My latest nostalgia kick - Tamagotchi & others
Currently Feeling:
impressed So every few months or so I get obsessed with some fun thing or another, and I fall into the collecting hole. It's something I have to work to not get too spendy with, otherwise I can really get carried away, but it's fun as long as I keep an eye on it. My last interest was cassette tapes, which I'll probably end up putting on the site in some form or another eventually. This time around it's virtual pets. Bandai has been rebooting their original Digimon and Tamagotchi lines for folks like me who want to revisit their childhood toys, and they're pretty cheap right now, so I picked up a purple and pink P1 (first gen, that is) Tamagotchi, and a re-released Gigapets Pixel Puppy (they're revamping theirs too). Below are my thoughts about both of them.
First off, the Tamagotchi is one I had as a child, whereas the Gigapet is fairly new to me. I had always wanted one growing up, so decided to give it a try. Right off the bat, I am more impressed by the Gigapet than the Tama. The screen is waaaay better and more clear, and for my older eyes, it's much easier to read. I find myself having to tilt the Tama a bit before I'm able to see everything correctly, whereas the Giga is readable in pretty much all light.
They both have similar functions: feed, turn off light, give medicine, wash, play game(s), and stats. The Tamagotchi starts off as a baby, and grows into an adult over the next week or so. Which one it grows into depends on how you raise it. Spoiler alert, I kept the tama's sound off for the first few days, so I didn't end up hearing its calls and it stayed relatively low in stats when it grew. I've apparently got the "bad" adult stage, but I like him anyway
The gigapet comes with two games to the tama's one, and doesn't change much in appearance. I've heard it does get bigger, but I haven't seen that on mine yet. Even so, the animations it has are adorable, and it's much more active than the tamagotchi at any stage. The doggie spends a lot of time running around, but I've also seen him sniffing on the ground (adorable), running into the screen, and even chasing its tail. In addition to cleaning up its poop, you'll also need to give it baths when it gets fleas, which you can tell by how it scratches itself. When you're not caring for it, after a while it'll go to sleep, probably to save on battery time. I've heard that the original gigapets were really difficult to care for, and if that's so, then it seems they've changed the programming to be more forgiving, since I haven't really had much trouble with it at all. Also, the sounds it makes are quite varied and cute! It barks, scratches, makes chomping noises when it eats, and splashes in the tub.
One thing I don't like is that you have to discipline it in order to keep its discipline meter up, rather than when it misbehaves like the tama. I don't really like disciplining it for no reason, so I usually chose to teach it tricks instead, since this also affects the meter, although in smaller increments.
I've been having a lot of fun with these, and I'm surprised that I like the gigapet more than the tama at this point. I've got a few more coming in the mail, so I'll eventually add those into the mix once one of these passes on. I'd like to log them here as well, and I'm focusing on non-Bandai ones, since there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of info about all the off-brand virtual pets out there. I'm always interested in bootlegs and unusual finds, so I'll see what I can find and throw it up here after I've checked it out.
Update: Well my GigaDoggie, Jackson, is no more. I had been using the battery that came with it in shipping, and I guess it had been sitting there a while, because it died today
I didn't get to see his little angel/tombstone/whatever it shows, but I did get him to two weeks before he quit!
They both have similar functions: feed, turn off light, give medicine, wash, play game(s), and stats. The Tamagotchi starts off as a baby, and grows into an adult over the next week or so. Which one it grows into depends on how you raise it. Spoiler alert, I kept the tama's sound off for the first few days, so I didn't end up hearing its calls and it stayed relatively low in stats when it grew. I've apparently got the "bad" adult stage, but I like him anyway
The gigapet comes with two games to the tama's one, and doesn't change much in appearance. I've heard it does get bigger, but I haven't seen that on mine yet. Even so, the animations it has are adorable, and it's much more active than the tamagotchi at any stage. The doggie spends a lot of time running around, but I've also seen him sniffing on the ground (adorable), running into the screen, and even chasing its tail. In addition to cleaning up its poop, you'll also need to give it baths when it gets fleas, which you can tell by how it scratches itself. When you're not caring for it, after a while it'll go to sleep, probably to save on battery time. I've heard that the original gigapets were really difficult to care for, and if that's so, then it seems they've changed the programming to be more forgiving, since I haven't really had much trouble with it at all. Also, the sounds it makes are quite varied and cute! It barks, scratches, makes chomping noises when it eats, and splashes in the tub.
One thing I don't like is that you have to discipline it in order to keep its discipline meter up, rather than when it misbehaves like the tama. I don't really like disciplining it for no reason, so I usually chose to teach it tricks instead, since this also affects the meter, although in smaller increments.
I've been having a lot of fun with these, and I'm surprised that I like the gigapet more than the tama at this point. I've got a few more coming in the mail, so I'll eventually add those into the mix once one of these passes on. I'd like to log them here as well, and I'm focusing on non-Bandai ones, since there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of info about all the off-brand virtual pets out there. I'm always interested in bootlegs and unusual finds, so I'll see what I can find and throw it up here after I've checked it out.
Update: Well my GigaDoggie, Jackson, is no more. I had been using the battery that came with it in shipping, and I guess it had been sitting there a while, because it died today
I didn't get to see his little angel/tombstone/whatever it shows, but I did get him to two weeks before he quit!
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