Tamagotchi Friends “Prototype”?

[KidRetro64]

Hi  

I’ve just remembered something! It might not be 100% Accurated as it was 2 Years ago, but I’ll try my best. (It’s just popped into my head, and I’d like to see if anyone else has one like this!)

Back In 2017, I got my first Tamagotchi; being a Pink Gem Friends. But some how, I remember seeing somewhere this message.

”Prototype, Not For Resale”

I just do! I can’t remember where.. but it was definitely about that Tamagotchi. Does anyone know how the seller could have gotten a Prototype and sold it legally? It can still do everything, like Bumping and connecting to a computer so it’s really good! But my sister and BFF have one and there Tamagotchis are totally normal..

 

[Eggiweg]

Any pictures?

 

[Penguin-keeper]

I echo Eggiweg's question, here - I'd love to see pictures, too.

Anyway;

Does anyone know how the seller could have gotten a Prototype and sold it legally?

If they were involved with the marketing for the product, or its showings at trade-shows where they're trying to sell stock to retailers, it's possible that they could've gotten hold of it, or been given it as a freebie, that way. A fully-working device as described could possibly have this sort of origin - a display model that's not really supposed to go beyond the show-floor. I don't know anywhere near enough about how Bandai operates to know whether they allow staff or contractors to keep product-samples, though, so I have no idea if such a sale would technically be allowed many years down the line, or whether there's some statute of limitations for stuff like that.

It's also possible for a unit with such markings to possibly have simply been a product-sample that was given out to prospective retail-buyers at some point.

It's also possible for such a device to originate from a product test - something where members of the public who are involved with survey and product-testing panels can sometimes be sent items that aren't yet ready for widespread release because the company wants to collect feedback before doing so. Bandai did test-runs like this in Japan with the original Tamagotchi back in 1996, and this is probably how those prototypes were distributed.

Without more information about and evidence of this unit and others like it, it's impossible to determine the origin, though - these are just some possibilities, and are ways that items like this can sometimes get out into the wild. If I had to guess, I would bet on the first one because it's the scenario that I've heard of the most in fields like this, or the last one because we know that Bandai has a track-record for running product-tests like that. But there's just no way of truly knowing, here.

 

[hwd45]

While I'm quite sceptical of this, I do think the topic of Tamagotchi Prototypes is an interesting one.

Expanding upon what Penguin-keeper wrote above, test products were given out in the late 90s to see peoples' responses to Tamagotchis. It seems like a similar approach was taken when the Tamagotchi Connection released, as Bandai released early adoption forms for people to apply with. It seems that this was more for review purposes than for preview purposes however, so it's likely that all the devices released through this scheme were standard US V1s (ROM version 4.0).

There's also this one image taken from a magazine back in the 90s that shows some seriously early prototypes of the P1:

Seems to be three different stages of development with the device on the bottom being a lot closer to the final product.

A prototype version of the Tama-Go was shown off in February 2010 at the New York Toy Fair. Presumably none of the prototype devices were stolen from the event, so I'm not sure we'll ever see these devices again, but they had at least one noticeable difference from the final version:

This screen says "CARTRIDGE" instead of "CHARACTER". The shell designs and faceplates were also vastly different from the final release - a shame, because the shell colours and a couple of the faceplates were really nice. A few character figures that were never released were also shown at the event.

Speaking of unreleased shell designs, I think pretty much every Connection version had at least one shell design that was shown to the public but never produced (I guess this isn't strictly about prototypes, but it's tangentially related).

These designs - both recolours of wave 1 designs - were originally intended to be released in the second wave of US V1 designs, but neither of them were.

Similarly, this graffiti design was intended to be released in one of the later waves of US V2 shells, but it was never seen again.

This design was also featured in the TV ad for the V2, along with another unreleased design:

There were also a number of designs for both the V4 and V5 which never got released, but since this post is getting quite long already I think I'll get back to talking about the software side of the prototypes.

I found this interesting status update earlier: https://www.tamatalk.com/IB/profile/196422-gotchiguardian/?status=68920&type=status
Assuming it's real, I guess it confirms that there are prototypes out there in circulation.

Another prototype which may or may not exist somewhere is the Tamagotchi Music Star World Tour Edition - this version, which was basically going to be like a "Version 6.5", was revealed in early 2009 and cancelled later that year, with Bandai claiming the version never got produced. Perhaps somewhere in the world the design documentation for this version - or perhaps an early build - still exists.

Last but certainly not least, there does still exist some development and patent documentation out there detailing early versions of the game. I think there's probably a lot of documentation that's still unseen to the general public, but the few documents we have reveal some interesting things. I'll be detailing what I've found in these documents in my ROM versions thread soon.

 

[KidRetro64]

While I'm quite sceptical of this, I do think the topic of Tamagotchi Prototypes is an interesting one.

Expanding upon what Penguin-keeper wrote above, test products were given out in the late 90s to see peoples' responses to Tamagotchis. It seems like a similar approach was taken when the Tamagotchi Connection released, as Bandai released early adoption forms for people to apply with. It seems that this was more for review purposes than for preview purposes however, so it's likely that all the devices released through this scheme were standard US V1s (ROM version 4.0).

There's also this one image taken from a magazine back in the 90s that shows some seriously early prototypes of the P1:

Seems to be three different stages of development with the device on the bottom being a lot closer to the final product.

A prototype version of the Tama-Go was shown off in February 2010 at the New York Toy Fair. Presumably none of the prototype devices were stolen from the event, so I'm not sure we'll ever see these devices again, but they had at least one noticeable difference from the final version:



This screen says "CARTRIDGE" instead of "CHARACTER". The shell designs and faceplates were also vastly different from the final release - a shame, because the shell colours and a couple of the faceplates were really nice. A few character figures that were never released were also shown at the event.

Speaking of unreleased shell designs, I think pretty much every Connection version had at least one shell design that was shown to the public but never produced (I guess this isn't strictly about prototypes, but it's tangentially related).

These designs - both recolours of wave 1 designs - were originally intended to be released in the second wave of US V1 designs, but neither of them were.



Similarly, this graffiti design was intended to be released in one of the later waves of US V2 shells, but it was never seen again.

This design was also featured in the TV ad for the V2, along with another unreleased design:

There were also a number of designs for both the V4 and V5 which never got released, but since this post is getting quite long already I think I'll get back to talking about the software side of the prototypes.

I found this interesting status update earlier: https://www.tamatalk.com/IB/profile/196422-gotchiguardian/?status=68920&type=status
Assuming it's real, I guess it confirms that there are prototypes out there in circulation.

Another prototype which may or may not exist somewhere is the Tamagotchi Music Star World Tour Edition - this version, which was basically going to be like a "Version 6.5", was revealed in early 2009 and cancelled later that year, with Bandai claiming the version never got produced. Perhaps somewhere in the world the design documentation for this version - or perhaps an early build - still exists.

Last but certainly not least, there does still exist some development and patent documentation out there detailing early versions of the game. I think there's probably a lot of documentation that's still unseen to the general public, but the few documents we have reveal some interesting things. I'll be detailing what I've found in these documents in my ROM versions thread soon.

Wow! I didn’t even know that the P1 Had Prototypes Like those. Intresting!

But back to the point, I remeber where it said! On the EBay listing, it said that it was a Prototype. I’m not sure if this was true; or to just get some smart Tamagotchi hunters to fall for it. I’m not sure, but if anyone can tell me if this is true, I’d be happy  

 

[Penguin-keeper]

But back to the point, I remeber where it said! On the EBay listing, it said that it was a Prototype. I’m not sure if this was true; or to just get some smart Tamagotchi hunters to fall for it. I’m not sure, but if anyone can tell me if this is true, I’d be happy  

I already covered all that can really be said about this in my post, which is above hwd45's...

None of us can verify whether or not it's true without any evidence, though.

 

[ꌃꍏꌩꂦꍟꈤ_꓄ꍏꂵꍏꁅꂦ꓄ꉓꃅ]

this looks cool!

 

[Hoky]

None of us can verify whether or not it's true without any evidence, though.

In essence, pics or it didn't happen? XD

I agree, though. Without anything to go on beyond the recollection of the word 'prototype' on a sale, there's nothing anyone can do. I'm sure every tama has had a prototype of some sort or another, but there's a very slim chance they ever get sold.

 

[ꌃꍏꌩꂦꍟꈤ_꓄ꍏꂵꍏꁅꂦ꓄ꉓꃅ]

While I'm quite sceptical of this, I do think the topic of Tamagotchi Prototypes is an interesting one.

Expanding upon what Penguin-keeper wrote above, test products were given out in the late 90s to see peoples' responses to Tamagotchis. It seems like a similar approach was taken when the Tamagotchi Connection released, as Bandai released early adoption forms for people to apply with. It seems that this was more for review purposes than for preview purposes however, so it's likely that all the devices released through this scheme were standard US V1s (ROM version 4.0).

There's also this one image taken from a magazine back in the 90s that shows some seriously early prototypes of the P1:

Seems to be three different stages of development with the device on the bottom being a lot closer to the final product.

A prototype version of the Tama-Go was shown off in February 2010 at the New York Toy Fair. Presumably none of the prototype devices were stolen from the event, so I'm not sure we'll ever see these devices again, but they had at least one noticeable difference from the final version:

This screen says "CARTRIDGE" instead of "CHARACTER". The shell designs and faceplates were also vastly different from the final release - a shame, because the shell colours and a couple of the faceplates were really nice. A few character figures that were never released were also shown at the event.

Speaking of unreleased shell designs, I think pretty much every Connection version had at least one shell design that was shown to the public but never produced (I guess this isn't strictly about prototypes, but it's tangentially related).

These designs - both recolours of wave 1 designs - were originally intended to be released in the second wave of US V1 designs, but neither of them were.

Similarly, this graffiti design was intended to be released in one of the later waves of US V2 shells, but it was never seen again.

This design was also featured in the TV ad for the V2, along with another unreleased design:

There were also a number of designs for both the V4 and V5 which never got released, but since this post is getting quite long already I think I'll get back to talking about the software side of the prototypes.

I found this interesting status update earlier: https://www.tamatalk.com/IB/profile/196422-gotchiguardian/?status=68920&type=status
Assuming it's real, I guess it confirms that there are prototypes out there in circulation.

Another prototype which may or may not exist somewhere is the Tamagotchi Music Star World Tour Edition - this version, which was basically going to be like a "Version 6.5", was revealed in early 2009 and cancelled later that year, with Bandai claiming the version never got produced. Perhaps somewhere in the world the design documentation for this version - or perhaps an early build - still exists.

Last but certainly not least, there does still exist some development and patent documentation out there detailing early versions of the game. I think there's probably a lot of documentation that's still unseen to the general public, but the few documents we have reveal some interesting things. I'll be detailing what I've found in these documents in my ROM versions thread soon.

can you elabortate about the tamagotchi connection adoption papers and maybe we can see if sending one will be interesting

 

[hwd45]

can you elabortate about the tamagotchi connection adoption papers and maybe we can see if sending one will be interesting

They were just silly little forms released in 2004 that journalists could use to apply to get a Tamagotchi before its street release date - that way they had time to review the device, write up said review and publish it before its release.

 

[Kurb]

Sell it on EBay and get some CCCASH

 

[leogames2012]

NO!

Does anyone know how the seller could have gotten a Prototype and sold it legally?