Sega just made a ‘dumb pager’ that only sends emoji

Sega is reimagining the pager for the age of emoji. The Japanese video game company best known for Sonic the Hedgehog announced the “Emojam,” a tiny, handheld, Wi-Fi-enabled gadget that communicates with up to just five emoji at a time.

The device has more than 1,400 emoji that can be sent in one-on-one messages or group chats up to five, according to Sega’s announcement.

These aren’t your standard Unicode Consortium-approved emoji, but custom emoji of cats, bunnies, robots, robots, and other creatures with an array of facial expressions. An “emoji lab” function lets users mash-up two emoji into one.

The Emojam handles like a Tamagotchi, and with just three front-facing buttons, it’s the latest in a trend towards retro-inspired tech whose utility is limited on purpose. The rise of so-called “dumb phones” that do little more than text and call suggest adults are fed up with their own unlimited screen time, and there’s also an underserved market for kid-friendly tech that parents can trust with their children.

In promotional materials, Sega pitches the Emojam as fun and safe. Devices are required to physically connect before users can start chatting, a safety feature that prevents unknown strangers from sending messages, and the emoji-only chat limits harmful or hurtful content that could more easily be shared on other standard messaging platforms.

The Emojam will be released in Japanese retailers on Dec. 10 and retails for 7,150 yen, or about $46. Sega of America didn’t respond to a request for comment, but should the toy prove successful in Japan, there might also be a market for the toy or something like it in the U.S. and beyond.