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!

EXTERNAL LINKS:

• Bandai Japan's Tamagotchi Nano page
• Tamagotchi Nano Growth Chart Project
• Scanned instruction manual

VIDEOS:

Please feel free to leave questions/comments!

Tamagotchi ID - Kikitchi

I hope y'all had a great winter Solstice (I always try to be politically correct :P, even though I don't usually agree with political correctness) . I ate too much and have to put myself on a diet! Which is another way of saying "I had a great time".
Anyway, I had to pause my Tamagotchi ID during the holidays cos I was taking really bad care of my tama. Yesterday I was overjoyed to see that my tama grew up into Kikitchi! I think he's supposed to be a monkey...a very kawai monkey :P I'm not sure if I had got this little guy on my Tamagotchi + Color...I'll have to check my earlier posts.
I took a couple of pictures of him:

Sorry about the blurry image. For some reason I couldn't get the close-up animation no matter how many times I pressed the C Button, so this was the best shot I had of him.
Talk to y'all later!! :)

OM21: My New Tamagotchi Plus Color!

So I finally went out and bought one on eBay! Got a pretty good deal on it, $61 with free shipping. Keep your eyes pealed, as the prices of the Plus Color are gradually going down!

I started it last Monday, almost an hour after it arrived in the mail. It started off as the new male baby Kinotchi, who looks like a little blue mushroom with a face. He evolved into Kuribotchi, who you may know from the Tamagotchi Music Star (He also appears on the V2, V4.5, Keitai, and Akai).

After that, he became Kikitchi, who first appeared on the Tamagotchi Connection V5 Celebrity, and then returned for the Tamagotchi Music Star. Finally, he became Kuchipatchi, who we all know and love.

Now, I know the TMGC+C was supposed to be a technical revolution within the Tamagotchi franchise, but I had no idea it'd be this much fun!

There are three games built into it, and they're more than enough to keep me entertained. Winning the games rewards you with $100G, and prices for items range from 150G to 3900G. There are very few items this time around, but they each do their own cute things. Also, there are special character-specific items: only certain characters can use them. For example, KuroMametchi and Nemutchi are the only two characters that can use the Guitar item.

Kuchipatchi and Kikitchi share the Hero Set item. Kikitchi temporarily transforms into some sort of Egyptian warrior, but Kuchipatchi transforms into the super hero PatchiMan! For him, it works like a costume item; he can run around as PatchiMan as long as he likes until I use the Hero Set again.

Another cute easter egg is when Kuchipatchi (or PatchiMan) drinks the Orange Juice item three times, he turns orange! It wears away when they wake up, or if you use the Hero Set item. Shimashimatchi has a similar trick: feed him enough watermellons and he turns green!

Here's a quick video I've made of him playing around:



I'll have some more videos up as soon as I can. :)

~OM21

OM21: Music Star Generation 7

So Otokitchi left, and I began my seventh generation of my Music Star! I named him after myself, "OsuMesu", something I've never done before.

He evolved into a Kuchitamatchi. I haven't had him in a while, so it was nice to see him again. :) I gave him the instrument Guitar, and the toy Bandai logo.

He evolved into Kikitchi, and formed a band with a Hinotamatchi named Toby and a Ringotchi named Thu. Their band is called "Clover!", and right now, they're into Rock-n-Roll. 

Hopefully he'll be evolving into an adult tomorrow. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of him as a child and teen:


Seems he really loves those Easter eggs. :P

He did the animation today too, even though it's now May. Wait... just checked, he thinks it's April 26th. Oh boy. 9_9 I'll fix that later.

~OM21