Hello Kitty x Tamagotchi Nano

[*CrazyChick*]

I notice no one really talking about the Hello Kitty Nano that's rumored to be a NA release. Not much is known but it was leaked and information is coming in slowly but its timed to be released in the fall as well. It has 2 colors and is due this October for release. Hopefully we will see more info during the next bandai news letter or during a announcement on their social media!

Original source!

https://tamatown.com/tamagotchi-x-hello-kitty/

 

[Naze77]

If it's a full size i buy the two day one! If it's another nano, i will keep my money for other tama i dont have yet.

 

[iAM]

Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s another nano, but we can wait and see... 

 

[Tamacass]

I think it was confirmed that it was a nano model, according to the source @*CrazyChick* posted. I'm more curious about the shell designs + characters and games that'll be featured on this variant! I'm not too much of a Hello Kitty fan, but if it makes Bandai money (and potentially brings in new fans) I don't see any reason for them to suddenly create an original, Hello Kitty 'full size' Tamagotchi, which is unfortunate  Still exciting though!

 

[Naze77]

@*CrazyChick*I'm not too much of a Hello Kitty fan, but if it makes Bandai money (and potentially brings in new fans) I don't see any reason for them to suddenly create an original, Hello Kitty 'full size' Tamagotchi, which is unfortunate

The problem is this : we fans understand that those are really limited. But when they realesed the nano 20th anniversary in France, people really thought it was the toy of their childhood. So lots of random youtubers make videos saying that tamagotchis was interesting in their memories but finally not at all. Some others make research and discovered it was just a simplify version of an already simple device (keep in mind that even childs of today play with smartphones or tabs) and felt disapointed. When you see the qpet on wish or aliexpress at 14 $ with color screen, yes it's not famous as Tamagotchi. But people buy them!!! So why not a nano? Because yes the goal is to make money. But you must see further and always try, at least a little bit, to propose something good. Because if now bandai dont really have serious challengers, it will maybe not stay like that for ever. And because if you spend tour time realesing "just for fan" franchised unusefull merch, finally one day the hype is over and you return to your confidential closet. (Hello funkopop figurines! They sell them ugly toy by millions ! Sailor Moon, dragon bail, star Wars, Marvel etc... Now people seems to have open their eyes and try to sell them at expensive price... But no one want of this anymore except the true fans.)

 

[Jhud]

There is no such thing as Nano 20th Anniversary. Those were Minis, Minis and Nanos are separate versions with lots of differences.

 

[Penguin-keeper]

The problem is this : we fans understand that those are really limited. But when they realesed the nano 20th anniversary in France, people really thought it was the toy of their childhood. So lots of random youtubers make videos saying that tamagotchis was interesting in their memories but finally not at all. Some others make research and discovered it was just a simplify version of an already simple device (keep in mind that even childs of today play with smartphones or tabs) and felt disapointed. When you see the qpet on wish or aliexpress at 14 $ with color screen, yes it's not famous as Tamagotchi. But people buy them!!! So why not a nano? Because yes the goal is to make money. But you must see further and always try, at least a little bit, to propose something good. Because if now bandai dont really have serious challengers, it will maybe not stay like that for ever. And because if you spend tour time realesing "just for fan" franchised unusefull merch, finally one day the hype is over and you return to your confidential closet. (Hello funkopop figurines! They sell them ugly toy by millions ! Sailor Moon, dragon bail, star Wars, Marvel etc... Now people seems to have open their eyes and try to sell them at expensive price... But no one want of this anymore except the true fans.)

Some people's lack of research doesn't remove the merits that simpler releases like the Nanos and Minis have, though. Sometimes, a less-demanding virtual pet is just what a person might want - regardless of whether they're a hardcore fan or not.

Though I have enjoyed the Meets (though only after taking some time to accept what it is and what it is not), I'm not a big fan of the colour releases myself. I would much rather see licensed Nanos or a new Mini-style variant alongside the more expensive releases, than nothing at all, as they are enjoyable low-maintenance releases. (If they keep releasing licensed Nanos every so often, I'd love to see one for the Kirby series' 30th anniversary in 2022, because it would be a good fit for commemorating a series that started on the Game Boy. )

I wouldn't imply that the colour Tamagotchis aren't good because they don't cater to my preferred definition of a virtual pet, so why should the Nano and Mini be classified as not being good, by the same metric? They're just different products that are aimed at different market-segments, after all.

 

[Naze77]

I wouldn't imply that the colour Tamagotchis aren't good because they don't cater to my preferred definition of a virtual pet, so why should the Nano and Mini be classified as not being good, by the same metric? They're just different products that are aimed at different market-segments, after all.

I get that there is public for nano/mini. The problem is that it doesnt interest everybody. So the last realese that fit my taste is the Tamagotchi on. Nano gudetama, évolue, Pacman, a manga i dont know the name, hello Kitty... No problem, i mean, if i am not interested, i juste have to not buy them. But i Hope one day they will release devil gotchi again, because i want one and it's so expensive. Same for garden/océan. Everything is already made so... And old Tamagotchi could be as easy to raise. Just give them sweets when you dont have the Time to play and that's all. I just dont know why they stick to nano and rererereleased of only the p1-2, when they have other devices to propose. 

So finally speaking about the market segment, i wait my turn... On are expensive, and i bought both nearly one year ago. I bought thé p1 and p2 rereleased in many colors... What's next? But i understand your point of view.

 

[Joc]

Some people's lack of research

It was Bandai’s lack of research. They packaged it as if it were a rerelease of the original, while it was actually a rerelease of the Mini. They had no idea what they were selling, and hurt the brand with it.
It’s not the buyer’s fault they got a different thing than the thing they were told they were purchasing.

 

[Penguin-keeper]

I get that there is public for nano/mini. The problem is that it doesnt interest everybody.

Nothing does, though - that's why we have different parts of the market to begin with.

So finally speaking about the market segment, i wait my turn... On are expensive, and i bought both nearly one year ago. I bought thé p1 and p2 rereleased in many colors... What's next? But i understand your point of view.

Trust me, I'd love to know what's next, too! I'm still waiting and hoping that at some point we'll see a bit more variety in the way of some new monochrome releases that aren't just retro-themed Minis and license-themed Nanos propping up colour releases that not all countries are getting. (We never got the On in the UK, either, unfortunately.)

  EDIT;

It was Bandai’s lack of research. They packaged it as if it were a rerelease of the original, while it was actually a rerelease of the Mini. They had no idea what they were selling, and hurt the brand with it.
It’s not the buyer’s fault they got a different thing than the thing they were told they were purchasing.

They knew exactly what they were selling - it is their own product, after all! It was cheap publicity to package it in the original-style packaging*, and I agree that it definitely did some damage, but I don't recall Bandai saying that it wasn't a Mini - I only remember the press doing that (and even so, they did mention the reduced size and I was able to find out within five minutes of hearing about it that it was a Mini, even though I'd never heard of a Mini before that point). Bandai were very clear when they actually re-issued the originals.

*Though they know what their own products are, there is potential for them to have failed to do their research here. They did the exact same thing with the retro packaging in Japan, but somehow people weren't confused by it there and knew that it was a Chibi - were they clearer in their messaging, or was this due to how context-heavy the Japanese language is? I wonder if they assumed a level of context-sensitivity that doesn't exist in Western markets when they pulled the same stunt outside of Japan?

 

[Joc]

They knew exactly what they were selling - it is their own product, after all! It was cheap publicity to package it in the original-style packaging*, and I agree that it definitely did some damage, but I don't recall Bandai saying that it wasn't a Mini - I only remember the press doing that. Bandai were very clear when they actually re-issued the originals.

*Though they know what their own products are, there is potential for them to have failed to do their research here. They did the exact same thing with the retro packaging in Japan, but somehow people weren't confused by it there and knew that it was a Chibi - were they clearer in their messaging, or was this due to how context-heavy the Japanese language is? I wonder if they assumed a level of context-sensitivity that doesn't exist in Western markets when they pulled the same stunt outside of Japan?

Their press statement when releasing it in the West amounted to “bla bla bla nostalgia”, even though the English Mini wasn’t that popular AFAIK, so I imagined the American and European employees seeing the Japanese release and going “oh haha good for nostalgia sales, ship us some”, having no idea what it was.

Maybe the Japanese market wasn’t confused by it because they’ve had the color and nano distinction for a while already. But more importantly, the Japanese release wasn’t labeled as “the original virtual reality pet”.

Trust me, I'd love to know what's next, too! I'm still waiting and hoping that at some point we'll see a bit more variety in the way of some new monochrome releases that aren't just retro-themed Minis and license-themed Nanos propping up colour releases that not all countries are getting. (We never got the On in the UK, either, unfortunately.)

I hope Pac-Man Tamagotchi sells well so Bandai Namco Europe is convinced to sell the On too.

 

[Penguin-keeper]

Their press statement when releasing it in the West amounted to “bla bla bla nostalgia”, even though the English Mini wasn’t that popular AFAIK, so I imagined the American and European employees seeing the Japanese release and going “oh haha good for nostalgia sales, ship us some”, having no idea what it was.

Heheheh, that's perfectly fair to be honest! I mean, we both know that their standard for translations is a bit lackadaisical, too, so it certainly does sometimes feel like there's a bit of a "Meh, don't care much." attitude going around at times.

To be fair to Bandai, though, their press materials did state that it was a simplified smaller device which brought back much (but not all) of what the original was about - at least in the UK. (We never got the Mini here the first time around, so the 20th Anniversary Mini was our first exposure to that version.)

Maybe the Japanese market wasn’t confused by it because they’ve had the color and nano distinction for a while already. But more importantly, the Japanese release wasn’t labeled as “the original virtual reality pet”.

"The Original Virtual Reality Pet" was the franchise's Western slogan for the original releases, though* - that's the only reason why that was there. Both regions' 20th Anniversary Minis had their original packaging and slogans replicated exactly, but in miniature form and with an anniversary marking on it somewhere.

*I like to imagine that it was bullishly coined in response to all of the imitators and competitors that sprung up, because that's just how it sounds to me.

I hope Pac-Man Tamagotchi sells well so Bandai Namco Europe is convinced to sell the On too.

Same here. I'd honestly like to buy an On to go with my Meets, but I was reluctant to import one upon their US release because I'd much rather support a local release, and the current pandemic makes that even less appealing now.

I can't say that I'd mind a bug-fixed Western release of the Eevee Nano, either, come to think of it.

 

[*CrazyChick*]

I never knew this would cause a debate. I'll be checking in and keeping an eye on this.

 

[Timogotchi19]

I come from the future. It has become a reality: 

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1311759837374672898

This is the 5th time Tamagotchi has crossed paths with Sanrio (and yes, I counted). Makes me wonder if Bandai will ever acquire the company.

 

[Tamacass]

Woah!!! Took them long enough to finally reveal it. I'm not that keen on the shell designs - but red is my favorite color and I suppose there's appeal to be had in that second choice. XD I literally just recieved my Pac-Man Nano yesterday, and this device looks to be achieving the same thing (using sprites based off the vintage/connection models as opposed to the chibi sprites found on the original Nano), just with Hello Kitty-themed ideas, characters, and possibly events. 

I took a look at the listing's page, here's the bullet points:

• Hello Kitty is helping to raise and nurture your Tamagotchi character! Raise your Tamagotchi character well and you might receive one of the surprise characters!
  
• Feed your Tamagotchi Hello Kitty's favorites - apple pie or milk. Two fun mini games - Piano game and Balloon game
  
• Joey will make a mess of Tamagotchi character's space, so Hello Kitty needs to come in a clean up after Joey!
  
• Raise your Tamagotchi from egg to baby to Adult and how you take care of it will decide which of the 7 Adults you’ll get
  
• Comes with 1 Hello Kitty Tamagotchi designed with her favorite things on a chain to take with you everywhere! Batteries (2xLR44) included. For Ages 8+
  

It looks like they've kept the 'ghost chase' feature from the Pac-Man Nano, albeit replaced it with Joey's mess-making bonanza. I wonder what happens if Hello Kitty doesn't make it? Does your Tamagotchi become super depressed because their room is a disaster?

From the looks of the device and it's promo pics, I'd say the surprise character is either the tama you've raised wearing a hello kitty-themed accessory, or even Sanrio-brand characters themselves. I'd suspect the former, as although Hello Kitty can be seen with the piano game in the main promo picture seen above and on the listing, it's the same as the Pac-Man Nano - you'd control Pac-Man during those segments, not your own 'gotchi.

I'm interested to see where this goes, however, even if it's seemingly just a re-skin (with a few changes) of the Pac-Man Nano. What are everybody else's thoughts?

 

[Timogotchi19]

According to Wikipedia's List of Highest-Grossing Media franchises, Hello Kitty alone is the 2nd most lucrative IP on the planet, behind Pokémon.

Bandai America has shown that the absence of Power Rangers has not caused them a financial crisis, and if it did, the recovery was a swift one.

 

[Joc]

In Japan they are instead releasing the Tamagotchi Meets Sanrio DX Set, which is the same as the regular Meets Sanrio but in red colour and with an included lanyard.

 

[Naze77]

Why not a sanrio on? Maybe if this one sell well?

 

[Joc]

Why not a sanrio on? Maybe if this one sell well?

"Sanrio" is not a well known name outside of Japan, so they'd have to call it "Tamagotchi On: Hello Kitty & Friends" and then people would complain it doesn't feature Hello Kitty enough. So they made another Nano instead.

With Bandai America liking the Nano so much right now, I wonder if they'll finally localise the original Nano at some point.