From: Peter_Clement@stream.com (Peter Clement)

Subject: ?agree?disagree?



     First off - I know I can't spell.

     One thing: Ban Dai Exports

     I first came across these last year on the internet.  There were no 

     pictures and no spacific info, the bit was just about the popularity. 

     (How could this simple thing be so popular)

     I was blinly in love.  Closer to Christmas they started making it on 

     the US 'fad tech news' spots (I'm in the USA) and I saw it for the 

     first time.

     It was a chick. You fed it rice. You gave it water and protected it 

     from the weather. The whole point of the thing was to see how long one 

     could make it live- and that is what sold me on it.

     Then I hear that someone here has one and they got it at Toys 'R' Us.

     I went in search.  I wanted it so bad because nobody I knew knew what 

     they were. (that alone means alot to me) As far as I knew, they were 

     not a craze in the US- I snagged 4. (I was expecting $30 - $40 for a 

     Jp import, but it was only $14.95 & I kind of got nuts)

     But when I got home I found ot why it was so much less than I was 

     expecting- I'm surprised it is not called Tama-(color)-Power-Zord

     An alian?? I thik they underestimated American's acceptance of 

     Japanese merchandise (i.e. Anime)

     I'm fine with the "graphics", but the icons... Why were they changed? 

     and no water? no weather? Even Dogz/Catz don't really develop a real 

     personality and that is $20 just for software; but WHY did they take 

     functionality away... to protect superiority of the Japanese product?

     I, too, am a software developer and find room for improvement.  The 

     MOST important tool for any programer is creativity.  I feel gyped.  

     I'd rather have payed $30 - $40 for the Japanese version!

     On the other hand, my wife hatched hers one hour after I hatched mine 

     and there have been differences:

     she started out feeding hers more snacks and playing less than I did 

     with mine.  And now after a few days, mine is at the min wait and has 

     a small apitite, but demands a lot of attention; hers is the opposite: 

     she has to play with it a lot (even with 4 happies) to get it to loose 

     any weight and he is hungry all the time (and does not get any 

     snacks).  This is the only 'personality' trait I've noticed.



From: Eppkai@aol.com

Subject: Tamagotchi Madness



Blame it on being a desperate mother. Blame it on not wanting to hear "Mom!

You have to find us some!" one more time. I have 3 kids, all screaming for

this Tamgotchi thing. When I called Toys-R-Us, the phone was answered like

this: "This is Toys-R-Us. We do not have any Tamagotchi toys. We are not

expectiing any for 6-8 weeks."



Oh, no, another craze. I remember the Cabbage Patch dolls. And the more

recent Beanie Babies.



And then it occured to me. What makes me think these kids are going to take

care of something that can't actually stand on their chest and meow or drool

when they're in need of food or relief? They don't do it in real reality,

never mind cyber-reality. And yet I'm willing to pay up to $20 each (times 3,

remember?) to eventually find it under the bed encased in a ball of dust and

cat/dog hair.



I think not.



I haven't even gotten into the ramifications of the kids realizing how

pre-programmed the toys are. When there are 3 around, it would become real

clear, real fast.



So maybe I'll get one for myself and try it out. What, am I nuts? Another

mouth to feed, not to mention poop to think about (even if it can't really

stick to my shoes and track all over the rug...). 3 has been more than

enough. Maybe the next generation will be better.



From a worn out Mom on LI,

Eppkai@aol



ps. What time should I go get on line at the toy store?



From: John Berg 

Subject: i agree with you chris



hey chris, 

i read your page and i bought a tamagotchi here in the US for $25. I

bought it cuz i fall into that hype real easily.  So, i was hoping to

get attached to the tamagotchi but i didn't.. you're right, it has NO

personality whatsoever and the "game" you play with it is incredibly

inane.  The four functions of the tama are increasingly boring the more

you tend to it.  honestly, the only reason im keeping mine is to see

what it will evolve to be and also its a good conversation piece. After

i'm done, im gonna give it away to some lil kid. (i'm a college grad). 

FYI, i think the new versions of tamagotchi are more fun. did u know in

taiwan (and other parts of asia) theres a tamagotchi version of a woman

and you have sex with her and all that?? personally, i dont like that

version very much, but i like the new digital pets that my friend is

selling to compete with bandai's version. .These new versions don't have

weight in ounces, but in kilos.



In any case these are imported from out of the country.   Just to give

you an idea..  I'm not sure if they are all the same,

the Tamagotchi's that is. Here are the things you have to do to take

care

of it...Quench its thirst

Feed it (hamburger, chicken, noodles, carrot, ice cream, apple)

Discipline it

Check on its progress

Bathe it

Keep it cool (turn on/off AC)

Turn off/on light (???) when it sleeps??

Play with it (rock, paper, scissors)

Tell it to study

Give it an injection if it is sick



well tell me what you think!



cindy



From: william chen 

Subject: Not all Tamagochi's are Pointless



There is now a new kind of Tamagochi called "Raku Raku Dino-Kun"

It starts out as the second stage of a tamagochi (a big blob

of dough), but the more you feed it the bigger it gets. Whatever

you feed depends on the kind of Dinosaur it will turn out to be

(ie: if you feed it vegetables for the first 2 days it will turn

into a brontasaurous). It has more functions than a Tamagochi

[ie: air conditioning, shower/bath, different selctions to the

food (ie: hamburger, chicken leg, carrot, apple, and noodles),a 

drink button, a patting button, a chart, a needle shot (actually 

shows it getting the needle pumped into it),a light, and 

schooling button].

It has more buttons (ie: 5) and its a lot cuter than a tamagochi.

The sad thing is that it dies at the age of 11. The Prices are

dropping on it at the moment, because rumor of a newer version is

coming out. 

Just a Little Friendly Information!



Have A Nice Day!



Sincerely,

          Kerbie.



From: Tom Gaulton (T.M.Gaulton-CSSE96@cs.bham.ac.uk)

Subject: Tamagotchi



I am inclined to agree with you about them, I haven't noticed any kind of 

personality in mine, I've tried overfeeding it, playing with it until 

it's weight drops really low, and randomly abusing it but it makes no 

difference. 

I have considered writing a Tamagotchi clone on the PC and after reading 

your page I think I will now, ideas I've had and which you may be 

interested in (since you talk about writing your own) are:



- tamagotchi has different moods such as happy, unhappy, bored, 

indifferent, tired. When it is tired it will get upset easily and refuse 

to play. 

- Has different foods such as veg, meat, deserts, snacks which have 

different effects. Snacks make it fat, but overfeeding it will make it 

ill. It won't like certain foods but if you only feed it that food it 

will get used to it. Feeding it foods which it rarely gets will make it 

happy. Feeding it certain foods will make it hyperactive. etc.

- Add some games which actually require some skill. (e.g. ping pong)

- The fatter it is the fatter it looks.

- You might need to wash it and cut it's hair when it gets long.

- You can wake it up by switching the lights on.



e-mail me if you have any comments. 



Tom Gaulton (tmg@cs.bham.ac.uk)

http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~tmg



From: hooksna (hooksna@aston.ac.uk)

Subject: Subliminal Tamagotchi Voodoo 



Having read the worst offenders, I am concerned about Subliminal 

Tamagotchi Voodoo, STV, the reason perhaps for the programing being 

so poor is perhaps because it was done by poorly trained nazis eager 

to obstruct free thought, spent most of the developement time trying 

to sequence STV images between images of creatures composed of 

sweetness and light. Thus causing normal human beings to become 

raging bigoted homophobes, when their STV unit is exposed to mild 

criticism.

 Though this is not true for all STV holders (perhaps they 

were breastfed, or have an innate wellspring of goodness within 

them).

 Indeed perhaps our only hope, is that papercliped nazi 

scientists never learn break the human mind with such faustian 

devices.

'Ah, Mr. Bond, welcome, come in. Let me show you my entire evil plan and 

then put you in a death machine that doesn't work'."

nick



From: Want (106443.3001@compuserve.com)

Subject: er...hi



Hi!



I'm writing to say how much I agree with you. The novelty wears off after 

18.9768 seconds, and they certainly don't teach kids responsibility - when

they die you just bring 'em back to life. The hate mail was very funny!



Also, the plural of tamagotchi would be tamagotchi (not tamagotchis or

tamagotchii!), as plurals do not  exist in Japanese - sorry to be a pedant

but just thought it might improve your page somewhat!



Yours pedantically



Red



xxx



From: indy@iw.edwpub.com

Subject: Here's MY idea for a Tamagochi....



Ok, stick a connector on the top, and you can buy a connector cable. 

THEN you can sneak around and STEAL other people's Tams!  One guy could

have 5 in one egg!  Now THAT would be a challenge!  How about hooking a

few up for a Tam RUMBLE!  Breed these things to FIGHT!  Or maybe allow

for reproduction if you hook the two up.  What a good way for the little

kids to learn about sex.  Anyway, just MY gripes with Tams, and my

suggestions.



Jason



From: Elna (e5050@singnet.com.sg)

Subject: Tamagotchi..What else?



I never bought one for myself cos I find that keeping one is a waste of

time, though I've played with my friend;s one before. About 90% of my

friends own a tamagotchi, and I've heard many stories about them.



What I feel that attacted ppl to buy them is the novelty of having a

virtual pet, something which I feel will wear of.



Anyway, i do feel that there are certain difference in Tamagotchis.

I'vew tried killing a few of them..not due to the fact that I'm a sadist

or something, juz an experiment of mine. One of my friend's Tamagotchi

died because of being over weight...60kg for a one year one dino.



I tried feeding another of my friend's one year old dino with plenty of

ice-cream, till it was 91kg, yet it was still happy and healthy, and up

till now I'm still wundering why.



Another point of difference is that not all of my friends Tamagotchi die

with and angel circling them, ther are one or 2 with a devil appearing

instead when they die, so much for differences. Yeah, another of my

friend's Tamagotchi always die on day 4 even though it's perfectly

healthy and happy. I've been figuring that out to though I have no

answer.



Well, what I can say is that I'm no Tamagotchi lover or hater, but juz

wanted to point out a few things. 



1. For god's sake it's juz a toy...dun understand y ppl r kicking up a

fuss over a few comments made.



2. It's a good subsitute 4 ppl who want pets but can't keep a real life

one.



3.It's a waste of time, u have to feed it , give it attention, etc and

it can beep at unappropriate times.



4. Then again, if u have all the time in the world it doesn't really

matter.



5. You can't cuddle it.



6. Yeah, hang it on your belt-hoop and tell the whole, I'm hip , I'm

cool, I follow trends I have a Tamagotchi, or at least that's what the

ppl in my country do.



7. I know of ppl who lost their jobs because of it.



8. Kids love it.



So much for comments, give me a real life dog anytime, though i have to

clean his poo, feed him etc but at least he can respone to my feelings

and moods, play with me,give me companionship, take him out 4 walks etc.

Yeah though he's very naughthy at times, but at least he's alive.



From: "Eileen C. Krasowski" (eileen.krasowski@yale.edu)

Subject: I don't believe this...



Hi.  My name's Eileen, and I'm a psychology magjor at Yale University 

in New Haven, Connecticut.  I came upon your site when I decided to surf 

for tamagotchi sites after talking to my little brother about the toys. 

 I first encountered a tamagotchi when one of the women I work with 

brought her daughter's in with her.  I was fascinated to find out that 

they had become so insanely popular, so I called my ten year old brother 

to see if it was popular in Florida as well.  He talked my ear off about 

it, so I decided to learn more.  When I read the letters at your site, I 

was shocked by the profanity and the vindictiveness that people have 

displayed...over a toy!  Is our world in such a bad state that people 

can find nothing better to do than write such messages in response to 

someone that disagrees with them?  I find tamagotchi intriguing, not for 

its programming prowress but for the psychological effects that its 

having on its owners.  Some children actually experience trauma likened 

to the death of a real pet when the virtual pet dies.  Why do the 

children become so attached to a figure on a little digital screen?  And 

why do people become so defensive?  Do they have nothing better to do 

with their lives?



Very truly yours,

Eileen



P.S.  You may post this if you wish.  I invite any comments or 

suggestions on this question.  Just please, everyone, be nice and keep 

it clean.  Thank you.