Collection Criteria Update

I have decided that since my virtual pet collecting has been getting a bit out of hand lately, I no longer intend to collect different shell designs of the same pet. For awhile I thought it was a good idea to get all the shell designs of pets I particularly enjoy, but its not financially responsible. I went on several binges, collecting every shell of every Angelgotchi (Japanese, American and European), and had intended to buy more Uminos, Morinos and Osu-Mesu pairs, but I've now decided against it. From now on I will only collect one of each pet and it will have to be the cutest design.

Another criteria that I have set is that unless a pet is super-duper rare, I will not be spending over $25 for any other pet. So unless its a Yasashii or something, its not worth it. Even if I have to scour eBay for years just to find a pet for very cheap, I won't be buying anymore expensive pets.

I've also decided that I should not buy more than about 2 pets per month. So at he most I can only spend about $50 on pets per month. I don't want to turn into a hoarder. It gets pretty hard to resist when you actually have income coming in for once. I can't let it go to my head. I had previously gone the entirety of about a year and a half without buying any pets. That was because I was unemployed!

In other news, I have bought a few more pets on eBay:
*Hanerutchi 2 (another version of an Entama)
*a Lot of 6 Giga Pets that I had been wanting for a very long time (Chimp, Looney Tunes, Koala, T-Rex and Digital Doggie). I might give away the Looney Tunes to a friend depending on how cute I think it is or not (I never did enjoy Looney Tunes to be honest).

If I get anymore pets anytime soon I'm just going to buy the Hanerutchi Keitai and that's it. I should take a break from it for awhile since I've been buyin so many. Part of it may be due to boredom. I'll just have to find better things to do with my time :P Especially since some of the pets I've bought I haven't even used yet! Ugh...

Pocket Pal

These are the same as the Hitorriko Dinosaur. Here's my review after playing with it for a week:

They are essentially a Dinkie Dino style sort of pet. The icons go up and down the sides instead of on the top and bottom rows like most other virtual pets.

The Dinosaur has four buttons. The first button is for browsing through the menu. The second icon is "escape", which gets you out of a menu or feature. The third button is for checking its health meters. The fourth button is for pressing "enter" or for checking the time when no other options are selected.

Just like a Dinkie Dino, the icons go up the sides. On the left side the first icon is a food icon, which gives the choice between an apple, a carrot or a fish. I've been feeding it only carrots to see what character I get. The characters have not been very cute so far. Actually it doesn't look much like a dinosaur, but maybe I'll run through it again to see if I can get some other dinosaur-looking characters. It has grown about 3 times. Depending on how much you feed it, you will fill up the happiness meter, which looks like a bowl of rice.

The second icon on the left side is for a back-and-forth game. Like a Tamagotchi you simply guess which direction it will stop. You use the first and fourth button to choose the direction. The game does not end unless you press the "escape" button (second button). Depending on how many times you go through it and win you will fill up the happiness meter, which looks like a heart.

The third icon on the left side is for when it is sick. So far after a week my pet has not been sick at all, which is weird, but I guess I'm fine with that. I do not know what it looks like when it gets sick, so I can't describe this any further.

The fourth icon on the left is the discipline icon. This basically makes you pet study so that its study meter goes up. The icon looks like a little book and corresponds to the book picture when you press the checking button.

The fifth icon on the left side is another game. This is a game of dice and you must use the first and fourth buttons to decide how high or low the dice will come out as. If you hit the fourth button then you are guessing higher (4-6). If you hit the first button then you are guessing lower (1-3). Like the other game, you can play it for as long as you want without it stopping or giving you a score. The happiness meter will fill up each time you get a correct result.

On the right side the first button is for the air conditioner. I'm not sure what this feature does. The pet has never shown any indication of need the temp changed. Perhaps this function will determine the growth outcome of your pet. For instance, if the temp stays high then it may affect which characters you get compared to when the temp stays low. I really don't know yet.

The second icon on the right is a pooper scooper for cleaning its poop. This pet poops constantly! When it poops it just shows two large piles of poop on the screen, and the character is not on the screen. Every time it poops the food meter will deplete a little bit.

There is another hidden icon on the right, but I'm not sure what it is. Perhaps it lights up when all of the meters are empty, but I've never let the meters get empty, so that may be why I've never seen it.

The last icon on the right is the lights icon, and you use the first and fourth buttons to change the option of on and off.

Overall I give this pet a 3 out of 10. It functions perfectly fine, but the shell isn't particularly cute and the music is a bit annoying since it poops constantly! The pet basically just stays in one place on the screen (like a Dinkie dino) and shows it breathing or moving in an up and down motion like a Dinkie Dino, but less cute. The background is just plain and grey, but it has a nice hard plastic screen that won't get easily damaged. I would not suggest this pet to anyone, but I'll keep it anyway in case I feel like playing with it again. Its not the worst pet I've played, but its not exactly entertaining either. I would say its main draw is that its easy to care for and does not die easily.

Here are some pictures of the one I own:





Price:
This one costed $19.99. Not worth the money, but oh well. I haven't really seen these on ebay except for one other seller who was selling a used one. The one I got was brand new, unopened in package.

Growth Chart:

I do not have a growth chart. I will look for one. For now you can visit this website to see someone else's description: http://www.tamenagerie.com/odd10.html

Bobo Panda Byte

Bobo Panda Byte is a pet by Trendmasters (the same company that made the Kimiko Baby Byte (aka Sweet Baby, or Lovely Baby). This pet is much different from the Baby Byte. While the Baby Byte has curved lines that make different faces and gestures when in different combinations, the Panda Byte has the traditional pixeled screen with two rows of horizontal icons on the top and bottom. This virtual pet has surprisingly a lot of cool options and features. I have to say I am loving it a lot so far!

Just some first initial impressions: This is a very musical pet. The shape is different from a lot of pets in that its very round, but the screen is very big. The background is a bit plain, but the pixels are nice because they are actually smaller (kind of like the 2004 Tamagotchi Plus). The character is VERY cute, but there is not much variation in the growth chart. The buttons are laid out weirdly (there are three regular sized button and one dedicated clock button off to the side). The first button goes through the menu. The third button selects an icon. The second button browses through the menus, and you must press the third button again to select a feature in the menu. So its a little topsy tervy in that regard.

Now for the actual features: In the first row the first icon is an apple. If you select this icon you will be presented for options for food. During the first day or two the baby panda can only consume baby formula. After it grows a couple of times it can eat bread, an apple, candy and drink a glass of some liquid that has a straw in it.

The second icon in the first row is a game icon. It has two options for games. The first game you must guess where the panda will pop out of the hole. If the panda does not pop out of the hole you chose then you get a point. It is a 2 out of three game. So if you guess correctly two or three times you win. The second game is rock paper scissors. You choose what the opponent will use, and then the game randomly selects an outcome. If the opponent loses then you get a point. The way these games are set up is a little odd, but its still easy to play.

The second icon seems to be some kind of discipline/play icon. You can make the panda play hoola hoop, pet the panda to give it affection, discipline the panda by scolding it, make the panda study from a book, or let the panda play on a swing. Making it read a book will make its IQ go up. Letting it play seems to make the IQ go down. Giving it affectionate pettings will bring its happiness up like with playing games.

The fourth icon in the first row is a medicine bag. You can give the panda some bottled medicine, a shot, or put it in an ambulence. I have not had to give it a shot or send it to the hospital yet, but as it has gotten older it seems to need medicine more often.

The first icon in the second row is the weather icon. You can choose from an umbrella, a scarf or a hat to give to your panda. It will show weather conditions on the screen depending on what it needs. I'm not sure how this affects the health of the panda, though.

The second icon in the bottom row is a light switch icon. Here you can turn the lights off and on, turn the music off and on, turn the tv off and on (I think selecting the tv will pause and unpause the pet), and turn the airconditioner off and on. I have used the airconditioner icon quite a bit, and apparently when it gets too cold the panda will get a cold (it will stay on the left side of the screen with a weird thing on its ear). I have had the music off the whole time because I do not want it to drain the battery with all these noises. The light will not turn on or off automatically. You must do it manually depending on what the panda needs. When the panda goes to sleep it will show little eyes closed with Z's coming out of it. (Note: when the music is turned off, this does not mean notification noises will be turned off. It will still play a sound indicating it needs something. It just won't play all the musical sounds when you are selecting options and actions.)

The third icon is the meter icon (a clip board). This will show the weight and age of the panda, the temperature, the happiness (five hearts), the hydration level (five hearts), the hunger level (five hearts), and the IQ level (five hearts).

The last icon in the bottom row is a comb. This icon is for selecting grooming methods. when the panda poops it will show him with his back turned to the screen sitting next to a pile of poop. You can select the toilet option. There is also an option to give the panda a facial. I am not sure what the other option is. Perhaps this is an option to give it a bath.

Every time the panda loses half of a heart it will light up the question mark notification. This can get annoying, but it is a nice feature to have because this will prevent the panda's meters from getting really low.

Another feature it shows is when the panda is sick it will show a skull next to its head.

Here are some pictures of the Panda Byte I own:






Price:
I got this Panda Byte used on eBay for $20. It was included in a lot of three (panda, P2, and 8-in-1 multipiets). I sent the P2 and 8-in-1 to my friend in exchange for $11. So basically the panda came out to about $10. These are hard to find, and usually new ones can cost up to $50 or more.

Growth Chart:
This is a growth chart, curtesy of Bookmice.net:

TMCG+Color

This was the first color screen edition of the Tamagotchi. It functions much like a regular Tamagotchi Plus connection, but with many enhanced features. Aside from a full screen, the Tamagotchi lives in a house that can be decorated. You can play games with the Tamagotchi at the arcade in order to gain points to go shopping. Various types of items can be bought for the Tamagotchi such as toys, tools, and decorations. I have not played with this Tamagotchi extensively, but apparently there are certain items that you can gather to unlock special features. Like the Tamagotchi Plus, you can connect it to other TMGC+Colors, but it is not backwards compatible with other older Tamagotchi Connections. It can also be connected with an ID, an ID L and a Tamagotchi P's.

Here is a picture of the one I own:



Price:
Right now these are pretty expensive. They are discontinued, but you can find them on eBay ranging anywhere from $50-200. I got mine for about $45 a few months after it first came out.

Growth Chart:
Curtesy of Tamatalk.com