Cheaper But Dirtier

The craze of virtual pets worldwide has been astounding, but sometimes getting your hands on the little microchip pets is a difficult proposition. In Vietnam, kids are taking the virtual pet craze a tad literally, according to a Reuters report Wednesday.

Apparently sales of newly hatched baby birds are booming in the country where virtual pets run about US$30. The price of the real-life baby birds is around 25 cents, and the point of it is more or less the same. A real-life bird grows and tweets when it needs attention or food and dies if neglected.

Virtual pets were banned from schools worldwide, but in Vietnam they have a new problem. Kids are bringing the baby birds to school, and with the real thing, you can't turn the sound off or pause the game.