Tamagotchi Friends

[tamagotchi]

Tamagotchi Friends is an English release Tamagotchi that was sold in Europe and North America. The first edition, released in Europe, had a screen that was very hard to see, and paint that rubbed off very easily. The second edition, released in North America, featured a much better quality screen and supposedly better paint that still rubbed off very easily. This Tamagotchi is also noticeably smaller than its predecessor, the Tama-Go (which was a main complaint among fans who purchased the Tama-Go), but it is still fairly large for a Tamagotchi. The screen also provides the ability to adjust the contrast in both releases (much like the Family Tamagotchi and the Music Star). Both editions also featured a new "bump" feature, which replaced the IR port on previous Tamagotchis. The bump feature lets the Tamagotchis connect and communicate. Another unique feature in this Tamagotchi is the ability to send messages back and forth between Tamagotchis, much like a "text message". Despite this unique feature, some users noted how difficult it was to text because the Tamagotchi still only had 3 buttons, making it tedious to type out each letter of the word one wanted to send. Many complained that Bandai still hadn't released a color screen Tamagotchi for the North American and European markets. Still, many praised TF because it had cute characters and its simplicity was reminiscent of previous vintage Tamagotchis that many seasoned users love. Many people noted that anyone without previous color screen Tamagotchi experience would most likely love this version of Tamagotchi. TF only saw a limited release at Toys R Us in North America. As of this post they are still currently being sold in stores. Personally, I didn't think any of the shells of the TF were very cute so I settled on the baby Blue stars shell because it was the least ugly in my opinion (albeit a bit babyish). I did enjoy how soft the beeping was, which made the Tamagotchi pleasant to play with. Many of the characters are cute. Overall, there is nothing very complicated about this Tamagotchi, which some may complain about after playing with a Tamagotchi P's and being used to all the capabilities of the color Tamagotchis. I would recommend this Tamagotchi. I give it a 7 out of 10 for cuteness, but the quality of the shells could have been much higher.

Here are some pictures of the one I own:





Price:
I got mine for about $20 at the time, but the price has fluctuated between $10-30 on eBay and in the stores.

Character Chart: