So Tamapalace.tk has recently gotten a hold of one of the new Tamatown Tama-Go toys courtesy of Bandai America. Sad to say, however, their coverage on the toy itself has been incredibly poor. I've decided to compose as much information and images as I can on the new toys, perhaps to give Tamagotchi fans out there a better sense of what the Tama-Go is and what it does before it hits the shelves this summer.
First off, the Tamatown website has been updated with the new "Swirly Sweet City" and, like the Music Star before it, there's a section in your apartment that lists all of the Tama-Go characters you've logged in as previously. The images are all in silhouette, but the owner of Tama-Yama-Wuv (along with several others) traced the shadow images back to other Tamagotchi artwork, eventually uncovering all of the characters.
From what it looks like, the Tama-Go cast will be a mix of the Tamagotchi Plus Color and Tamagotchi iD, along with some Bandai improvisation as per usual. It also seems to turn Ringotchi, ChaMametchi, Nonopotchi, and Kikitchi into adult characters, which is actually somewhat unnerving. The iD at least excluded the Senior and Special stages and called it the "Friend" stage, instead of adult, to avoid this kind of confusion..
And if you're wondering on the size of the new toy, look no further than this particular image posted by TamaPalace:
It's HUGE.
Yup, it's the same dimensions as the Tamagotchi iD! Supposedly this is because of the new figurines that get attached to the top of the device, but other than that, the HUGENESS of the toy seems rather unnecessary. The iD at least had an updated color screen, leading me to my next topic. Images once again courtesy of TamaPalace.
(Admittedly, the "Welcome!" would have looked better if it didn't have the shade of gray and instead just had white...)Instead of just the typical black-and-white screen, we now have what Bandai America describes as a "four-gray scale display". In other words, shades of gray have been added to give a better illusion of the Tamagotchi world inside your toy. Thanks to this, you can now see the actual background of your Tamagotchi's home, hinting that like in the Plus Color, you will be able to refurnish your home (maybe rooms too?). Again like the Plus Color, you can name yourself and when your Tamagotchi calls for attention, it will say your name in a speech bubble. Up to 8 letters can be used! A big improvement over the 5 letters on previous versions.
Also, what in the world is that fifth icon supposed to be? I think it's meant for the figurines, but doesn't look anything like them to me. Unless it's supposed to be an icon of a sitting Mametchi on a little black platform? Is that what it is?
The other icons are: Health Meter, Food, Bathroom, Door (hopefully will be identical to the Plus Color and iD), Training, Medicine, Connecting, Friendlist, and Attention. Noticeably absent is the Item Trunk icon. Maybe it's been merged with the 5th icon? I'm not sure. We'll have to wait and see for somebody to either show us or scan an instruction manual.
Now onto the packaging, with images provided by the Administrator of TamaTalk (click for more images):
Much like the toy itself, the box of the Tamatown Tama-Go is massive. My biggest problem with it, other with the amount of huge unused space? It goes on to describe the accessories and web site much more than it describe the actual toy and what it does. The last thing the target audience needs to think is that the toy is completely useless without the aid of a figurine and Internet connection.
Also, the box reveals the Tama-Go takes 2 AAA batteries, which are not included. Never, EVER have I seen a Tamagotchi that couldn't be played with right out of the box. Even the iD and Plus Color came with the necessary batteries. Why now exclude them?
So, is the Tama-Go worth the new $20 price tag? Are the $7 figurines worth it? There's still not enough information to tell for either. I'd like Bandai America to convince me how wonderful this new toy is and how the figurines make it even better, but all of the advertising seems to be geared toward the new face decals of the toy and the Tamatown website. And TamaPalace, who happens to own the toy, aren't answering key questions and updates on the Tama-Go are few and far between. I'm sitting on the "wait-and-see" fence; once it's released and more personal information can be shared, I'll decide if I'd like to get my hands on it.
- OM21
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