Why does the Tama-Go have such a bad reputation?

I am considering to buy one of the newer colour Tamagotchis. I feel like I have way too many vintages... Either I can go with something cheap (like a Tama-Go) or I can (hopefully) snag an ID L.

That said, I always see people mention that the Tama-Go isn't their cup of tea, but why?

Well, I guess it wasn't really a great idea. The TamaGo is really large, like double the size of a Japanese Color Screened Tamagotchi, but I understand it needs space for the extra compartments for the gotchi figures, but the P's has pierces and manages to be the same size as an ID L. It also is really boring without the figures. It just doesn't seem fun without them I guess. I like the idea of the Grey-scale screen, but it's not the same as Color screened ones If you were to get an ID L or TamaGo, I'd say you'd get either;

Tamagotchi ID L with IRDA USB, so you can download games, clothes, destinations, items, food etc. =$60-70

OR

TamaGo with 10 Figures =$40-45 And you could buy Shimashimatchi and Makiko later because those 2 and not included in the 10

If I were you, I'd probably get the ID L, and if you're willing to pay $30 extra for the ID L in English, you should get it now before they go back to $200

People don't like it because it's uber bulky. I, personally, really like it. I just can't run one due to school right now.

Tama-Go is my favorite version. I honestly have no clue why so many people don't like it; I think it was because they were really hoping for Bandai America to release a color Tamagotchi, and were disappointed that it was in black and white, and randomly started hating on it. I remember I was disappointed with it too at first, but only because of lack of items and such; after I bought just one figure, I instantly loved Tama-Go! So if you get one, just remember to get some figures too.

As well as its exceedingly (and redundantly) bulky mass, the Tama-Go made several errors. By the time the Tama-Go was expected to come out, Japan had released several color models already. Most of the Tamagotchi community keeping up with the Japanese sector were well aware of it and most owned one of these anyway. Thus the expectation from Bandai's American counterpart was for a color model. Alas, when the Tama-Go was finally released, not only was it twice the size of an ID, but in monochromatic display instead.

This did not help matters. Another fatal flaw was to not only raise the price of the unit to $20 from $14.99, but to take content away from it which were freely available in previous models and try to sell it back separately in the forms of figurines. If you make something available for free before, suddenly taking it away and expecting the target audience to pay for the thing to which they had grown accustomed to seems to be a very poor marketing decision. With the release of the second wave Tama-Gos, it looked as though Bandai had realized their mistake, but a little too late. They reduced the price of the units and figurines by half, but by this time the demand for them had dwindled so much that it didn't make much of a difference.

Ra,

Interesting. Aside from the physical aspect of the Tamagotchi, what is the actual gameplay like? How do people feel about that? Is it similar to connections?

Yes it is similar, but it doesn't have a lot of extra features like the connection or Id l does. I only recall a park that has only two different animations and nothing more. I recommend getting the id l. I have the princess spacy version and I'm enjoying it. There's many features and it doesn't get boring at all. I purchased my id l on Amazon for about 50 dollars

I never got a Tama-Go when they first came out because when I saw them in the store, I thought the size was absurd. Then, last September I broke down and ordered one for cheap on Amazon. I thought the park was cute. I liked the Long Jump game. I liked how you got to see the whole little family for a while when they got married. I absolutely loved it! For about three weeks. Then my fiance got me an iDL for my birthday and the poor Tama-Go has been sitting on a bookshelf ever since. I bought figures for it, and have never even used them.

Thinking about this makes me want to start up the Tama-Go while I'm on vacation this week. I don't like carrying the giant thing around with me. That's the number one reason that I never use it. Carrying around an iDL or P's on a daily basis is bad enough. If I added the Tama-Go to the mix, I'd need a purse just for my Tamagotchis!

Long story short, I'd suggest the iDL or P's instead if you can afford it. I prefer the iDL, of those two. But obviously if I never got an iDL or P's, I'd probably still be playing with the Tama-Go!

I think it's OK. When I first received it, I thought it was boring and had no features. But when I got the figures, I found it OK. To be honest, I don't really mind the 'bulk' because when I play a game on the lower Connections, the Tamagotchi always falls on my face. It's a bit of an advantage for me. XD

iD L is still better though, it has more features.

Thanks for all of your perspectives, everyone!

I don't enjoy the connections as much as the vintages, so I think I may keep my wallet tucked away this time around. That said, if I see an iDL on eBay for cheap, that might be a different story... The same can maaaaybe said for a Tama-Go too!

I certainly agree with EMF. Tama-Go is one of my favourites as well.

Yeah I enjoyed the Tama-Go too. I thought it was fun, and contrary to what Ra said, I actually really liked the figures. I liked that I actually had little figurines to sit on my shelf when I wasn't playing with them. I did, however, hate the bulk. The egg is bigger than my smartphone! I never really liked the fact that I couldn't hide it inconspicuously in my hand when I was in public, but it was glaringly obvious that I was playing with a 'kid's toy' that aren't popular in my country at all.

I love the Tama-Go's size... it's very comfortable and waay cuter than the connections's shells, it really feels like you're holding an egg haha <33

I bought one back when they were in a popular bargain chain store called The Reject Shop here in Australia for $8. I didn't mind the size but I was always afraid that i'd break the figure that came with it. Plus, I'm not very good with screws so I always preferred using my ID L because I don't need anymore than a pointed object such as an old pen or a cuticle stick to get the back off. When I get bored of them, the batteries died and I had to replace them, the ID L is more convenient to me. (I have no idea where dad keeps his screwdrivers and he always does the back too hard, so even if I find them I always end up almost stripping the screw..)

That, and the ID L has more features I like and I can play with it in the dark.

I don't think Tama Go is a very bad version, but.. It's just clumpy, the sound is annoying and collecting the figures is just inconviement. You don't have any items on it without the figures, and only two (three with the lite figure) games. P's did it better- it has all the needed functions in the toy already, plus free downloads, but the pierces are a nice addiction AND still people buy them.

Kiruu said:

I bought one back when they were in a popular bargain chain store called The Reject Shop here in Australia for $8. I didn't mind the size but I was always afraid that i'd break the figure that came with it. Plus, I'm not very good with screws so I always preferred using my ID L because I don't need anymore than a pointed object such as an old pen or a cuticle stick to get the back off. When I get bored of them, the batteries died and I had to replace them, the ID L is more convenient to me. (I have no idea where dad keeps his screwdrivers and he always does the back too hard, so even if I find them I always end up almost stripping the screw..)
That, and the ID L has more features I like and I can play with it in the dark.

Click to expand...

In that case you could also compare the Entama to the V4... ^^
Japan always got better releases because theres a bigger market for kawaii things...note how the Jpn Angelgotchi had a sound and motion sensor, and how the American and European only had a touchscreen...
Malfoy Edit: Watch the language, please.

Well, while entama and v4 are different, they are not as different as iD L and Tama Go, so yeah, that makes this comparison even more invalid.

But it wouldn't hurt them to keep the preschool, school and work still going... v4 is still more advanced from the Tama Go when it comes to gameplay, and it's older.

I personally love the Tama-Go, it's one of my favorite versions ever and i constantly run it. ^.^

I think most people don't really like it because of the size and the fact that you need gotchi figures to unlock any new games or items. I have found that it also scratches really easily and dropping it always scares me because i feel like it would completely break o.o

But i still love it! <3

Actually, I dislike it simply because there isn't much to do

I like Bandai's marketing decisions

Unfortunately, however, I don't think I'm part of the Tama-GO's intended audience

More advanced graphics don't go well with less features, that's true. The first versions had simple graphics and it was entertaining enough, while on Tama Go it seems annoying...