Tamagotchi L.I.F.E, New from Bandai

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This incident... Is now starting to remind me of Skylanders.

I used to be a big fan on Spyro games, and I still am... But only the original trilogy. After that, the games just got worse and worse. Then, they release Skylanders. Gameplay-wise, it's completely different to the originals, but it's relatively similar landscape-wise. However, Spyro? He's been reduced to pure ugliness. The shock caused thousands upon thousands of fans to retaliate in agression, sending nasty comments and even death threats to the company working on Skylanders.

Let's not do the same. Don't be agressive about it... If you don't like or want the products, just decide not to buy the products, and we'll see how this goes. If people don't want to buy it, they won't sell it.

 
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hwd45 said:
This incident... Is now starting to remind me of Skylanders.

I used to be a big fan on Spyro games, and I still am... But only the original trilogy. After that, the games just got worse and worse. Then, they release Skylanders. Gameplay-wise, it's completely different to the originals, but it's relatively similar landscape-wise. However, Spyro? He's been reduced to pure ugliness. The shock caused thousands upon thousands of fans to retaliate in agression, sending nasty comments and even death threats to the company working on Skylanders.

Let's not do the same. Don't be agressive about it... If you don't like or want the products, just decide not to buy the products, and we'll see how this goes. If people don't want to buy it, they won't sell it.
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I actually totally agree on this. Despite being so upset and mad about this product line, we can't stoop ourselves to insults and death threats. We have to remain civil about this. Besides, what do you think those people down at BanDai and Sync Beatz are thinking of us now that we are sending so many nasty comments to them?

Honestly, we have to constructively criticize this thing. How can we show BanDai how much we don't like this? Perhaps we can start a petition, or maybe we just don't buy it to show them this is not what we want. Heck, maybe another idea is to get many more tamagotchi fans to pre order the Japanese Tamagotchis, to show BanDai that we still care about the series, and there's money to be made.

 
I don't know about you guys, but I heard a little Tamagotchi beep in that video at about 1:40-1:45. :rolleyes:

I know most of us here are pretty disappointed about Tamagotchi L.I.F.E, but let's take a look at the bigger picture: We're only, in the grand scheme of things, a small number of Tamagotchi fans compared to, say, the number of Angry Birds fans. BanDai and Sync Beatz might not know that WE want a new Tamagotchi, instead, they're following suit of a lot of brands: expanding to apparel, furnishings, cosmetics, etc. They might be trying to get people into Tamagotchi through this merchandise before releasing another Tamagotchi, if they do have plans for a new one. Remember what binary said: even Bandai Japan has branched out into other things, and that has made it wildly successful.

I think BanDai here is approaching this the wrong way. They're reversing what would actually be better: releasing a new Tamagotchi (remember the if, I don't know for sure if they are) and then moving on to the extra stuff.

I think the key to getting what we want is telling BanDai what we want. They aren't mind readers, contrary to popular belief. :rolleyes: Consumers have a big impact-businesses listen to them, because they want their product/service to be as successful as possible, and if they have another branch in another place, maybe they want to emulate those. *coughBandaiJapancough* I think that's what BanDai is trying to do. We just have to give them the little push, and maybe, just maybe, we will have an English colour Tamagotchi in our hands.

 
hwd45 said:
This incident... Is now starting to remind me of Skylanders.

I used to be a big fan on Spyro games, and I still am... But only the original trilogy. After that, the games just got worse and worse. Then, they release Skylanders. Gameplay-wise, it's completely different to the originals, but it's relatively similar landscape-wise. However, Spyro? He's been reduced to pure ugliness. The shock caused thousands upon thousands of fans to retaliate in agression, sending nasty comments and even death threats to the company working on Skylanders.

Let's not do the same. Don't be agressive about it... If you don't like or want the products, just decide not to buy the products, and we'll see how this goes. If people don't want to buy it, they won't sell it.
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I agree, i love the original Spyro, (comparing to original Tamagotchi) but i also love The Legend of Spyro (comparing to Connection, ... but i really hate the character design of Skylanders.... (Tamagotchi L.i.f.e)

 
DJYellow22 said:
I actually totally agree on this. Despite being so upset and mad about this product line, we can't stoop ourselves to insults and death threats. We have to remain civil about this. Besides, what do you think those people down at BanDai and Sync Beatz are thinking of us now that we are sending so many nasty comments to them?

Honestly, we have to constructively criticize this thing. How can we show BanDai how much we don't like this? Perhaps we can start a petition, or maybe we just don't buy it to show them this is not what we want. Heck, maybe another idea is to get many more tamagotchi fans to pre order the Japanese Tamagotchis, to show BanDai that we still care about the series, and there's money to be made.
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I think that right there is a good idea...we should start a petition.

 
Just going to put another two cents in, I guess.

Bandai America are aiming at 20-29 year old women. This is because during the vintage era, this group of people would have been around 4-13, which is where Bandai believes their target audience was back then. This is why they are promoting the vintage image of Tamagotchi rather than the modern image, because they are trying to bring back the older fans. This has already been said, but I thought I'd elaborate on it a bit. Just because somebody liked something when they were 10 does not mean that they will like it now that they're 26. Many people grow out of things such as Tamagotchi, and even the idea of getting back into them would not be considerable. I have an example of this; when Tamagotchi Connexions first came out, my sister (11) and I (8) both adored them. We absolutely loved them, and took them with us everywhere. It was actually really great to have a sibling who liked them as much as I did. When the V2 came out, we both got those. But by the time the V3 had come out, my sister no longer liked Tamagotchi. She was 13 at this stage, and I was 10. I continued on with my Tamagotchi fandom, and my sister did not. Now, at 15 and 18, I'm still a great fan of Tamagotchi, and my sister couldn't care less about them. I guess what I'm trying to say is, people grow out of stuff. Not everyone who was a fan in the 90's will still be interested in the brand, this is why it's a bad move on Bandai's behalf.

Moving onto my next point, the theory that Bandai are bringing out this merchandise to prepare for a Tamagotchi release. No, this will not happen, not at this stage, anyway. I can say this because Bandai have made it clear that they are not trying to make Tamagotchi a new, popular toy like they did with the Music Star and Tama-Go, but are ditching the idea of aiming to children and trying to aim to the old fans through everyday items and lifestyle wear. As a general rule, adults don't play with toys. Of course there are many exceptions to this, but the average adult would not be seen walking around with a Tamagotchi in their hand. Why would they aim a clothing line to 20-29 year old woman, yet still release a toy? It makes no sense on Bandai's behalf, from where they are aiming at. They might as well cancel the line and aim at children if they plan to release another toy.

Finally, the petition. Petitions don't work, at least not in the Tamagotchi community. Many petitions, such as "Bring Back Vintages!", "Bring Back Angelgotchis!" and "Release a Color Tamagotchi in English" petitions have been hosted on TamaTalk before, and obviously none of them have been successful. Bandai have said time and time again that they do not take fan submitted ideas, which includes petitions for a certain thing to happen. In fact, making a petition pretty much secures that what we want will not happen. It is NOT the way it should be - a good company would embrace the fan's ideas and throughts - but unfortunately Bandai are not one of those companies.

 
SamJJE101 said:
Just going to put another two cents in, I guess.

Bandai America are aiming at 20-29 year old women. This is because during the vintage era, this group of people would have been around 4-13, which is where Bandai believes their target audience was back then. This is why they are promoting the vintage image of Tamagotchi rather than the modern image, because they are trying to bring back the older fans. This has already been said, but I thought I'd elaborate on it a bit. Just because somebody liked something when they were 10 does not mean that they will like it now that they're 26. Many people grow out of things such as Tamagotchi, and even the idea of getting back into them would not be considerable. I have an example of this; when Tamagotchi Connexions first came out, my sister (11) and I (8) both adored them. We absolutely loved them, and took them with us everywhere. It was actually really great to have a sibling who liked them as much as I did. When the V2 came out, we both got those. But by the time the V3 had come out, my sister no longer liked Tamagotchi. She was 13 at this stage, and I was 10. I continued on with my Tamagotchi fandom, and my sister did not. Now, at 15 and 18, I'm still a great fan of Tamagotchi, and my sister couldn't care less about them. I guess what I'm trying to say is, people grow out of stuff. Not everyone who was a fan in the 90's will still be interested in the brand, this is why it's a bad move on Bandai's behalf.

Moving onto my next point, the theory that Bandai are bringing out this merchandise to prepare for a Tamagotchi release. No, this will not happen, not at this stage, anyway. I can say this because Bandai have made it clear that they are not trying to make Tamagotchi a new, popular toy like they did with the Music Star and Tama-Go, but are ditching the idea of aiming to children and trying to aim to the old fans through everyday items and lifestyle wear. As a general rule, adults don't play with toys. Of course there are many exceptions to this, but the average adult would not be seen walking around with a Tamagotchi in their hand. Why would they aim a clothing line to 20-29 year old woman, yet still release a toy? It makes no sense on Bandai's behalf, from where they are aiming at. They might as well cancel the line and aim at children if they plan to release another toy.

Finally, the petition. Petitions don't work, at least not in the Tamagotchi community. Many petitions, such as "Bring Back Vintages!", "Bring Back Angelgotchis!" and "Release a Color Tamagotchi in English" petitions have been hosted on TamaTalk before, and obviously none of them have been successful. Bandai have said time and time again that they do not take fan submitted ideas, which includes petitions for a certain thing to happen. In fact, making a petition pretty much secures that what we want will not happen. It is NOT the way it should be - a good company would embrace the fan's ideas and throughts - but unfortunately Bandai are not one of those companies.
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Well, yuobeing kind of a negative Nancy, besides, were not JUST dealing with BanDai this time, now its also Sync Beatz (actually its more Sync Beatz than BanDai), so, who knows, maybe their policies are different :D

 
I'm not being a "Negative Nancy", I'm being a realist.

I can see what you mean though, and you're quite right, Bandai isn't solely responsible for the Tamagotchi L.I.F.E. line, obviously Sync Beatz play some part in this as well. But, nothing would have gone ahead without Bandai America's final say, as it is their product, and their brand and reputation on the line. Sync Beatz is just doing the licensing for Bandai America's new Tamagotchi L.I.F.E. line. :)

 
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As others have said - I don't think what Bandai America is doing is right.

A fresh new Tamagotchi toy will do the trick - in my opinion. Including plushes, the anime, and lots of things added with that Tamagotchi Toy. This will bring kids from 6 to get involved in the Tamagotchi Brand (well probably ;) ) For example, look at stuff like Ben 10. There is lunch boxes, Toys, Water Bottles, Plushes, TV Show and much more. The same should be happening for Tamagotchi. I think it will get more popular then. If Bandai did this for other brands - why can't they do it for Tamagotchi?

 
I signed the petition under the name Dazz Mina...I don't know what will happen if my parents find out, but never mind, I put in a fake address anyway.

What is this Sync Beatz? Something that joined up with BanDai to change Tamagotchi? I wish BanDai did things with a good heart, made the Tamagotchi anime and plushes and toys just not to make money. We see the fact Tamagotchi is changing beyond all recognition, but they don't care and that's just how companies are. :(

 
SailorRosette said:
Ya, I get what you are saying Dazz.

I just believe this is to pull in the older fans as well as put Something out for everybody. (Or what they were hoping) I can be pulled both ways though... I'm glad they put something though...

When we were younger, we helped it become a famous name. With the younger people too, you guys helped shape what is now. We together will continue to love our tamas, even if the current release (Or what might come) will be at a down side....

To put... I was 8 when it came out... I don't recall them ever putting out stuff like this... They might have had a shirt or two... but maybe they are filling a gap..... I could just be not remembering the items... I only remember the pet and the plush. (and all the other digital pets out there....)
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I really don't think Tamagotchi LIFE will attract older fans who lost interest (although some older fans who are still fans might like it). A few of my older cousins (teenagers/young adults) were Tama fans as kids in 1996, and they would not be drawn back in by Tamagotchi LIFE. BanDai is totally missing the audience that will get properly into Tamas and start collecting - 12 to 18 year olds. 21-29 year old women are generally not into Tamas...they're into make-up and looking nice and possibly getting a job or university or finding a partner. Of course, there are a very few active members of TamaTalk who are young women, but I'm talking about the majority.



My point is, there is the most money to be made out of an actual Tamagotchi toy, and the most money can be made out of teenagers who are already fans. Plus an actual toy is what the teenagers want. So by far the main Tamagotchi fan base (which actually excludes me, I only just turned 11) gets what they want, BanDai or Sync Beatz or whatever gets money, everybody's happy!

 
If you consider how cheap it is to produce things like t-shirts, bath products, furnishings, I think what they are trying to do is milk a dying franchise dry to the last penny. The amount of money that would go into developing a new Tamagotchi virtual pet toy would be monstrous in comparison to the amount of money it takes them to simply slap a few vintage pictures on a pink t-shirt and ship it to your local wal-mart to nest in the "vintage crap for adults" t-shirt section.

I am guessing Tama-go did not sell well (I'm guessing this because I don't think it is a very popular model even among fans, and the toys themselves all ended up on the clearance shelves at Toys R Us), and that due to loss of money on development and production for that toy versus poor sales, they are not going to invest in another Tamagotchi virtual pet for North America at this time. That seems to kind of come naturally after releasing a toy that made you spend upwards of 40 or 50 dollars to unlock even half of it's content (via the figures). If you bought the toy and all figures at full retail price you'd be spending over 100 dollars easily. It was a bad move to make a product that wasn't a stand alone (like tamas have always been) and required additional add ons that cost money. Now they've sunk their own ship and I think they are just beating a dead horse with this new product line. I think it will not be a financial success for them unless you consider how cheaply they are producing this new L.I.F.E stuff versus what they'll probably charge for it.

I'm disappointed, to say the least, but I also didn't have my hopes up about this when I read the announcement. It seemed like this was the direction they were heading already. Time for me to save my money for an ID L and just look out for new Japanese tamas. The ID L may be 60-70 bucks on its own, but all the content is there at least, or you can download additional things at no cost. Not to mention, the toy is better made than the Tama-go. Its screen is in color, has higher resolution, and lights up (a HUGE plus in my eyes, as all my versions are the black screens that are next to impossible to see indoors at night without having all the room lights on). I can't wait till I can afford an ID L.

 
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I'm disappointed with Tamagotch L.I.F.E., partially because they think that everything, if geared toward 21-29 year old women, will turn out smoothly. I am 14 and I'd love to take part in all this new gear and stuff....I might be excited about Tamagotchi stationery, pencils, erasers, notebooks, wallets, etc, like that small stuff, but in the long run, things like FOOD will not turn out well....I can see Tamagotchi candy being a cute thing, but it's basically like any other candy, except with different shape and color, and the price jacked up.

Bandai is a major disappointment to me now, particularly because my favorite Tamagotchi versions are v4 and v4.5....I'd love more versions like that, or releasing of vintage versions but with extra features, like infrared connection and new games and stores and things like that. I really do hope Bandai's L.I.F.E. turns out well, because maybe they'll have enough hope to release a new Tamagotchi, one that didn't go downhill like TamaGo. I think they don't want anything else in America after TamaGo because they thought that TamaGo's flop was due to loss of interest in Tamagotchi fans....they are quite wrong. I would easily shell out $60-80 bucks for a Tamagotchi Color in English....I love those things so much but I'm not buying one just because I don't want to learn what all those messages and things mean. Plus Japanese is confusing because I don't have any motivation to learn it.

Bandai, I salute you for your bravery, mixed with stupidity, which may turn out to be the perfect mix for a good product line.

 
I could say I'm disappointed with the launch of the new Tamagotchi LIFE brand, or I could rag on about how I think Bandai is making a colossal mistake - but I won't.

I won't because I am not in the least surprised that Bandai took this approach with their North American branch of Tamagotchi. After poor sales, lack of interest and advancing technology, it was time for a complete product refresh. (whether we like it or not) I'm not trying to justify their new approach, but given the tech-hungry consumer industry here in North America, I believe a colour screen, feature rich Tamagotchi priced at $60-80 would have done poorly regardless. The toy industry is so radically different here than it is in Japan. In fact, more folks are interested in playing $0.99 cent apps rather than investing larger amounts of $$$ in a quality toy that provides unique gameplay. The toy industry is changing rapidly and I think Bandai found themselves at a crossroads with this brand. "Are North Americans going to eat up another release of a Tamagotchi (let's be honest, the brand was becoming exhausted after the Music Star and TamaGo) or should we approach this differently?"

I don't know who or how Bandai gathered their market research to initiate a re-brand of Tamagotchi in this direction, but it makes sense to me. No, I'm not happy with the direction they're taking, but from a business licensing perspective they need to reinvent themselves to keep current. 20-29 year old females are BIG MONEY spenders. Can they tap in on that audience? I'm not sure. Most companies just "follow the money". Business will be business. (not that I agree with this model or anything)

With all of this speculation aside, I still love Tamagotchi. I love my vintages, my Connection series and my ID L's. I love every one of these little plastic eggs just the same (OK, maybe my white ID L just a little more than the others). And while I'm disappointed that I won't see a new North American release any time soon, I'm going to cherish what I have - because I'm not going to waste my precious time hating on Bandai for making to what I perceive as a mistake. They can go ahead and make girly clothing and bath soap. I'm still going to play and collect my Tamagotchis with the same fuzzy-feeling-excitement I had before this release was made public.

Whatever comes next for the Tamagotchi brand may or may not be great. But what we've got here and now are amazing communities full of life, support and great friends. We don't need a corporation to keep our spirits alive - we do it ourselves!

 
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hwd45 said:
This incident... Is now starting to remind me of Skylanders.

I used to be a big fan on Spyro games, and I still am... But only the original trilogy. After that, the games just got worse and worse. Then, they release Skylanders. Gameplay-wise, it's completely different to the originals, but it's relatively similar landscape-wise. However, Spyro? He's been reduced to pure ugliness. The shock caused thousands upon thousands of fans to retaliate in agression, sending nasty comments and even death threats to the company working on Skylanders.

Let's not do the same. Don't be agressive about it... If you don't like or want the products, just decide not to buy the products, and we'll see how this goes. If people don't want to buy it, they won't sell it.
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OH MY GOSH. THIS. THIS EXACTLY. I won't even go on yet another Spyro rant since it would be off-topic. But I agree.

 
I am loving the diversity of this discussion! Although some people disapprove of this direction in Tamagotchi, I'm glad it has brought us all together in this thread. :wub:

I have contributed a small amount of times previously in this thread, but I would like to add something else...

Before we judge and criticise Bandai for this new "movement", I think we should be patient and see how this all plays out. Instead of instantly complaining about the clothesline and other branches, let's first see what these products look like and what they offer.

Also, I refuse to sign the petition posted at the top of this page. Perhaps we may not like this direction, but I am sure other people do. We have to have some faith guys! When the colour Tamagotchi model was announced, some people were skeptical, but look at how successful and popular that became!

I have come to the conclusion that what a majority of TamaTalk users need is faith and to trust Bandai with this decision. Only once more photos, footage and reviews come out should we seriously discuss this line. :blink:

 
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