Tamagotchi Pix

[Penguin-keeper]

No marriage? I can't find anything about it in the manual.

Yeah, it isn't in the Pix. It's always been my least-favourite feature, so I see this as a big pro, personally.

 

[Hoky]

Yeah, I guess for me it 's nice because it gives you a way to transition to a new character when you're sorta done with your current one, but its hardly a dealbreaker. I guess they get around this by having the tama give you the option to return to Tama Planet after 4 days as an adult.

Other things: I do have one dead pixel on my screen, but it's not usually noticeable. I know people have run into this with basically all the backlit tamas, so no news there. Overall, I'm having a very good time with it. It does feel very stripped down compared to the M!x or the On, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. In some ways, it feels like a connect, but more streamlined and more focused on the care aspects, which is great (though the wiki says what you get might also just be totally random, which... ehhhhh). The camera gimmick could be more important than it is, but I also don't mind it not being intrusive to gameplay. Also I got a Ginjirotchi, and it's super great seeing oldschool tama designs, though I know Kusatchi isn't among them (WHY NOT).

 

[Penguin-keeper]

and it's super great seeing oldschool tama designs, though I know Kusatchi isn't among them (WHY NOT).

As a Tarakotchi fan, I know that feeling all too well.

 

[Bentobuff]

 I guess they get around this by having the tama give you the option to return to Tama Planet after 4 days as an adult.

(though the wiki says what you get might also just be totally random, which... ehhhhh). 

The camera gimmick could be more important than it is, but I also don't mind it not being intrusive to gameplay.

Oooh so I can keep Mimitchi around even longer? Yesssss! I was dreading her heading back, she's my buddy.

I think the wiki might be right, as Mimitchi was one of the perfect care tamas(old-school versions) but I most certainly did not take anywhere near perfect care of her growing up. I wonder if the quiz at the beginning has more bearing on which adult we get than it implies

I agree. I'm enjoying the collectible nature of it, but I doubt my coworkers would appreciate it if I was snapping a ton of photos during break times to just feed my tama.  I think it's a good healthy balance that recognizes the impracticality of using the camera all the time. 

Also, idk if I noted it on here or just the vlog, but I figured out the buttons! They designed it to literally force you to play it with two hands. As a one handed tamagotchi user since my childhood(with the exception of specific games) it's still a bit frustrating, but I'm slowly getting used to it. As I mentioned above, I might keep Mimitchi until she passes on- we will also get a nice gauge of how long their full lifespan might be- but I'll put it away for a while after so I can play with tamas that are easier for me to use. 

 

[Penguin-keeper]

They designed it to literally force you to play it with two hands.

Wait, what?! But Tamagotchis have almost always been designed for easy one-handed use.

 

[Bentobuff]

Wait, what?! But Tamagotchis have almost always been designed for easy one-handed use.

Idk, maybe it's an issue with the capacitive buttons on mine, but it only works consistently in my hands when using both hands because of how the c button acts when I try to use it left handed. Also sliding my finger for the games and hula hoop- it doesn't register right at all if I try to use my thumb and the tama in my hand- but if I hold it in one hand to better stabilize it, it works WAY better. Again, it could be a flaw, but it really feels like more a design choice.

 

[Penguin-keeper]

I just got an e-mail notifying me that my Tamagotchi Pix has shipped! This means that the Pix is now available from stock in the UK from The Entertainer, though this is not yet the case for Smyths Toys or Amazon UK.

 

[DonValleyParkway]

I just got an e-mail notifying me that my Tamagotchi Pix has shipped!

Nice, I hope you enjoy it!

 

[Penguin-keeper]

Nice, I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks very much. It was certainly a nice surprise to see one store getting their stock early!

 

[Penguin-keeper]

My Tamagotchi Pix arrived today.

Here are some pictures of the packaging and manual;

Here's a look at the device itself, along with a size comparison with the Mini, Nano, Gen 1, Connexion, Friends, and Meets models;

I haven't had the time to put batteries in and hatch it yet, so right now I can only share my impressions of the initial presentation.

The box is pretty fancy, with far-too-nice screen-printing on the thin plastic bubble (which is a bit of a contrast to the device itself, where the faceplate is clearly a piece of paper under some clear plastic), and matte foil and glitter all over the place. The foil reminds me of the old Game Boy Colour game boxes, which was nice. However, even though it's nice, the packaging feels wasteful, as if the size of the box is being used to justify the £60 price of the device - it could be a third of the size, much like the boxes for the Japanese colour models, and do its job just fine. As it is, I've got a bunch of sorting to do in order to get all of this into the appropriate recycling containers!

It's a bit unfortunate that the imagery on the box (and the glitter; The foil is fine) feels particularly girly - for the first time that I can remember, the packaging is focussed on showing the target-audience instead of the Tamagotchi characters themselves. I presume that this is due to the camera, but I can easily see this being off-putting to any fans who don't fall into the "girly-girl" category (I'm a lass that never has, personally). Still, it's nice to see from one of the side panels that the blue and green devices (which unfortunately aren't available at launch) seemingly haven't been outright cancelled - hopefully their packaging will be more appealing to the gents and tomboys out there, which is something that I feel that the Tamagotchi line needs if it's ever to hit the broadly-appealing heights that it reached in the late-1990s and early-2000s. Moreover, it feels strange to aim a nurturing-focussed toy/game at only one gender, when things like pets aren't gender-specific and in adulthood both the mother and the father are expected to raise their children.

The device feels pretty much the same in the hand, build-quality-wise, as the Meets, to me. The faceplate does let it down a little bit because, as mentioned above, it's just printed paper under some plastic (complete with, in my view, slightly-tacky printed buttons, surrounded by printed button-wells, underneath the touch-dimples - I think that this would've stood out less if they'd just used regular circles with a little bit of shading on them), and the print-quality isn't as nice as that of the faceplate on the Meets. The camera button feels nice enough, though I expected its response to be a bit more clicky given its size.

I might sound a little negative here, but really that's probably just my age showing - I can easily imagine that a kid getting this for their birthday or for Christmas would be absolutely thrilled to be greeted with this presentation once they open the gift, as it feels like something special.

I'll follow up with some more thoughts once I actually get some time to use the device.

 

[Bentobuff]

Also, as for the paper on the screen, someone who tweets in Korean tried to switch out the paper for their own to make it prettier and it didn't work. I'm going to ask them if it works without any paper behind the faceplate.

Link here as it seems like this might be a thread they're going to keep up with: 

https://twitter.com/eyecntct_tmgc/status/1414141821601546241?s=19

 

[Eozeda]

I really love the care of this one! I find that there's less mini game grinding required, and I frequently keep my Kuromametchi happy purely through training to cook, making deep dish pizza, hula hooping, toys, and many nice pets. He is cuter than ever to me! The biggest pro I think is that you can actually keep your Tama relatively happy without spending too much time on the mini games if you're tired –which pleasantly switch out daily – and there's more interaction than it seems before. I feel like you can get by with fewer gotchi points some days if you spend enough time doing at-home interactions.

Things I'm actually indifferent to that gets noted includes the new frame rate (I have no clue why! I'd almost miss the 2 fps energetic bouncing they do if I didn't still have my others running around) and the menu scrolling. It doesn't bother me that it's a little longer to get through. In fact, it feels pretty close to the traditional way when I'm inclined to hit the C button to exit, then instantly slam A. I'm too impatient to pan all the way through. 

My only real criticism is that the packaging truly is a big waste and not worth keeping. Also the faceplate definitely looks less fancy (dare I say cheap..) compared to the superb M!x Meets era. The biggest downfall for me is the buttons! I have small hands and slim fingers so hypothetically, there shouldn't be any trouble, yet they sense all over the place. Including to the faceplate side of them where there's not even a button. Frequently I find that they activate the wrong button when I'm nowhere near the one it does, so I'm really curious as to why? The weirdest is, as I mentioned, that I can activate A by touching/rubbing around the cloud next to it, without going into the button. Anyone else have this issue? Lastly, no response sometimes when I'm trying to pet or hula hoop, which feels awful and mean. He's just standing there waiting.   

 

[purple pyonkotchi]

one of my friends has a pix, they said that the batteries have run low super fast. in only 3 days the batteries were too low to use the camera function... has anyone else had something like this happen? do the batteries run out super fast on the pix for anyone else? I'm really considering getting one, but i dont know if i'd be able to keep up with it like that if the batteries run out so quick

 

[Eozeda]

one of my friends has a pix, they said that the batteries have run low super fast. in only 3 days the batteries were too low to use the camera function... has anyone else had something like this happen? do the batteries run out super fast on the pix for anyone else? I'm really considering getting one, but i dont know if i'd be able to keep up with it like that if the batteries run out so quick

Mine personally lasted for about a week – that's even with high contrast set, and the cooking function pretty much daily, but I don't use the camera for much else yet.

I would absolutely recommend investing in those EBL rechargeable AAA batteries on Amazon that comes in a big pack, with charger included. Those have rescued my hobby from spending a fortune in batteries – and they usually last much longer than a week in other devices.  <_<  Only a minor inconvenience to change the Pix's out more frequently, considering what some unhappy parents are discovering. They ought to put the recommendation on the box. Lol.

 

[Penguin-keeper]

Well, I've spent several days with the Tamagotchi Pix now - enough to have plenty of thoughts about how it runs and handles.

Unfortunately, the biggest negative for me is the touch-only controls. I've encountered lots of misinputs (including impossible ones, because sometimes it will read the A or C buttons as the B button in spite of my finger being nowhere near the B button) and frequent unresponsiveness (which sometimes makes the games impossible; The ping pong game that appears in the arcade on sports-themed days is particularly nightmarish). Also, like all capacitive touch devices it's not quick or precise (which causes problems with some games that seem to expect faster inputs than are physically possible with capactive touch - it makes me wonder if there actually were physical buttons at some point during development). The dimples denoting where the non-existent buttons are make this worse because they can interfere with sliding gestures, and in the end I can't see why the device doesn't combine a touch-screen and physical buttons, as Japan's upcoming Tamagotchi Smart does. Regardless, there are plenty of fun and creative ideas here, but controls-wise it does feel to me like it's more negative than positive.

As a side-note to my view on the controls, I find the Pix to be a bit of a chore to navigate, through a combination of the above-mentioned issues, some unusual interface choices (some actions that appear in the menu can also be performed with a touch-gesture from your Tamagotchi's room whilst others that happen more often require you to navigate through the menu in order to initiate a gesture, some items will start with the pointer on "No" by default and others don't - that sort of thing), and through expanding some actions from the single button-press that they've always been to requiring menu-navigation and a touch-gesture to perform them. This will probably be plenty of fun for a kid who hasn't owned a Tamagotchi before or for those who don't mind slower-paced versions, but for me, who's been into them ever since they left Japan in 1997, it often feels like busy-work that extends the time-investment that the device asks of me. Making this worse is that the Pix uses the Meets/On style of having six points on the hunger meter, coupled with a very long happiness bar - because the controls slow down my interactions with the device so much, it takes even longer to deal with these things than it did on the Meets, which already bordered on unreasonable by my standards.

The sound is nice, and has a similar tone and feel to that of the Meets, but it's extremely quiet. If you're carrying it in a pocket or a bag it's not very likely that you'll hear it.

The camera is considerably better than I expected for a device of this type, which was a nice surprise, and there are lots of fun ideas that use it. I particularly like how well the "Explore" option identifies colours and allows you to meet Tamagotchi characters that match the colour-scheme of what you're pointing the camera at. The screen is also nice enough - it's about what you'd expect if you've used a colour Tamagotchi before. Mine has a spot towards the top-right where it's obvious that the backlight is closer to the display panel, causing a bright blotch in that location, but this isn't unexpected in a device of this price, and I've seen worse screens in more expensive devices in the past. It is a pity, though, that there's no way to retrieve screenshots from the device - I can understand if it prevented you from copying photographs for safety reasons, but being able to grab the screenshots easily would be a boon for Tamagotchi loggers!

And, last but not least, it's nice to see a modern colour Tamagotchi release that comes close to the smooth animations of the Game Boy games from which the colour models were descended!

All in all, the Tamagotchi Pix takes a number of cues from the Tamagotchi Meets/On in how it plays out, and it re-uses some things from that version, though it doesn't have the genetics system. There are plenty of fun ideas to make this version unique and a great many of them are well-implemented, but what will make it or break it for most fans, old or new, is the capacitive touch controls and your tolerance for them and their issues, which unfortunately, for me, overshadows the entire experience. If you can try one out before you buy, I would suggest that you do so - it's certainly not without merits by any means, but I feel that, at £60, it's too expensive of a toy to take a gamble on.

 

[Eozeda]

I've encountered lots of misinputs (including impossible ones, because sometimes it will read the A or C buttons as the B button in spite of my finger being nowhere near the B button) and frequent unresponsiveness (which sometimes makes the games impossible; The ping pong game that appears in the arcade on sports-themed days is particularly nightmarish). 

I felt this 100%!! The sports day actually makes me feel like playing sports is more torturous than I did when I was in school.   The soccer isn't too bad but it's also plagued with slowness or unresponsiveness when you need to be quick. I feel like this is going to make a lot of kids frustrated and impatient too.

I agree with something else you said among several things – that a person's tolerance for it will probably be a make-it or break-it thing for many fans. Probably the second one for those younger ages, which I fear means literally. I wonder if the faulty buttons are on a case by case basis, and some people have properly working devices, which might explain them being confused about these complaints?

Mine has a spot towards the top-right where it's obvious that the backlight is closer to the display panel, causing a bright blotch in that location, but this isn't unexpected in a device of this price, and I've seen worse screens in more expensive devices in the past.

I failed to mention this in my impression as well, because it's pretty noticeable in my device. I worried I'd be nitpicking if I'd brought it up, but I feel a little better to hear your thoughts. It's something to note. Mine has a dark spot in the top middle edge between two very bright backlight spots on the right and left. It surprised me a bit I think. I haven't seen this in the other color models, so I wonder if it's the new internal components to blame? But it's true, there are some screens in more expensive devices that are much worse, so I can make peace with it.

The capacitive touch is more an issue for me than anything. I find I have better luck with it responding if my hands are moisturized which makes sense. If they're dry, no response at all while I'm trying to glide, so I have my Kuromametchi staring at me intensely waiting. It's awkward. 

 

[Penguin-keeper]

I wonder if the faulty buttons are on a case by case basis, and some people have properly working devices, which might explain them being confused about these complaints?

Unfortunately, I don't think that they're faulty - this is just the nature of capacitive touch, especially when done to meet a particular cost. I also wonder if the touch-enabled casing being plastic, instead of glass like most such devices use, is contributing to this.

I haven't seen this in the other color models, so I wonder if it's the new internal components to blame?

I think that you're onto something here - after all, the upper part of the device is taken up by the camera and its associated button, so there's a bit less room in there than in the shells of the other colour models.

 

[purple pyonkotchi]

Unfortunately, the biggest negative for me is the touch-only controls. I've encountered lots of misinputs (including impossible ones, because sometimes it will read the A or C buttons as the B button in spite of my finger being nowhere near the B button) and frequent unresponsiveness (which sometimes makes the games impossible; The ping pong game that appears in the arcade on sports-themed days is particularly nightmarish). Also, like all capacitive touch devices it's not quick or precise (which causes problems with some games that seem to expect faster inputs than are physically possible with capactive touch - it makes me wonder if there actually were physical buttons at some point during development). The dimples denoting where the non-existent buttons are make this worse because they can interfere with sliding gestures, and in the end I can't see why the device doesn't combine a touch-screen and physical buttons, as Japan's upcoming Tamagotchi Smart does. Regardless, there are plenty of fun and creative ideas here, but controls-wise it does feel to me like it's more negative than positive.

ahhh yikes... that's kind of what i was afraid of. technology that tries cool but unnecessary features like this usually never turns out good (like apple products LMAO). I wonder if they'll come out with a wave 2 of the pix that fixes this issue, kind of like with the tamago and it's weird plastic faceplate cover? Still, the touch buttons is a unique concept but I hope next time they try it it can be executed better.

Speaking of which though, the last tamagotchi device that i used that had touch controls was the tama profy device. The touch screen there was a little janky and you had to press down pretty hard for it to register, but for a cheap lcd screen toy it worked pretty well. I wonder how it compares to the pix? Hoping I can get a pix sometime and see how it compares to it lol

 

[Klonoa13]

I wasn't even aware that the buttons on the pix were touch-sensitives. O-o Kinda odd for them to go with those kinds of buttons for a handheld like this. I was concerned that it might not work too well considering the nature of how it works, and that's unfortunate that it's got problems.  Just hope it's not as bad as it could be.

I definitely did hear that the battery on the pix drains faster than even the Tamagotchi Meets/On Handheld, which considering the new camera on the thing, I'm not surprised in the slightest. Will admit though it is pretty amazing that they were even able to add a camera feature onto such a handheld like the pix itself, but still unfortunate that the battery life drains much faster than the Meets/On.

I haven't bought one yet as I was waiting for the reviews to come by before I put the money down for one, but I might just wait until they release the blue version before I go and buy one.

Thankfully I decided to finally go ahead and buy rechargable batteries to prepare myself after hearing about the battery life. (I honestly should have bought rechargeable batteries a LONG TIME ago when I bought the tamagotchi on....lol Don't know why I chose to continue buying packs of AAA batteries.)

 

[Leviusly]

Hey everyone!
I also got my Tamagotchi Pix in the Mail today. I am soo excited!!!
Here in Germany the release of the Pix was really confusing. There was no official date and apparently the only shop that offers the Pix here is Amazon. The really confusing part is the Amazon listing of the Pix here in Germany. I stumbled uppon a listing called "BANDAI 42911 Zubehör, Keine". Translated in English it is "BANDAI 42911 accessory, none". The title of that listing is soo confusing, but it still got a picture of the pix. I gave it a try and ordered it on monday, because it stated that it was sold directly and shipped by Amazon. They got a really good return policiy, so in case that it was just some expensive display or carton that I bought, I woud have just returned it . Luckily it really turned out to be a legit Tamagotchi Pix! I payed 69,09€ for it, roughly 81,37 Dollars. Really left a dent in my financial plan, so I will readjust my spending for the rest of the month
What really rubbed me the wrong way is that Amazon Germany got an official listing for the Tamagotchi Pix and the cost in the official one is a whopping 89,99€ or 105,98 Dollars!!!!!! I could not believe it.  I felt a little bit scamed on the price I payed, but the official listings one left me speechless. 

Here is the link for the Tamagotchi Pix listing I ordered from (it got a little bit more expensive, currenty at 73,96€).

And here is the link for the official listing of the Pix.


I am really disappointed how the realease of the Pix was handled here in Germany. Also I am happy that I got it for a somewhat reasonable price here. 

What really surprised me was the packaging (I guess it's the european packaging). It's far smaller than the american one and I think the european is more pleasing to my eyes at least.  

I am really looking forward to test this Tama later today out!