A Letter to Bandai

Dear Bandai,

We've had enough M!Xs with slight character and shell variations and re-released minis with even less variation. We appreciate the offers, but where's the originality? The creativity? Please, release a new tamagotchi.

Sincerely,

an aggravated tamagotchi collector

P.S. and soon please!

*Topic moved to 'What's On Your Mind'*

I've got to admit that Bandai is really drawing me in with all the M!Xes because the "genetics" system makes for the most fun I've had with a Tamagotchi in years. I absolutely adore seeing what my Tamas grow up to look like, what they like and dislike, etc., and even the slight character variations open up quite a lot of cute possibilities. I have a feeling that this upcoming Dream M!X will be the last one, though.

But I'm really sick and tired of the Minis. There's so little you can do with them, the pixel art is garbage because the screen is so tiny, and they're aimed at people riding the nostalgia / novelty train rather than collectors. The Minis served their purpose - they sparked some interest over here in North America again and got people who hadn't seen a Tama since the 90s thinking "oh man I remember those!". But now they're starting to overstay their welcome...

Honestly they probably won't care about whatever you write to them.

Don't give them "ideas" about a new version because if you do, they literally legally won't be allowed to make anything even similar to this. Yes, that's a thing. Companies don't want to hear your "ideas" unless they explictly tell you to give them some. Otherwise if they took your idea they would be stealing your concept and nothing could stop you from suing them.

And let's not forget that what we adult western fans want doesn't necessarily reflect what the target audience in Japan wants.

Not saying I disagree with you, I am tired of the M!X as well and Minis never interested me but I'm a realist. All we can do is wait and see.

I hate to admit it but they are right, Bandai legally cannot take your idea without having to pay you for it or else you can sue them for taking your idea and they'd have to pay you royalties off of anything they make off of it. That and Bandai Japan and Bandai America are not the same thing. And from what I have read the dream Mix has out sold the original mix (in Japan) which is why they are coming out with a new Dream Mix version the purple one. Personally I don't mind the mix (I may not have every version) it a unique tamagotchi right when we thought there was a tried and true tamagotchi formula. Now I am getting tired of the release of a 'new' mix version where they add or change up 3 characters and add one location and call it a whole new mix. Now if they made truly different versions like the Anniversary mix, or the Sanrio Mix, and continued on that theme that would be fun. But the Dream Mixes, the pink sanrio, the anniversary gift (2 new characters and 1 mametchi recolouring, 1 new location, moved how to obtain mametchi, so that there actually 1 less mateable adult) are all pretty much the same thing that has already been released.

Now Bandai America is the one giving us the endless supply of chibis.... and the app

All we can do is hope that the Mix will have run it's course or maybe all the mixes were them stalling while they try to come up with the next big thing and we can hope that the minis are a stall tactic to get the interest up before they release something big. Game freak releases game leaks to get hype up for the next pokemon game so maybe these tamagotchi releases are trying to get the hype or just keep interest

With all toy-lines, there will be new iterations, and then re-iterations of that product for some time. It's no different to re-issues in a line of plushes, re-paints in an action figure line, or characters having multiple types of the same toys made of them if a license changes hands. They never just make one version and call that the end of it, because there are always new customers to sell to.

This is why toy companies keep making re-iterations of existing products, and naturally they aren't going to appeal to people who already own them. But they're not aimed at people who already have them, and as a result they're not trying to frustrate collectors (who are not their target-market) - these continuing product-lines are aimed at new customers.

For example, we've seen that the 20th Anniversary Tamagotchi Mini just keeps on selling, and not just to the nostalgia-market, either. They're also being bought for the children of those who grew up with the originals, and they're being discovered by newcomers to the Tamagotchi brand, too. I believe that we even saw newcomers to TamaTalk around Easter mentioning that they received them as gifts, and that that was what brought them here.

A toy-line doesn't stop for other people in the world after we've bought the ones that we want.

Wah, this thread turned to legalese and business talk faster than I expected[SIZE=11.6667px] annnnnd I don't think Hapihapitchi was going to send any letters to anyone I think it was just a rant "letter" but idk sooo yeah[/SIZE]

I thought we were all going to get together and ramble about how annoying Mini release #400000 is

That being said, I agree with you, Penguin-keeper - while I'm personally sick to death of the Minis, the bajillion "waves" of them make total sense, and I'm super happy there are actually Tamagotchi releases in North America rather than nothing at all! If the formula works, a company's gonna release multiple iterations of it. It was smart to re-release the version that's simplest and requires the least attention, because they can market it as a weird little trinket you can add to somebody's Easter basket or birthday present or something, both kids and the working adults of the world can get some use out of it, and because, uh, look how well a new, more complex Tama (the TF) did a few years ago (what a disaster). Now, I think that if they re-released the actual, O.G. P1 or P2, people would go bonkers for it, but that's just wishful thinking on my part

I DO count parents who had a Tamagotchi when they were younger and are buying a Mini for their kid as the "nostalgia market" though, because their decision is based on "oh I had one of those and loved it as a kid, maybe my kid will enjoy it too."

TheYatagarasu said:

Now, I think that if they re-released the actual, O.G. P1 or P2, people would go bonkers for it, but that's just wishful thinking on my part

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That was what Japan's Shuku 20 Shunen Tamagotchi (something like "Celebrate! 20th Anniversary Tamagotchi") line from November of 2017 was - a very-slightly-tweaked re-issue of the P1 and P2.

I imported a P2 version because I never had a P2 back in the day, and the little changes (less-scheduled misbehaviour, sickness, and pooping, plus snacks carrying an actual health risk because overdoing them in the child stage leads to an early death) shake things up just enough to make things fresh, without being too far removed from what made the originals great and therefore spoiling the original formula.

It's a massive shame that they haven't released these outside of Japan - as you say, people would absolutely flip for them.

If you want one, I believe that Japan You Want might have some more at the moment. They certainly did when I checked there a few days ago.

TheYatagarasu said:

I DO count parents who had a Tamagotchi when they were younger and are buying a Mini for their kid as the "nostalgia market" though, because their decision is based on "oh I had one of those and loved it as a kid, maybe my kid will enjoy it too."

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I sort of do, too, honestly, but I also sort of don't because whilst that's a parent's or grandparent's reason for buying, the experience for the recipient is new.

It's an annoying borderline thing that I'm never quite sure how to categorise. But yeah, it does sit further on the nostalgia-market side, you're right.

i wish they'd at least release an english m!x.

I'm happy they released the minis. I ended getting my son one for Easter. Teaching him to use his and realizing how dumbed down it was made me unpack my p1 and p2 to show him how they were when I was his age. I fired up my p2 and we've been raising our tamas together since then. we both joined tamatalk and are planning to buy 2 connections. I've really enjoyed talking with everyone here and hearing about all the releases I missed. Really makes me want a REAL anniversary edition that functions like the originals. I hope the minis are just a way to draw us back in for the real thing.

I accidentally posted the same thing twice. not really sure how to delete. sorry

Shimashimatchi_Pal said:

i wish they'd at least release an english m!x.

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I have watched a couple youtube videos on the m!x and it looks fun. I would be sold 100% if they released an English version

People have wanted an English Color version in the West in decades, I'm sure they have good reasons why they haven't released one yet.

I don't think that a "language barrier" is really a thing when it comes to Tamagotchis though so tbh I don't really care for an English version of an existing model. Bandai US has proven in the past that they are perfectly capable of creating their own unique versions of tamas (versions v2-v4.5, and then Music Star), so if there was an English color version, I'd rather have it be something brand new and exclusive.

I really want a new version of a color Tama, but the mix is a great idea, and not to mention, another dream mix will sell well, the dream mix was the most popular version. Of course, I want a new version too, but Bandi never basically listens.

It's not that Bandai doesn't listen... They just have their own reasons for doing (or not doing) things. They don't see the need to release a new version for now so they don't. The lack of new versions really frustrates me too but realizing how companies work is beneficial.

I think Tamagotchi could benefit from an audience shift, like Digimon did. Digimon is actually a franchise aimed towards adults now, once they realized that their toys just don't sell with kids. They tried that once with 4U and that flopped, but I think if they found a way to do it better it could work.

Wow totally forgot I created this on a whim one night... I doubt people are gonna reply to this again, but oh well.

Yeahhh, this got out of hand FAST. I definitely did NOT intend for this to be a legitimate letter to Bandai, not in the slightest. Of course they wouldn't care! This was definitely me just ranting/complaining.

I just am hopeful for Bandai to stop re-releasing different shell variants on the mini (yes I was happy to see tamas in stores in the US again, yay!), it's not even a great tama tbh, no games or anything. And the m!xes are GREAT, don't get me wrong but come ON. Can we get a new tama with a different concept or one that brings back og characters and big chunky pixels like the +color or iD? Yes, minis and m!xes were great for the first 2 or so releases and then it got old...

Anyways, I realize I should've been more clear that this was in no way a legit letter, but I thought people made these humorous letters more often that were funny and clever and sort of dissing something, I thought someone would get it (ok, TheYatagarasu got it) and we could all ramble and get out some frustrations. Oh well.

Hapihapitchi said:

I thought someone would get it (ok, TheYatagarasu got it) and we could all ramble and get out some frustrations. Oh well.

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For what it's worth, I got it, too - I just don't happen to share the frustration.

Rorys_Tamas said:

Bandai legally cannot take your idea without having to pay you for it or else you can sue them for taking your idea and they'd have to pay you royalties off of anything they make off of it.

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That's inaccurate. They'd need to get explicit written consent to use the idea without payment.