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Monday, December 26, 2011

Minotchi...again

My Morino finally grew up into an adult...and I got Minotchi again! :( every time I run a Morino I end up getting this character. I've tried everything: i tried different levels of care, raised/lowered his weight, alternated between hot or cold temperature while he's in his cocoon. At first I thought that it was a glitch on my old brown Morino, but, as you can see, I'm using a new Morino this time, and I still got Minotchi :(
I think I'll be giving up on this tama.

I'm currently still waiting for my 15th Anniversary Tamagotchi ID L. Been hoping that it would have been delivered before Xmas. Unfortunately I didn't have a brand new tama to unpack on Christmas morning. Oh well, I still had a pretty good Xmas :)

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Imotchi

So I decided to start up my new Morino Tamagotchi. I have to say that I absolutely love the color. The vine design on the shell looks very nice as well.
I currently have Imotchi, as you can see in the photo I took of him.
Now I admit that I haven't had much luck raising the Morino before. For some reason I always end up with Minotchi, as an adult character. It's pretty frustrating cos I don't like the Minotchi character that much. Well wish me luck, maybe this time I get something different!
So what do you think of my new Morino? Leave comments!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Mimitchi

Yay! I did it!! I got Mimitchi on my P2 :D
It took such a long time cos I had to pause it a lot. Getting this guy requires perfect care so pausing was the only option I had. The long wait was worth it though! Ain't he cute?
On a side note, I've been ordering lots of tamagotchis lately. This week I received a white Angelgotchi and a yellow Morino (pictures below). I also ordered a red Santaclautchi! I've been wanting to have it for so long, can't believe that I'm finally going to own one!
I'm still waiting to receive my Tamagotchi ID L 15th Anniversary edition. I hope that I get it before Xmas.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Tongarutchi

My tamagotchi P2 just evolved into Tongarutchi! It took a while since it's been paused a lot lately cos of work.
I actually never got this character. He's sweet, the way he's constantly marching on his tiny screen.
Anyways, this means that I'm on the right track of getting Mimitchi! I'll let you know who I get ^_^

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Tamagotchi P2

Hi everyone. I know it's been an eternity since I wrote a new post in this blog. I haven't forgotten about it though. I still read a lot of the comments and it seems like a lot of people are still visiting my blog everyday.

I thought I'd write a small tama log of the current Tamagotchi I'm running: a vintage P2! Vintage tamas are so basic but they're awesome in their own ways, don't y'all agree?

I currently have a tonmarutchi and I've been taking perfect care of it. I'm aiming at getting Mimitchi, which is one of my favourite characters. I've never got him on my P2 although I had him a few time on some of the more recent tamas. So, wish me luck, and I'm leaving you with a picture of my cute tonmarutchi :)

P.s. don't forget to leave comments! I promise there will be more posts soon. I ordered a Tamagotchi ID L 15th Anniversary edition and I'll blog about it after Christmas. I bought it as a present for myself and will only open it on Christmas day :)

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

OM21: Tamatown Tama-Go Review

I've finally managed to grab the new Tamatown Tama-Go toy! The Wave 2 collection has begun to appear at Target, oddly only $10, compared to the Wave 1 set that was $20. To go along with this, I also bought a Sebiretchi Gotchi Figure.


Please note: I'm reviewing the toy on its own, without the inclusion of the PC compatibility.

Shell
This Tamagotchi manages to be bigger than the others of the previous line and yet somehow feel lighter. It's made to an identical shape of the Tamagotchi iD from Japan, with the exception of the top portion having a section to insert the figures. There's an FCC warning label on the side of the shell, which is unusual; there's never been a warning that large on a Tamagotchi toy before. Usually there's just a warning symbol of a garbage can with an X over it.

One thing I do enjoy is that the top, clear plastic portion of the screen can be removed, and the decal on the inside can be removed or replaced at will. You can even flip it over to the white side and decorate it if you'd like. Decals are sold alongside the Gotchi figures, and each one is different. Collect them all, I guess? Another thing I absolutely love is the new buttons. Like the Tamagotchi Plus Color, the buttons are now made of hard plastic, which is a huge step up from the older, rubber buttons included in the older toys.

The biggest disappointment so far is that the toy runs on two AAA batteries, but they're not included. The Japanese Color, iD, and iD L all come with those same batteries, so why not the English variation? Disappointing, Bandai.

Growth Cycle
This is one of my biggest complaints about the toy: the growth cycle is far too short. It takes one hour for the baby to become a toddler, and a day for it become a teen. But then, it takes only one day for the teen to become an adult. Negating the 24 hours spent sleeping, that means only 24 hours are used to determine what adult character you get. Even the Music Star gave the teen stage an extended period, so why is the growth so quick this time around?

The growth chart:


It's nice to see some old favorites returning alongside new ones - plus an American toy FINALLY gets to see Necktietchi - but I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I don't like the inclusion of ChaMametchi and Kikitchi as adult characters. It's really creepy, especially since the Tama-Go can connect to the Music Star and V5 series, which include those characters as teens. It's even worse this time around with including Ringotchi and Nonopotchi as adults. Please, Bandai; just because a character is popular doesn't mean you should push their age up so kids can see them more often. They should stick to being teens.

Games, Food, Items, House Redecorating
I'm putting these three under one category since Bandai has as well. You'll see what I mean in a moment.

The Tama-Go includes a new type of screen that allows different shades of the pixels, which means there can now be backgrounds for your Tamagotchi. The background is different every time you reset the toy, and you can remodel your home by clicking the "Play" icon and selecting "Remodel". It's a nice feature, but it's limited, as you'll soon see...

Meanwhile, the shop feature is very disappointing. As in previous toys, you can only view up to four different items at a time, but this time around, you can only buy food. Food and home renovations. That's all you're allowed to buy. But the Tama-Go does have items...

Meanwhile, there are two games that your Tama-Go can access from the Game Center. One is "Shoot the Bug" and the other is "Long Jumper". One involves riding a little space ship and shooting little bugs that crawl toward you, and the other entails your Tamagotchi running down a line and trying to jump across gaps. Both games are bland and boring.

So how are all three of these problems resolved? The Gotchi figures.

Top: Variations that come with the toy. Bottom: the ones sold separately.

Once you connect a Gotchi figure to your toy and access it from the menu, special features are given to you. For the ones provided with the toy, it's just one extra game. For the one sold separately in stores, they provide one or more games and different foods (and, for some, items). It's a cute and innocent feature at best and a money-making scheme at worst. No Tamagotchi before this one needed to have in-game items available as a separate purchase. Why this one? I purchased the Sebiretchi figure and it only game with two new games. The Mexican food items it included couldn't be added to the Tamagotchi's inventory; they could only be bought and eaten right that second.

Also, the Tama-Go keeps track of how many figures you connect to it. I'm not sure what happens after you connect them all. Is there some sort of reward? If you tried, let me know in the comments!

"Friendship" and Death
This Tamagotchi takes a radical new look on the concept of how to kill your virtual pet. Your Tamagotchi pretty much no longer has to worry about food. If his or her hearts are empty for too long, they will literally feed them themselves. In all previous versions, not feeding your Tamagotchi or making it happy would give you a "care mistake", a hidden counter inside your Tamagotchi that determines how soon your Tamagotchi will die, and accumulating too many will make your pet pass away.

On this toy, however, your primary concern is your Tamagotchi's level of "Friendship". If THAT gets to zero hearts for too long, your Tamagotchi will get fed up, pack its bags, and leave. It doesn't die anymore. It just leaves. So essentially, the only way to end your Tamagotchi's life cycle is to be a huge jerk.

I don't mind this feature; I think it's pretty creative. But why completely rule out death? That was the Tamagotchi's main grab back in the 90s: if you were a poor caretaker, it would die. People literally cried over digital, plastic eggs, and online graveyards were erected so people can memorialize their lost Mametchis and Kuchipatchis.

You think losing a Tamagotchi is bad today? Try hearing their last heartbeats.

It's really upsetting that with every generation, Bandai keeps trying to sugarcoat the concept of death for Tamagotchi, when the entire point of the toy is to prolong the pet's life until the inevitable. Bandai, if you're listening, please reconsider how you approach this subject in future toys.

Final Views

This toy is just...okay.

Don't get me wrong. I've loved Tamagotchi ever since they first made landfall in the United States far back in 1997. I've enjoyed Tamagotchi toys old and new. But this one doesn't feel like a proper Tamagotchi to me. Caring for this toy is far too simplistic, and the features that should naturally be included are instead exported into $4 mini-figures.

Despite that, they're very basic and fun, and the new house remodeling feature is a very nice touch. We might never get a color-screen toy, but this comes pretty close. The character choice is surprising and pleasing, and the animations are adorable to boot.

If you can afford the toy and the additional figures, go ahead and pick them up. But if you want a toy on its own, I'm not sure this is the right Tamagotchi for you.

~ OsuMesu21

Sunday, March 6, 2011

OM21: Tamagotchi Nano Review

REVIEW: Tamagotchi Nanao
Release date: October 31, 2010

A slightly newer Tamagotchi toy from Japan, the Tamagotchi Nano serves as a big update for the Tamagotchi Mini (aka Tamagotchi Chibi). Chances are if you have the Mini, you'll want to pick this up. I got mine from my blog partner Jesmond. Thank you again!

The shell shape is more identical to the Tamago-Chu toys instead of the Mini: the screen is very deep and thick, magnetizing the pixels beneath. The shell's border is more of a tear-drop shape instead of the traditional "cracked egg" design. The back of the shell has a "pop-out" sort of back that the Tamago-Chu had, and the copyright information is surrounded in a "cracked-egg" boarder. It comes with a small keychain on top, allowing it to be latched on to the Tamagotchi ID, as well as cell phones or other places.

Like the mini, it has a simplified growth pattern: you start off with an egg that hatches into a baby, and within 24 hours, it will evolve into an adult, depending on your care. Unlike the mini, however, characters are now determined by the gender of the baby. You start off with either Pachikutchi or Pichikutchi, two babies native to the Tamagotchi iD (who can be seen here). From there, the boy can become either Mametchi (best care), Kuchipatchi (average care) or Kikitchi (worst care). The female may become either Lovelitchi (best care), Chamametchi (average care) or Memetchi (worst care). Two secret characters, Spaceytchi and Meloditchi, also exist. Apparently, Meloditchi is obtained through playing the Nano's game 40 times before the baby evolves, while Spaceytchi is obtained through feeding the Nano only snacks until it evolves. I have not managed to get either yet, but Tarokaja of Tama-Zone has, and he has been more than happy to share photos.

Like the Mini, the Nano includes no screen icons. Unlike the Mini, the Nano includes a game function. The object is very much similar to the V3's "Get" game, moving a basket under objects to catch them. In the Nano's game, you have to catch the word "TAMAGOTCHI" twice, meaning catch 20 letters in a specific order. Random letters fall from the top, and the right side of the screen shows what letter you have to catch. Miss the letter when it appears or catch the wrong letter, and the game is over.

So unlike the Mini, the A button always has a function. Pressing it will take you to a menu. The top selection is "FEED" and the bottom is "GAME". The food selection takes you to the typical MEAL and SNACK options, and C brings you back to the previous screen. Playing games in place of feeding snacks is counted as being better for your Tamagotchi, thus earning you a healthier character. You can also use the A button to wipe away waste when your Tamagotchi goes to the bathroom, and turn off the lights when your Tamagotchi goes to sleep. The B button will bring up the clock screen. The C button has two functions. If your Tamagotchi needs something, pressing C will make it do a particular animation to tell you what's wrong. If your Tamagotchi needs nothing, it will simply come up to the screen and wave at you.

Currently, there's no information regarding a United States or worldwide release, so for the time being, go ahead and pick one up off eBay! If you're the kind of person who wants to care for a Tamagotchi but you're too busy with daily life to care for one of the bigger, more sophisticated toys, this one's for you. It has a cute little game to keep you entertained, and plenty of adorable characters. I definitely recommend it. There are also several brand new shell designs being released, so there are plenty of colors to choose from!

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