Tamagotchi Philippines
ï Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - JD's Touch Pet - Part 4
Big and Bold
The graphics are huge compared to Bandai's Tamagotchi. Unlike Bandai's where they use one pixel to draw the character's outline, JD's touch pet uses a three-by-three or two-by-two pixel block to draw Bandai's one pixel equivalent. This produces a bold outline similar to Powerpuff Girls style of drawing, only pixelized. As a result, they could only put little detail in the characters. No Makiko equivalents here due to this drawing style.
Most characters are from Bandai's Tamagotchi series. I've seen JD's versions of Bill, shiroteletchi, mizutamatchi and others. There are some original characters, I think, or just less detailed.
Touch me not
Sadly, it's only used mainly as a replacement for the buttons. Yes, no Iphone like multiple presses (except for the two icons to activate the sound menu), no games that use the touch screen (not even whack-a-mole type of game). Although the concept is innovative, it doesn't really have a point.
Unfortunately, JD placed the cheapest plastic screen I've ever seen in a virtual pet. You can easily scratch it with your fingernails if you've been using your thumb to press the buttons. Even the included stylus can lightly damage the screen. After one week, the touch screen's functionality, the one that I've been raving about in the first part of this review, is gone. I cleaned its screen, thinking that it may be grime that was causing the error. Sad to say, it wasn't. Using the stylus didn't work as well.
To think that I cared for it properly. I never dropped it yet accidentally or purposely, and it was in a small pouch all the time.
Without any buttons and a whacked-out touch screen, this virtual pet became highly unplayable. It still bears the highly sensitive surface, but due to the scratches, it now presses on its own in random increments or the screen doesn't work at all.
My silver Bandai V3 Tamagotchi's screen even looks better than this newly-bought JD Pet despite the time when I grew tired of my tamagotchi and left it lying around with some old coins and other metal stuff.
Eternal life
Baby, Teenager, Adult --- just three growth stages for the JD pet. It takes around 1-2 human days per evolution. So far, I haven't seen anything else after that; if there are matchmakers or something that will take it to the next generation.
I also did the ultimate test in longetivity of a character, how long does it take for it to die? Unlike tamagotchi where the deaths are known, we do not have any information available on the JD pet. Yes, it's a bit morbid, but for experiment's sake, I had to do it. I left it day after day without caring for it.
The pet was crying, with a skull floating above its head indicating that it was sick. The constant beeping was continuously heard in my room complaining that it is hungry.
But it would not die. Its happiness and weight was gone; all the poop, poor health and hunger icons were crowding the screen. Yes, this pet is invincible. I left it alone for a week to test my theory of its eternal life, and indeed, it is immortal. It's the pet that will not die!
The only way for it to "die" is when the batteries run out. This pet doesn't have the "download" option that saves the tamagotchi in an internal memory. When the battery runs out, your pet disappears forever and you'll have to start from scratch again. Bye-bye souvenirs!
Sleep/Wake Times:
I'm glad to say that this version does not keep you awake at night. In fact, it sleeps very early at 8 PM. Waking up is another story. It sometimes wakes up at 7 AM, sometimes it oversleeps and wakes up at 12 NN. There was also a time that it didn't seem to wake up at all (it's not dead of course). When the clock struck 2 PM, I turned on the light, and it woke up without making any fuss. Just remember to set the time correctly!
Final Words:
It's a good pet to play within one day. However, the oversimplified features of the pet and the fact that it does not die or mate (at least, mine hasn't yet) to move on to the next stage kills any replayability of the toy. It having only one non-interactive game sums it all.
It's better for kids who still are too young to understand the intricasies of Bandai's tamagotchi to be able to take care of it properly. At least in their early stage, they can be taught on how to take care of a pet.
It's great for parents who fear that their children might become emotionally scarred for life when their beloved pet dies.
Rating: 2/5 (No replayability and bad plastic screen quality for a touch screen pet make this one a no-no)
Note: If there are other things you wish to inquire about the JD Touch pet, just place it on the comments section and I'll answer them as soon as possible. |
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