Hi Ken,
Welcome to the thread and sorry for not replying sooner but I don't have any information about Bandai or Tamagotchi than what I find on the Web. Here's a new story I just saw on Yahoo that makes it look like it's not an exclusive deal:
Bandai to sell Tamagotchi software for Nintendo 64
Wednesday July 9 4:13 AM EDT
TOKYO, July 9 (Reuter) - Bandai Co Ltd (7967.T) said on
Wednesday it would launch a software version of its popular
virtual pet toy Tamagotchi for Nintendo Co Ltd's (7974.OS)
64-bit home game player Nintendo 64.
``We've decided to release a software version after we saw
that sales of the portable Tamagotchi were strong,'' a Bandai
spokesman told Reuters.
Tamagotchi starts life as a bird-like image on the screen of
an egg-shaped key-ring device. It develops from a chick to a
fully grown adult in around 10 days.
However, the owner must feed, groom and soothe the digital
creature or else see it waste away and die from neglect.
The price and release date for the Nintendo 64 Tamagotchi
software have not yet been decided, he said.
In late June, Japan's leading toy maker launched in Japan a
version of its pet toy adapted to Nintendo's Gameboy series.
Initial shipments of the toy, about 450,000 units, were
virtually sold out within days of the launch, the spokesman
said. Bandai expects to sell one million units by late August,
he added.
Meanwhile, a total of 9.5 million units of the original
Tamagotchi with a liquid-crystal display (LCD) were sold by
the end of June in Japan, the spokesman said.
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It looks like Bandai is pushing the Tamagotchi concept to as many gaming platforms as it can. I wonder how successful it will be on non-portable platforms? The most intriguing part of the virtual pet concept to me is the portability of it. I don't sit at my home PC or work systems for 24 hours a day and don't want to run to them every half hour to take care of a virtual pet. I like being able to take my Tamagotchi with me. I also don't run my Nintendo and tv 24 hours a day. Putting a full-time pet on a part-time system doesn't make sense. Who knows how all this will turn out?
Kirk |
