Step Aside Lara Croft

Just in time for the American International Toy Fair in New York, Playmates Toys is announcing Amazing Amy, which it is calling "the first virtually real little girl." "Amy knows what she needs... and how to ask a child for it," Playmates says.

Amazing Amy is a doll that verbally and physically responds to and initiates interaction with her owner. Sort of a virtual pet made of flesh... er, plastic... Amy has an internal clock that cycles through eight programmed activity periods, from waking up to eating. She sports more than 15,000 phrases. (Does one of them include the infamous Barbie "Math is hard" we wonder?)

Amy's "needs" cover the areas of hunger, thirst, diaper "needs", entertainment, general hygiene (like a rigorous teeth brushing now and then), clothing, and grooming; Playmates says that Amy's needs "alternate randomly at time-appropriate instances, prompting her to ask for special attention."

Once a parent sets the internal clock (remember Tamagotchi?) found on Amy's LCD, Playmates says, "the doll comes to life. Amy's wake-up and go-to-bed times are programmed by the parent to match those of the child-mommy, so Amy becomes a personal alarm clock and goes to sleep when the child does. If arisen by the child-mommy in the wee hours of the night, Amy will say, 'It's too early to get up and play.'"

"After Amy wakes in the morning she will be craving attention. Beginning the day by asking to be changed, fed, or given a drink, Amazing Amy will depend on her 'mommy' to satisfy her many needs until the doll's preset bed time." (Maybe they should have tagged it "More whiny than the Tamagotchi.")

Playmates promises that Amazing Amy will always respond "lovingly" to a child's hug. Whether that will stop the doll from saying "Feed me something green" over and over is something that we are sure many parents will be finding out in the months to come.