Found my old bootleg tama and have some questions...

Hello! This is my first post here, so please tell me if I need to correct anything. (Picture size, wrong board...)

I've been interested in Tamagotchis since I was a kid, and back when it was really popular here, my mom got a couple cheap ones from some dollar stores.
Even at the time, all of us at school knew these weren't legit Tamagotchis, but since they were all from the same bootleg "brand", the infrared function worked between them.

They used to come in this kind of packaging, and looked mostly like V1 Connexions, with the clear red plastic on the IR part, and the usual giveaways of an unofficial product.



(for anyone interested, "Animal Imaginado" means roughly "Imagined Animal", and the packaging came in broken spanish, even though I am from Portugal.)

A couple days ago, I decided to go look for my old bootlegs, and found this one!



The shell seems to be a pink recolor of a light blue V1 shell, the background has numbers, and it obviously doesn't say Tamagotchi anywhere.

I decided to open it up so I could check if the manufacturers based the circuit board on a specific region, and to check if it had debug built in.





Well, turns out it doesn't have a debug function at all! So maybe it was based on the European region where it ended up being sold. It also seems way more basic than legit tama circuits. (The pixels seem slightly larger too.)

Other than that, it still works pretty well, and it's surprisingly similar to an actual Connexion! I don't believe it has all its functions, but it's a fun little pet anyways, and very different from the "Multi-Pet" type ones you see nowadays on eBay and such. It mostly feels like some kind of clone of a V1/V2, with weird mixed characteristics like some menu names in japanese, others in english, and slightly different sprites from the official ones.

If I eventually find my other bootlegs, I'll try to make them connect to see if the IR still works between them.

I don't know if anyone is interested in how this works, photos of it running, or if I should make a video, but feel free to ask!

One last question: if I wanted to get back into Tamagotchis, which one do you think would be a good start?

Let me be the first to welcome you to TT! I hope you enjoy reading and posting in the forums. ^_^

Anyways, these are actually pretty interest looking bootlegs and they're one of the most similar looking ones to an actual Tamagotchi that I've ever seen. I'd love to see a picture of it with the batteries inside and maybe get a better look at the characters that are on it. Also, does it feel pretty cheap compared to a real Tamagotchi unit or does it hold up well enough? I know that many of the bootleg Vpets are pretty cheap and seem to stop working after running for a few days.

As for getting a new tama, I'd highly recommend the V4/V4.5. The characters are cute and the games are quite interesting. They also have a job feature which isn't seen in a lot of other versions (the only one I can think of that also has jobs is the Music Star). Although they follow the same basic format, there are a few differences that set the V4 and V4.5 apart from each other. Mainly the characters, mini games, and a few of the job games are different. So if you are interested in getting one I'd recommend looking up some guides or maybe even some review videos before deciding.

From what I can remember from having a real tamagotchi on my hands, I'd say it's pretty similar, maybe a little lighter. It doesn't feel hollow at all though.

About the characters... well, I don't think I ever got very far as a kid, so I don't really remember, but it definitely lasted for some days.
With school and everything, I can't take care of it for a long time, as I believe it doesn't have either a mute or pause function, but I'll try to at least record a little bit of the first stages, and post them soon! The problem is that since the (badly translated) manual is long gone, I have no clue what some controls or button combinations are...

I'll definitely check out your suggestion! While I can't get my hands on a V4/V4.5, do you think I should try out my boyfriend's V5?

I'm looking forward to seeing how this bootleg works! The V5 celebrity was actually my first Tamagotchi so I do recommend that you try it out. Similar to the V4/V4.5, the V5 had a second wave of tamas known has the V5 celebrity. They have pretty much the same differences as the V4 and V4.5, but they lack the job mini games. Both of them also have one of the most unique functions, being able to raise up to three tamas at one time!

I am also interested in seeing how your bootleg Tamagotchis work. As for button combinations, there are at least two that I know are international. The button identification works like this: The far left most button is A, the middle button is B, and the far right button is C. If you press A and B, the Tamagotchi will be paused (time still moves but the tamagotchi doesn't do anything). The next is if you press A and C, a screen will pop up giving an option to turn off the sound. Generally speaking, A is for select icons and confirming options, B is for bringing up the clock, and C is for canceling both options and selections. In the later Tamagotchi models (V4 onwards), pressing C will make the tamagotchi do a special animation.

I also second Tamaninjacat's recommendation of the V4 or V4.5. I do find the V2 and V3's vintage character mix and unpredictable formula to be entertaining, but the job function of the V4 and V4.5 provides a bit more enjoyment (also some of the jobs are rather cute). I am not too fond of the regular V5 due to the limited mini games, which are further limited by how only two actually increase happiness while the others increase the bonding percentage. I hear the V5 celebrity does have a bit more features, but they seem hard to find, especially for a reasonable price.

I am back with a video this time!

https://youtu.be/PyNfGVNpIbM

(if anyone could help me embed this, that would be great!)

Unfortunately, none of the button combinations seem to work, which means i can't take it to classes with me or care for it all the time... But I'll keep going and see what happens with it anyways.

Here's how it looks normally! You can see the sprite nicely, but the little icons are a bit hard to get on camera.


I've seen my bf play a bit with his V5 (it has a black and gold shell, and came with a little gozarutchi charm!) and he managed to even get a sunnytchi, ehe!
I'll try looking for used tama listings near me, to see if I spot anything interesting. ^_^

It's getting pretty late here, so I'll hopefully see you soon! Thank you for your replies!

Wow this is one the most sophisticated tamagotchi bootlegs I've seen. In terms of it's shell and design it easily looks like a real connection version from far away. The icons and the screen background are pretty much identical to the v1 connections which this fake seems to be modeled on.

The gameplay is very simple, but still looks much better than plenty of fakes I've seen and played with. The gameplay reminds me a bit of the Nano Kitty I own actually.

Also these things can actually connect to one another?? That's amazing! Pretty thoughtfully made fake, I'm surprised.

I also advocate for trying out the v4 or v4.5, the v4.5 was personally my first tamagotchi and I have quite a bit of attachment to it. Both the v4 and v4.5 have the job feature and I always thought the games were some of the best out of all the connection versions. The only difference between them, if I remember correctly, is the characters.

Anyway! Welcome to TamaTalk! Enjoy the forums and I hope you get the chance to get your own tama soon!

AceBun said:

Unfortunately, none of the button combinations seem to work, which means i can't take it to classes with me or care for it all the time... But I'll keep going and see what happens with it anyways.

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Sorry, I gave you the wrong word for using the button combinations. You are supposed to hold down the buttons, not just press them.

If none of them work still, you could try using the method to pause vintage Tamagotchis: Go to the clock screen, get it to be in time setting mode (pressing both A and C, as on all Tamagotchi models), and then set it to the correct time when you want to use it again. While it is in time setting mode, nothing will run since all events are tied to the clock's time. This might alter growth patterns if you change the time (normal pausing on Tamagotchis also does this) but you could also leave the time as it is.

Thanks for posting the video; it's always interesting to see a bootleg in action. The sprites are nice, at times rather funny (drinking "Brea" and "Cand"), and I wonder if more games will be unlocked as the character ages like in the genuine versions. Some of the sprites reminded me of the vintage Tamagotchis (only have a P2 to compare it with) which did have bigger pixels than the Connection era models. The screen size is smaller than a genuine Tamagotchi despite the pixel size. The actual screen would fill the outlined square section in the background.

asmexus said:

Also these things can actually connect to one another?? That's amazing! Pretty thoughtfully made fake, I'm surprised.

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Awhile back I saw a thread about a fake Yasashii Tamagotchi, and the models were shown connecting. Still surprising that any of these fakes can connect though, as it seems that a hallmark of fake Tamagotchi is the lack of an infared port.

Quick update: it grew a little bit (I think it's in the child phase now) and got a new sprite! I also recorded more footage so I could try and test the button combinations and check if there were different games and interactions.

I'll try to post it when I get home.

If I keep taking care of and documenting this tama, even if it's a bootleg, should I take it somewhere else and make another thread, or keep it here?

Thanks for the replies and see you later!

AceBun said:

If I keep taking care of and documenting this tama, even if it's a bootleg, should I take it somewhere else and make another thread, or keep it here?

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You can keep it in this thread, since anything about your bootleg tamagotchi is relevant. But, if you later plan to do something more routine with it, you can make a Tamagotchi log over at the Library board, in the Tamagotchi Logs sub-forum. There are quite a few of ways of doing logs, but straightforward information and perhaps a few relevant pictures is a good way to do it.

Hello again! Here's the footage (and some pics) I promised.

From yesterday night:



Those are the sprites for sleeping with the lights off and on, and for the poo. After it went to sleep, the menu said it was 1 year old. I also noticed the clock seemed to run fast, as at that time it was 3 minutes ahead of real time. I kept checking through the day, and it managed to get 45 minutes ahead by 8PM.
After some classes, when I had my first chance to check on it, and it was sick! The animation for curing it showed a syringe, and afterwards it played the "win" tune, like when you win a minigame.

//www.tamatalk.com/IB/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png


(sorry for still only pasting a link!)

As you can see on the video, i tried holding the buttons down, but they still dont seem to work... Besides that, the sprite is now some kind of oval. It eats rice and candy, and weights a bit more. The 1st icon on the bottom seems to make it talk (I think it's supposed to be discipline or something similar), and the connection function seems to have japanese writing, but I can't make it out. The minigames look like they have some garbled writing too, and didn't change.

Other things that I noticced: PHYS may be some sort of discipline meter. Eating even after the FOOD/SCOK bars are full doens't seem to affect weight, and it refuses after the 3rd time you feed it over the limit. I also don't know if it registers that you're overfeeding it or taking bad care of it in any way.

I'm currently searching for used tama listings on local sites, and even though I haven't found anything very promising, there's some interesting (if expensive...) tamas over here! Like an original P1/P2, P's and 4U Plus still in their boxes!

This time the video was embedded. I wonder if it takes awhile for TamaTalk to update.

I was wondering, if the button configurations don't work, is there anyway you can change the time?

I have a feeling only an actual Japanese person would be able to read the writing as fluency makes it easier to recognize characters. But I do hypothesize the words are something general such as "start" and then "lose". I also hypothesize that the game called "spor" might be something of a guessing game if different buttons function in the game or, a chance game. Do you notice any change in stats after the game is won or lost?

Yeah, figuring out care mistakes is going to be difficult unless the attention icon (the last one on the bottom row) lights up. Though I think you know what all those icons do, I can give you an explanation of what they do on a normal Tamagotchi, if you need it

For your Tamagotchi search, I would recommend Ebay. I use the Canadian website, but I have a feeling you could buy from any Ebay website as long as it ships to your country. Some listings appear to be cross listed, so I'm not very sure if there is no need to change websites to get different listings. I've seen quite a variety of Tamagotchis selling on Ebay, some vintage models that are used but still come with their original package! Also, if you are wary of buying internationally, we have a topic that explains some of the details.

Today, after turning 3, my tama seemed to turn into ichigotchi! Because of this, I wonder if its following some sort of chart. The V1, for example, can get ichigotchi on odd generations if I'm not mistaken, so it would be fun to see a bootleg kutchipachi or something in the future. ^_^



It has a different set of sprites, like the other life stages.



I don't believe there's any way to change the time, and if there is I havent found it. Though, I've noticed it seems to be paused if I just keep it on the clock screen. Edit: It doesn't pause, I was wrong.
When I play the first minigame, nothing seems to change if I win or lose several times. (It's quite hard to win since I don't know how to play it at all.)
The attention icon does light up, but only when it poos. I remember, from when I was a kid, it sometimes lighted up for no reason too, and it mean we had to talk (discipline?) the tama.

Most tamas I find are a bit on the expensive side, and the shipping costs (if there is any shipping available for my country) double the price, but I'll try saving up so I can buy a couple tamas to raise together.

Omg you got an Ichigotchi! Didn't know there were actual tama characters on it. This is such an interesting fake.

I agree with Asmexus, this is an interesting bootleg. Also I like how it still does seem to preserve some of the genuine elements, although not being able to pause it or change the time will make living with it difficult.

AceBun said:

I remember, from when I was a kid, it sometimes lighted up for no reason too, and it mean we had to talk (discipline?) the tama.

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Yes, the attention icon can light up for no reason, which indicates the tamagotchi needs to have a time out (as opposed to when it is crying and then it needs to be praised). I don't have a V1 so to me I see an interesting parallel between this bootleg and the P1-2. In the P1, the only food options available were either a slice of bread (in the international release) or a piece of candy. The head shaking it did while a toddler paralleled with the P2 toddler's animation (maybe also the P1, but I don't have one of those). And then the reaction to the attention icon of just yelling also paralleled the P1-2, because these versions only had a time out as opposed to both a time out and praising.

Most tamas I find are a bit on the expensive side, and the shipping costs (if there is any shipping available for my country) double the price, but I'll try saving up so I can buy a couple tamas to raise together.

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Yeah, I have had the same experience with shipping, enough so that I realize one of the pluses to buying something in-store is that I don't have to pay shipping. For small things, the shipping just looks like a way to add a third to the price and some crazy sellers make the shipping really high and the price ridiculously low thinking it will attract more people (hence I always sort listing on Ebay by "price + shipping, lowest first"). Then there are import charges which seem pointless and make me not want to deal with US sellers at all (it becomes a bit ironic when the so called "imported" item is actually originally from Japan). Oddly, I have found listings on the Canadian Ebay that do not specify they ship to Canada, which is frustrating but can be easily solved by asking the seller. Perhaps minorly, the dollar symbol can be irritating when it turns out it is the more expensive US dollars instead of Canadian dollars.

Saving up is really the way to go since something is likely going to cost $50 altogether. The nice thing about connection tamas is that they all work together (V1-4.5, that is) so even if you buy a different model, it is still useful.

Hello hello! As I hoped, my little bootleg did in fact turn into a Kutchipatchi!

It has a couple of funny, not-quite-right sprites too:







I've noticed it poos every time the internal clock hits 30 minutes of any hour, and it weirdly goes to sleep very late (1~2AM internal) and wakes up very early too. So, unfortunately, combined with the lack of a pause and mute functions, I've been struggling to take care of it, and the poor thing has had a lot of care slips...

Because of this, and a friend of mine remembering that Kutchipatchi sprite, I don't believe it has multiple adult characters to grow into, since I think you get specific ones with bad care.

I'll have it grow one more time before I put the tab back in again. Even though I am attached to it, it can get distracting, and even a bit annoying in certain cases... But I still want to see how it looks!

Hopefully I'll get a fun tama I can enjoy for my birthday!

Thanks for the update! The pictures of it eating are so cute and also I'm pretty sure that second item (its snack item?) is dango, a Japanese candy. The sleeping and ... uhh... bathroom sprites make it look like it has half an eye or is wincing/winking. I've gotten Kuchipatchi a few times on my V3 and I think the sprite either had his eyes as single dots closer to the front of his head of just one closed eye about two pixels long.

From what you've written, I understand why it is so difficult to raise. Possibly, you might be able to set it off the next time you hatch it by a few hours so that it awakens or sleeps at a more convenient time. But since you mentioned it sleeps around 1-2 a.m. and I'm guessing it wakes up earlier than 7 a.m., it looks like the time is too short to make it convenient (and also the changing internal clock). On the official Tamagotchis, generally the bad care character stay up late and sleep in late, which is at least convenient on one side.

I was thinking of mentioning the download function that is present on official Tamagotchis, but I realize that since when you started your bootleg it went straight to the time screen, it probably doesn't have this feature. The download feature was added in at least the Connection era of Tamagotchis, and it allowed the option of reloading data that was on the Tamagotchi before it was either reset or its battery was removed. It would pop up once the A button was pressed on the default starting screen (this screen shows the animation of an egg, hence it is sometimes called "egg screen"). This allowed the owner to turn off the Tamagotchi but keep the character, though generally the date recorded is to the last significant event (woke up, married, etc.) and the time was set to the default of 12 noon. I was thinking you might be able to use this on your bootleg, but it probably doesn't have that feature. Oh well, at least this information might come in handy when you do get a genuine tama!

Hehe, I thought it was a dango too! The strange winking sprites also make it look like it has 3 legs for some reason.

I could set the clock off, but I think that the speedup would eventually catch up, since you really notice it being many minutes ahead just overnight. That, and it would be awake when I'd be asleep, and I dont think the hourly beep would let me sleep very well, let alone take care of it.

The download function is something I always thought was pretty smart to include in tamas! Too bad the egg screen only seems to stay on for a few seconds, and I bet it doesn't have the feature either, like you said...

When I do get a legit tama, I'll be sure to make a log here! I've been reading some really amazing ones, and I want to contribute too.

This turned out to be quite the interesting fake! They just shamelessly took regular Tamagotchi characters (like Inchigotchi and Kutchipatchi) and used them in their fake. Honestly when I was younger I may have not been able to tell the difference between this one and a real tama... it's pretty convincing! Thanks for posting the videos so we could get a more in depth look at it. ^_^

AceBun said:

When I do get a legit tama, I'll be sure to make a log here! I've been reading some really amazing ones, and I want to contribute too.

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Oh, that's interesting! There are also group hatches where you can log with people too, in fact, there is going to be one in June. Sometimes a group hatches can be more engaging then just hatching alone, although it seems activity drops off after a certain point ... or you end up having three tamas running when nobody else is logging because you decided why not run five (me at the Easter Hatch, which I am still logging at XD).

When you do create a log, you should probably make a schedule of when you plan to update or have a fixed end date if you wont be continuously logging. Just like a blog, logging can get out of hand if you don't have a routine, or have a routine that cannot be maintained (such as logging daily). The way I look at it, the more time people are given the higher the quality of what they produce. Also, sometime you can get away with logging the day missed in one log or realistically saying "it was a pretty average day".

Pictures are a fiddly thing, since it sometimes seems like everyone has seen so-and-so character doing this or so-and-so character doing that, and pictures require a bit of editing (which adds up when you've got several and need to make a collage to not go over the photo limit). My advice is use pictures to illustrate your log but don't forget that the heart of it is in your description, which brings your Tamagotchi alive.