The Tama-GO, A backwards step in the history of Tamagotchis?

[Eternal Mametchi Fan]

I partially agree with you on that. But there are these disadvantages to the points you made:

• Buying Gotchi Figures to unlock more stuff is a lot like downloading more games and stuff on the iD L - I put the word buying in bold because it costs money. iD L downloads are free. Also, the iD L downloads are open to everyone, whereas Tama-Go figures have to be shipped from America to anyone living abroad because the Tama-Go is discontinued in most countries.
  
• With some Gotchi Figures, you can dress your character up in clothes like on the iD L - like in the first one, I highlighted a word. Also, as I said, the figures cost money. And the clothes don't stay on, the character just does a little dance in them and then takes them off, if I remember correctly.
  
• You can change the house theme like the iD L - Yes, but only the main room, and there are not as many options.
  
• With the Violetchi Gotchi Figure, you can plant stuff like on the iD L - Only the Violetchi one, and it's still a figure that costs money. I don't know if the plants grow in the same way and amount of time as they do on the iD L, but I'm assuming they don't.
  
• With some figures like Ringotchi and Kuchipatchi, you can go out to restaurants like you can on iD L - Yes, but the food costs more and you still have to buy the figures.
  

I personally think the Tama-Go is okay, but it could have a few improvements:

• Could have downloads like on the iD L, rather than expensive figures. Some people or their parents aren't prepared to buy the figures.
  
• Could have a garden like on the iD L.
  
• Could have shorter games and be less needy. What are they thinking, that both money (for figures) and time grow on trees? Children these days get homework and go to clubs or extra-curricular lessons. Hardly anyone who's old enough to use the Tama-Go has time to use it.
  
• Could have more characters and maybe some special characters.
  
• Could be in colour. It's such a missed opportunity! A little more money and time, and we could have had the English iD L early and in stores. But no, they decided to make another black-and-white one. It's their own fault they got hated on and people bought BanDai Japan's new Tama rather than BanDai America's.
  
• Could have more features. Where's Henshin Jo, the garden, happy symbols, seeds, interchangeable rooms other than the main room? All the creativity that's in the iD L has been forgotten on the Tama-Go. It's a nice Tama, but well-thought-out ideas rather than simple things like shops and the park would make it even better.
  

Few of us actually hate the Tama-Go, we just think it's such a missed opportunity. If BanDai Japan hadn't released the iD L shortly after the Tama-Go's release, I'm sure we would appreciate the Tama-Go. But knowing that the idea for all those features and the colour were available to BanDai America but they didn't use them makes us take it out on the Tama-Go. There is nothing wrong with it as a Tama, there's just something wrong with the time it was released. It's like releasing the iPhone 5 in Japan only and in America they release a different type of iPhone 5, but with all the best bits taken out. That's just not fair.

They DO stay in their clothes, but just not in the ones on the Memetchi figure. There are dresses on the Violetchi and Chamametchi figures that the characters keep on. And if it had all those features you said it should have, it would cost twice as much and put Bandai even more out of business! Why are so-called Tamagotchi fans so hard to please?! D=

 

[dazzilitchigirl]

They DO stay in their clothes, but just not in the ones on the Memetchi figure. There are dresses on the Violetchi and Chamametchi figures that the characters keep on. And if it had all those features you said it should have, it would cost twice as much and put Bandai even more out of business! Why are so-called Tamagotchi fans so hard to please?! D=

We're not hard to please - just read the phone example. The non-Japanese people in that example would not be hard to please, they would call the situation very unfair and they would be right. The Music Star was small and had a LOT more features than the Tama-Go, so why does the Tama-Go need to be big? It doesn't. The iD L was in colour and had loads of features, so it makes sense for it to be big, but about a third of the space inside the Tama-Go is empty. There is hardly any empty space in the iD L.

It doesn't need to cost so much. If it had all those features but was smaller, it would probably cost more-or-less the same amount to make. They'd have to pay product designers and programmers, yes, but the actual factory production cost would be less than $5 per Tama.

They also could have thought of what is considered fashionable and modern among older children and teenagers nowadays. Large toys with black-and-white screens and cute smiling characters will not increase anyone's popularity, and popularity is what most people want. Of course most Tamagotchi fans are fine with "childish" things, but if BanDai America was actually trying to sell to a large amount of people, couldn't they have made, say, a way of putting download packs (like iD L downloads) as cheap phone apps that you can download to a Tama? I know that's not fair on people who don't have a phone but it would be great for marketing (I'm not saying they should do it). If they're aiming for young children - mission absolutely not accomplished, say the reviews by parents on Amazon.com. I know, EMF, that your 5-year-old brother uses the Tama-Go but he doesn't go to school like most children his age would.

On the subject of young children with Tamas, most parents disapprove of electronics for their young children. I find it weird how about half the girls I know have iPads but their younger siblings aren't allowed to touch the family computer, but I realised that I'm in almost the same situation. I'm the older sibling, and being already into electronics, my parents can't stop me without trouble. But they aim not to make the same "mistake" with my younger brother, and he doesn't have anything electronic of his own except a CD player and a half-broken DS he never uses. When I was his age I had a computer, an MP3 player, a CD player, a DS with several games, and a TamaTalk account. Most parents of young children have realised their "mistake" with the older siblings and are determined not to let the younger ones grow up the same.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is - the Tama-Go is okay, but if they'd put a little thought and originality into it and gone for a market they could actually sell to, it could be even better. It's a missed opportunity for a very good Tama.

 

[Eternal Mametchi Fan]

^ Nope, it's the most amazing version ever created. Even better than iD L. So stop being so desparate to hate every Tamagotchi that Bandai America releases. XD

 

[tamatown123]

As I mentioned in my post in Page 1, collecting is the thing nowadays. All these Power Rangers and other products have items you can collect. They wanted to try this for the Tama-Go to see if it would work out, I guess it didn't. Unfortunately, it seems many of Bandai America's toys, even today, are aimed at younger children. Downloads would work for sure if they say that a parent needs to help the person who has the Tama, and create a site with the downloads and easy rules on how to download.

 

[Stefan Bauwens]

I don't believe you guys can say that one is truly better than the other. They're just two different tamagotchi's so treat them that way.

And I live in Europe and ordering the Tama-go(including shipping) was just 16 euro. Not that much imo.

 

[dazzilitchigirl]

*removed - site rules - off topic*

 

[Stefan Bauwens]

Got my Tama-go in the mail today, and compared to my P2 tamagotchi I really like it(I like my P2 as well btw). It's imo better than the P2. It has a lot more features(I don't have any figures(except the lite one included)), but that doesn't bother me right away.

With some paperclips and cables I got already 3 "eggs" by my stats

>

(Cradles, Coin Catch and Pattern Shoot). Don't have any idea how pattern shoot works though

Also the thing is huge, but it's good quality and I like the buttons actually very much since I always found my vintage to small for my fingers(Duh, I'm a boy ). For temporary protection I put it in a sock and then in my pants --Yes, I've no problem to fit it in my (front) pockets of my pants, and other people don't notice it. Perhaps it also has to do with my pockets size(boys-pockets).

This gave me the idea that it's perhaps also designed for more grown up kids/adults. But I doubt a small kid will have much problems with how it works(only the size ).

So yeah, I'm pleasantly 'surprised' with it.

 

[Ribonitchi]

I like the tama-go but i'm not a huge fan of it