Get ye a tamagotchi (Bandai Tamagotchi Connection Version 2)

Member Name: smeagol28

Product:	Bandai Tamagotchi Connection Version 2
Date:	18/05/06 (3085 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: small and can be kept in a pocket

Disadvantages: childs interest lasts about as long as the batteries!

I bought 2 of my kids a Tamagotchi each for Christmas and I would say that now 3 1/2 months later, the novelty has just worn off (coincidently this is how long the battery lasted!).

-------The product-------

This is a Tamagotchi version 2 which means you can connect to others by means of an infra red port. They can play games and exchange items this way.

It comes in a kind of blister pack which is tricky to open. Take care that you don't bin the rather extensive insructions as well.

I got mine from Toys r us (£12.99) but I have seen them for £11.99 in Tesco.

They come in a variety of colours but I recommend that you get one of those round the neck mobile phone strings to put it on (you can pick them up for around £1) as the Tamagotchi's are small and easy to loose.


-------Setting your Tamagotchi----------

When you finally get into the thing you will be able to set it. You enter your childs DOB (I think the Tamagotchi's are supposed to celebrate it but we haven't had a birthday yet). If you stick a pen in the hole at the back you can also reset it.

You then need to set date and time etc. It is important that you do this right as the Tamagotchis 'sleep through' you don't want the thing beeping at you all night! They also do 'seasonal activities'. When you haven't played with it for a bit and you look at it, you can sometimes catch it doing things like putting up christmas trees, watching the Easter bunny and building snowmen. They also do the day-to-day stuff like watching TV and having baths etc.

Once you have done all this your egg will appear on screen. You just have to wait for it to hatch. Once it does you can name it (there is space for 5 characters). A black blob is a boy and a clear blob is a girl. Congratulations you are now the parent of a beeping, pooing spodge!

--------The Icons---------

Now you are up and running you need to know about the icons. These are at the very top and the bottom of the screen. There are 10 in all. To select the icons scroll through using the first button (A), to select press B and to cancel press C.

1. The status icon.

This displays the hungry and Happy meters (4 hearts that you should try and keep full), the training bar (you get further pieces of bar for praising or disciplining the tamagotchi accordingly). It also shows the age, weight in pounds, generation number, name and the number of points you have (just press B to scroll through).

2. The feeding icon.

You can choose to give your tamagotchi a meal, a snack or a treat. The meals and snacks change depending on the development of your Tamagotchi.
A meal will fill 1 hungry heart and a snack 1 happiness heart. If you give it too many snacks it will get tooth ache (it will beep and display a tooth).
You can buy your tamagotchi treats from the shop.

3. The toilet icon.

Go to this icon to clean up any little 'acccidents' that your tamagotchi may have had. If you see wiggly lines around the tamagotchi and you press this icon in time then your tamagotchi will deposit its load in the toilet. It looks funny doing this. Tamagotchis poo quite frequently (every couple of hours or so). If you leave poo next to your tamagotchi for too long it will become ill and a skull picture will appear.

4. The games icon.

Here you can choose to play games, go shopping or play with the items you have already bought.

GAMES
When your tamagotchi is born you will only be able to play one game. As it grows up more of these games become unlocked.
There are 4 games :- jump, bump, heading and slot.
Play these games to earn points to spend in the shop.

Jump - Three circles will light up one at a time. Press the corresponding A,B or C button as fast as you can in order to make the tamagotchi jump further and earn more points

Bump - Try and get as much health as you can on the health bar so as to defeat your opponents. You need to win the round to advance to the next one (there are 8 rounds).

Heading - Move left or right (A and C) and then press B to jump to head the ball 20 times to win max. points (100).

Slot - Bet between 1 and 9 points. You need to try and get 3 circles. Triangles give you less money than circles and 3 crosses will earn you nothing. (Max 900).

Playing games will decrease the weight of the tamagotchi.
Now you can spend all your hard earned points in the shop!

The shop keeper will sell 4 things at a time. These are treats for your tamagotchi and items that it can play with (certain items can only be used by tamagotchis that are adults, or children etc). There are 5 secret codes for getting extra items. These are free the first time you use them but if you want more you have to pay next time.

SECRET CODES

When the shop keeper appears press the A button until he flings his arms in the air. You can now enter your 8 digit code.

Costume CBAACABC
Hair gel ACBCABAC
Steak BACBCACB
Love potion (honey) BCBACABA
Cake (this is sometimes a different costume) ABBACBCC

All items can be viewed and played with through the items menu in the games icon.

5. Playmate icon

Her you can play games with friends if you connect your tamagotchis by using the infra red ports.

6. Training icon

You can choose to praise or give your tamagotchi a time out here. If your tamagotchi is in a bad mood (it usually beeps at you) you can praise it to cheer it up. You will earn more training bar.

If your tamacotchi is misbehaving (e.g. beeping when its happiness and hungry meters are full or it sends a poo as a present and giggles) you can give it a time out to earn more training points.

7. Medicine/health icon.

Go to this if your tamagotchi has tooth ache or the skull icon is showing. It may take a coulpe of goes to cure it.

8. Light icon

You can turn the lights out on your tamagotchi when it is in bed. It will beep to tell you that it is asleep. You should turn the lights out then so it sleeps better. The lights will automatically switch on when it wakes up in the morning.

9. Friends icon.

Here you have a list of all the people you have connected with (rather like a tamagotchi's little black book). It will show your friends name. gender and how compatible you are (shown by smiley faces and hearts).

You can also opt to send a present to a friend either a treat or one of your items. Just wrap it up then connect via infra red. The more you send the more compatible they become.....fickle little things!

10. Attention icon.

This icon can't be selected but lights up when yout tamagotchi wants something. Check health and happiness etc.

---------Tamagotch growth cycle------

Sounds a bit like school doesn't it!!

A tamagotchi will go through a number of stage, baby, child, teenager, adult and old person. It will change in appearance at each stage. What it becomes at each stage depends on how you take care of it. 1 tamagotchi year is roughly 1 day so the changes are good as they keep the child interested. Each tamagotchi lasts just over a week in my experience before it falls in love has a baby and the dies (leaving the baby behind as the next generation). The new baby can be renamed and inherits its parents items and money (very nice!), but if your tamagotchi dies before it reproduces you loose all the items and money you had.

If your tamagotchi reaches about 6 years and still hasn't found it's 'soul mate' some ugly old hag comes around and tries to pair you up. Should you choose to fall in love then you get fireworks and then lumbered with a baby. The adult only then lasts a day or so before disappearing leaving the baby - they aren't the best of parents these tamagotchis!


---------What I think about them-------

All in all I have been quite impressed with these. They aren't too annoying as you can turn the sound off (just press A and C together). We have lost them a couple of times but they beep every now and then so you can track them down.

They are pretty robust, one of ours almost survived the washing machine. It worked for a bit before finally giving up the ghost!

The only draw back that I have found is tracking down spare batteries. I thought they might have lasted longer than 3 months which is how long it took for them both to run out. On the plus side you do get plenty of notice before they go and you have the option of down loading the data so you can save it.


The kids have lost interest in them a bit but they still have a play with them every now and then. In the mean time I lovingly tend their every need to keep them going.

I think that a version 3 is due out soon with more characters that the tamagotchi can change into, so it might be worth holding on before you buy one.

Summary: Your annoying plastic pet