tamagotchi
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Tamagotchi Connection V5: oh no, now the family's involved
Say it ain't so! As if keeping one Tamagotchi healthy wasn't tiresome enough, now Bandai is out to prove whether or not you could legitimately handle quadruplets. The Tamagotchi Connection V5 maintains the same addictiveness charm found in prior iterations, but also allows humans to focus on "raising multiple characters simultaneously." Supposedly, this will somehow enable kids (um, only kids?) to "experience family values," but we can't envision it doing much more than sucking away even more precious hours of our life. Ready to cave? If so, you can reportedly find these nationwide right now for $14.99, but the "refreshed" edition -- along with the Tamagotchi Pedometer, Tama-watchi, and redesigned Gotchi Gear lineup -- won't be landing until July.
Namco reveals new Tamagotchi game for DS
Namco dished out a press release to let us know that Tamagotchi Connection: Cornershop 3 would be making its way to the DS. With a release window of this summer, the game will feature 13 brand new shops to run and expand, a new park to design and the ability to trade journals with friends wirelessly. And, of course, there will be new characters added to the mix.So, who's anxious to give this a play this summer?%Gallery-12928%[Via press release]
Moshi Monsters
Moshi Monsters is a new virtual world by MindCandy, the folks behind Perplex City. It appears to be a cross between MySpace and a Tamagotchi, with minigames thrown into the mix. It's got bright colors, it's got cute sound effects, and it's got monsters. And it's frankly adorable. Of course, it is aimed at kids, and there's a clear mandate by the creators to provide a safe experience, so parents need not worry.One of the features touted by the preview video is that of buying things for your monster to keep it happy. If this isn't a clear indication that the concerns mentioned in this post are valid, then I don't know what is. Surely there could be better ways to provide the things your monster needs? Couldn't you grow its food, make its toys? I'm sure one could argue that running a virtual world this way teaches kids the importance of managing money, but there are better ways to do that without making it part and parcel of playtime, which in all other respects is completely whimsical and fantastical. Still, I'm a big fan of monsters. While Moshi Monsters is still in beta, I'm looking forward to seeing more of how it all works together.
A year of crap: the worst so far
In its first year, the Wii has changed the video game landscape. It's brought people in who never thought they would care about video games. New methods of interacting with onscreen events have been invented. The image of the video game has started swinging away from the nerd-basement stereotype and toward a more family-friendly, even trendy experience.But the Wii is still a game console, and it can't be completely different from every other console. It's a universal rule that all video game systems must be populated by a bunch of really terrible games, and the Wii has certainly done an admirable job of attracting cheaply-made, ill-conceived, untested, embarrassing garbage. It's really a mark of a system's popularity that so many publishers have come running with their shovels. It's a mark of the Wii's strength as a platform, as well, that it has managed to survive despite the existence of some of these games.We decided to celebrate this aspect of the Wii by highlighting the five lowest-scoring games on Metacritic's list of reviewed Wii games. The bottom five epitomizes pretty much everything that is terrible about games: hastily thrown-together licensed games, cash-in ports, and games whose ambition far outweighs their budgets. And Chicken Shoot. The worst part? In ten years, every single one of these games will be an extremely rare collectors' item, drawing several times its retail price on eBay, or whatever the future space version of eBay is. And you will want to buy them.
Tamagotchi: Party On! for $18
Reviews for Tamagotchi: Party On! haven't been favorable, but if you've ever wanted to compete against your friends in an election for the Sparkling President of Tamagotchi planet, have we got a deal for you! Amazon is selling Namco Bandai's minigame collection at a bargain price of $17.99, shipping them out for free with orders totaling over $25, as usual. The deal ends today, and we don't expect the game to stay in stock for long, so snatch up a copy now, while you can![Via CAG]
Tamagotchi movie to prove whether kids really will watch anything
Sure, we all feared this day might come, and while we had certainly hoped that the ten-year anniversary would mark the close of a craze that should have never happened, it looks like Bandai is going to milk this thing one more time. Of course, we saw new life in Tamagotchi land earlier this year, but in a new movie set to debut this December, several of the Tamagotchi characters will be thrilling youngsters and annoying parents by "befriending a human girl who shows up at their virtual home on a star." The animated picture will be distributed by Toho Company, and while we're not certain if this flick will actually make it to US soil, let's hope for all of our sakes that it stays fairly contained.
Wii releases for the week of May 28th
Can you believe it? This week, we have a list of Wii releases -- an actual list, which means more than one title. Brilliant! At least, it seems that way until we head out to the shops and peer into our wallets, which immediately shrivel in the face of the epic list of games we want to buy. But we're greedy like that. So what's it for you this week? Will you bear the brunt of multiple game purchases? Are you going to wait awhile before making any decisions? Mario Party 8 Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Surf's Up Tamagotchi: Party On!
Today's driest game video: Seaman 2
GameTrailers shows off a few brief Seaman 2 videos, our collective pick for today's video. While not yet announced for release outside of Japan, Seaman 2 taps into the risky, creative side of gaming we laud. Admittedly, those gambles don't always pay off, but when they do, they're why we play games.The videos show a few people playing the game, even Japanese schoolgirls! And while we question the focus-group style of the clips -- the clips could have easily been created by an ad agency and actors -- they give a glimpse into this simian sequel to the previous underwater pet title.See the clips after the break.
Tamagotchi Party On! goes gold, set to release in May
We've had both screens and video to look at for Namco Bandai's upcoming Tamagotchi Party On! and it's likely many of you have made up your minds about whether this is a game for you or not. Regardless, we receive word today that the company's first title for the Wii has gone gold and will be making its expected release to retail late in May. The game will have a suggested MSRP of $39.99.Tamagotchi Party On! is a 3D party game that features multiplayer with up to four different players. The game has players competing in a campaign race to become the president of Tamagotchi Planet. In competing through a series of minigames, players will earn Pupularity Points and Gotchi, the official currency of Tamagotchi Planet.[Via press release]
Bandai hatches Tamagotchi handset, coming to AT&T
Just in case your kids haven't gotten into WoW, MSN, or any other addictive pursuit, Bandai and PlayPhone bring drug-like amusement to cellphones with Tamagotchi (see our playful mockup over there on the right). Tamagotchi as a game isn't anything terribly new on mobiles, but unique on this prepaid mobile device is the ability for kids to convert their prepaid minutes to credits on the Tamaphone.com website. Youngsters will be able to pick up things like wallpapers, ringtones, and games all on their own without a credit card or any adult interaction required (of course, parents will still have control over what they are up to at the site). No word on when this little hatchling will pop up, but it should ring in at roughly 100 bones and will make its home on AT&T's network. Based on the the Motorola V190 of old, it ain't exactly packed full of the absolute newest tech, but kiddies will likely adore it.
New Tamagotchi Party On screens
If any Wii games have been lacking in vibrant color, it's because Tamagotchi: Party On! took all the color from a year's worth of games. Seriously, this game more than cancels out Sadness in mood and, especially, in color saturation. In these screens, we can see what looks like a game board-- we would guess it connects the minigames, in the style of another well-known minigame collection.This is, at least in terms of visuals, the most charming minigame collection we've seen since Incredible Crisis. Will it be as much fun? At least minigames have the potential to be more interesting with unique control schemes like the Wiimote provides. Check out some screens after the break!
Tamagotchi Party On! gameplay videos
Why didn't anyone tell us that Tamagotchi: Party On! was so adorable? We could have been staring dreamily at it since the Japanese Wii launch. What a missed opportunity.Party On! is a minigame collection about trying to become the president of Tamagotchi Planet, and is full of edgy political satire cute competitive games that involve shaking hands, opening kind-of-unsettling animated doors, and directing traffic, from what we see so far. We love the appearance of this game, which recalls Parappa the Rapper without actually being flat. Speaking of Parappa, the Tamagotchi DS games were developed by Parappa creators Nana-On-Sha, but this one seems to be the work of an internal Namco Bandai team. If we ever hear confirmation that Nana-On-Sha is developing for the Wii, you will hear about it immediately. We will interrupt your regularly scheduled websites. Enjoy some videos after the break![Via GoNintendo]
Bandai at the International Toy Fair
While Mattel and VTech are doing their best to keep kids imaginative, or at least assimilate them into the gadget-filled world, Bandai's new creation lets kids "live the Tamagotchi life 24/7." Forget "edutainment" and prepare your child for life as a WoW gold farmer, heavy raider or professional ganker. The new Tamagotchi Connection V4 lets your child enjoy his or her virtual pet through every stage of virtual life, including going to school and choosing one of 15 careers -- and hopefully a few solid years in a retirement home telling anyone who will listen how when it was young, pixels were this high. The V4 will be followed by the V4.5 in the middle of the year, and both versions will let you take your pet online for more games to play and items to win, while offline you can communicate with your friends' Tamagotchis via IR.
Dragon Quest Monsters passes the million mark
SquareEnix today confirmed that one million copies of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker have been sold in Japan since the game's release on December 28. This feat makes Dragon Quest Monsters only the second third-party DS title to achieve more than one million sales in Japan, following on from Bandai's success last year with Tamagotchi no Puchi Puchi. DQM had been sold out in many stores across Japan this past week, with shortages so severe that Joker plummeted from second place in the Japanese sales chart to 42nd place. Stocks were replenished yesterday, however, and the demand for Dragon Quest Monsters (which is merely a tasty appetizer to enjoy before Dragon Quest IX is served) has immediately pushed SquareEnix' game beyond the milestone of a million sales.
The bottom of the barrel
What's this -- a list? Cue the frothing fanboys! But this latest list of the top ten worst DS games, as decided by the folks at Pocket Gamer, is definitely filled with some of the poorest examples of DS gaming. We're not sure if they're really the ten worst ever, though. Let's call them the "Ten Worst Titles Masquerading as Games You Might Almost Want to Play." Well, except for Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. We actually did want to play that, but y'know, we need it to function.Check out the full list after the jump.
Fresh screens for Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 2
Releasing this week, Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 2 features many a Tamagotchi, as well as 12 different shops. As you progress through the game, and subsequently earn "Gotchi" points, you'll upgrade and open new shops, as well as purchase a plethora of decorations and clothes for your Tamagotchi. Favorite venues return, such as the Flower Shop and Concert Hall, as well as some new ones in the Bowling Alley and Sushi Bar.GameSpot has posted 8 new screens of the game depicting many of the Tamagotchi, as well as some of the shops.
Japanese launch list unveiled
Nintendo of Japan's website offers a list of those purported sixteen launch titles...and they're not all necessarily what you would have expected. Take a look! The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Wii Sports (including boxing and bowling to round out tennis, golf, and baseball) WarioWare Wii Play Red Steel SD Gundam Revolution Tamagotchi Ennichi no Tastsujin (a drum game, along the lines of Taiko Drum Master) Trauma Center: Second Opinion Elebits Necro-nesia Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz Super Swing Golf Pangya Wing Island (demoed at E3 2006, the "plane game") Kororinpa (a Marble Madness-type game of some sort) Machariku Domino (a domino game) Interesting! It's good to see a rhythm/music game so early, and we'll post details on some of the more mysterious entries as we receive information.
Special Edition Tamagotchi celebrates 10 years of wasted time
We're not afraid to admit it: at the height of the Tamagotchi craze we received a cheap imitation digital pet for Christmas and have never recovered emotionally from that pain of that day. Now that Tamagotchi is getting ready to celebrate 10 years of keeping small children from their homework, we feel the tears rushing back, but they are good tears -- tears of healing. Bandai is releasing a limited-run Special Edition of their addictive digital pet to celebrate this joyous occasion, and are producing 1000 each of three different-colored versions. They've tossed the thing into a snazzy Japanese-style box and are selling them in Japan for what we're sure will be prices just as confiscatory as the original.
Widget Watch: Tigergotchi
Okay. As you all know, I hate the Dashboard, and I usually keep it turned off. Nevertheless, when I saw this widget, I was forced to reactivate my Dashboard, install it, and be amused. Why? Because I am a huge fan of the entirely useless technology-as-fake-pet phenomenon.
