of portable LCD toys based on the original Tamagotchi. Originally released by the company in late 1996, Tamagotchi sold 40 million units worldwide and started a virtual pet phenomenon across the world. The game was based on feeding and taming a digital pet, in real time, with the use of three buttons.

　　The new Tamagotchi, called Tamagotchi Plus, maintains the same look as the old product--the signature egg-shaped body and three buttons--but the LCD screen will have double the resolution of the old one, and its new microprocessor chip will boast five times the previous chip's capacity. The new device will allow for more detailed graphics and more in-game events. Tamagotchi Plus will also have wireless communication capabilities to interact with other Tamagotchi Plus's. Now, the virtual pet can exchange gifts, make friends, or get married and create offspring.

　　Bandai plans to run a campaign where users can bring their Tamagotchi Plus toys to stores nationwide and download new items from a large, Tamagotchi-shaped machine. Bandai announced it has a partnership agreement in place with fast food chain Lotteria, a Korea-based franchise with over 500 stores in Japan. This is not the first time that Bandai and Lotteria have collaborated: a Lotteria-branded Tamagotchi was released in 1997, and the chain once marketed a Tamagotchi Milkshake.

　　Tamagotchi Plus will be available in stores starting March 20, and will sell for 1,980 yen ($19). The toy will be available in six colors: white, black, blue, yellow, peach, and aqua. Beginning March 1, Bandai will begin taking advanced orders in its Web site. Bandai hopes to sell 2 million units by the end of March.