Bandai America - "TechPet"

[tamatown123]

I'm thinking something totally different. I think Bandai are making this because they think it will get popular. They don't seem to know what Tamagotchi fans will like aside from Tamagotchi. I feel they created this so they can get Tamagotchi fans (thinking that T-fans will like this pet) and they can get new fans too. Judging by the posts, it doesn't seem to be working though.

 

[robodog]

If they hoped Tamagotchi fans would like this thing, well, they can hope in one hand and poop in the other and see which one gets full faster. A lot of Tama fans reject ANYTHING that isn't a handheld virtual pet, including things like Furby and Poo-Chi.

This is a flawed product. A Tamagotchi requires nothing but the unit and batteries. A Tech Pet requires an expensive phone. If you get a phone call when you are playing with a Tama the Tama is still there. If you get a phone call while playing with Tech Pet you have to rip the thing's head off to answer.

I have the same problem with Tech Pet that I do with the Tamagotchi App. I don't want a pet on my phone. I don't want a pet on my computer or my game system. I want a pet that's always there. A pet that's always a pet. Not a pet that's a pet one minute and is something entirely different the next. I want a pet that is an actual physical thing. Something I can hold. Something I can touch. I want a self contained creature that doesn't require some external gadget to operate. I want the pet to be real, not a stupid video game. Not an illusion. I want all the technology used to create the pet to exist for one purpose, to make the pet as realistic as possible. I don't want that technology compromised by having it need to do other things like play games or text. But most of all I don't want companies to insult my intelligence by assuming I'm somebrain dead zombie that can't pry myself away from my phone long enough to do anything else.

 

[MintyDreams7]

A lot of Tama fans reject ANYTHING that isn't a handheld virtual pet, including things like Furby and Poo-Chi.

This is a flawed product. A Tamagotchi requires nothing but the unit and batteries. A Tech Pet requires an expensive phone. If you get a phone call when you are playing with a Tama the Tama is still there. If you get a phone call while playing with Tech Pet you have to rip the thing's head off to answer.

I want a pet that is an actual physical thing. Something I can hold. Something I can touch. I want a self contained creature that doesn't require some external gadget to operate.

Maybe those particular fans could be a little more open to new (or old, in the case of Furby and Poo-chi) things? XD Furby is a great virtual pet robot. I've been a fan of keychain virtual pets for a long time, and Furby is a favourite of mine.

The problem here has little to do with what certain picky fans like, it has everything to do with how bad of an idea this toy is.

This thing... I agree with the rest of the quoted text, it is very flawed.

Furby is a good virtual pet/robot because it is well designed, fun and self-contained.

Techpet is basically a phone app with a robot dog body. :/

 

[robodog]

Agreed 100%. I love Furby, probably just a little more than Tamagotchi. It doesn't matter that some fans will only accept handheld virtual pets. They won't like anything else anyway. What matters is appealing to fans of virtual pets in general, something this techpet thing doesn't seem to be doing.

The thing is if this was a self contained pet that didn't require a phone I'd want one. If we can fit all that computing power in a tiny handheld phone imagine what could be done if you took all that power and put it towards creating a complex and lifelike pet. Robotic or handheld. Either would be cool. Handheld pets seem to be dead but I think they still have potential. But sadly, the powers that be don't seem to agree with me. And too many people are so surgically attached to their phones that producing a stand alone handheld pet doesn't seem feasable. But I think if they made one and made it great it would sell.

 

[tamatown123]

Just look at that price.

https://www.toysrus.com/buy/electronics/computers-tablets/tablet-ipad-accessories/games/tech-pet-88645-16824786

As you can see, this is basically an accessory for the iPhone/iPod. Ever seen an Apple product accessory for $50? I haven't either. Yes, I know, it's not boring like a normal accessory, but still, isn't it a little overpriced? I was expecting it to be $25-$30, NOT $50!

 

[robodog]

$50 for a headless dog that requires an expensive phone to operate. Yeah, they're insane.

 

[Samjjetchi]

Wow there are so many things I could say right now. -.-

Excusing the fact that I believe Apple accessories usually are very pricey, $50 is quite a lot to spend on just the body when the actual phone is what will be completing this product (and that's a reduced price, list price is $59.99).

But that isn't what annoys me most. Not comparing this product to Tamagotchi itself, but one of the reasons that Bandai America didn't want to sell a color screen Tamagotchi is that they viewed the price for the toy to be around $60, which they thought was "too high" (although their Tama-Go and figures total costs exceeded this amount anyway).

So not only do they drop the Tamagotchi brand because their overpriced, oversized Tama-Go bombed, but they release a new product for $60 that requires an expensive smartphone to operate when two years ago they could have released the Tamagotchi+Color in America. It's just obscene.

 

[robodog]

The new Furbys are $60 and they can't keep them on the shelves. If advertised properly a $60 color Tama would probably do just as well.