Blog Fest - TamaTown by Tamagotchi Review and Giveaway!

10:23 AM

First of all, it is important to mention that Blog Fest 2010 is finally here! This is an amazing giveaway event that will allow you to visit hundreds of different blogs on a variety of topics and have the chance to win some amazing prizes. The event runs from September 10th to the 12th and all you have to do to go to the next blog on the list is click the highlighted link to In the Hammock Blog at the end of this post. You can also visit A Journey of Books for more informations and a full list, as well as use the tracking site that has been set up to help you remember where you have been!

I was recently given the opportunity to review some TamaTown by Tamagotchi products and let me tell you, my kids were thrilled. A fun new take on the traditional Tamagotchi that I remember from when I was younger, these playful toys are marketed more towards girls, but with some gender neutral color options and fun play capability, my 7 year old loved them.

{In Their Words}

"The virtual pet known and loved around the world, Tamagotchi, has recently undergone a face lift. Renamed TamaTown Tama-Go™, the revamped virtual pet offers fans a whole new way to play with TamaTown characters at home, online (www.tamatown.com) and on the go! With dozens of collectable characters, TamaTown by Tamagotchi offers girls the chance to interact with their characters in person and online.

New, fun product features include:

A redesigned portable, egg-shaped TamaTown Tama-Go, which features a high-contrast, four-gray scale display screen, an interchangeable design face plate and one TamaTown collectible character figure.
Three buttons (A, B, and C) that allow the user to select and perform an activity, such as:
- Feeding the TamaTown Tama-Go character a piece of food or a snack
- Playing games with the Tama-Go
- Checking its age, discipline, hunger, happiness and other statistics
- Connecting with other friends
Attach a TamaTown collectible figure and activate character-specific games in your Tama-Go.

And...one of the most popular new features of TamaTown includes a "pause" function so parents no longer have to "Tama-sit" while kids are in school or off enjoying other activities!"

{My Take}

There are a lot of things I love about these products. I had searched far and wide in our local stores last year because I wanted to get my 7 year old one of the originals for Christmas, now I am glad I waited. There is so much more to do with the new TamaTown models and the interchangeable figures add an element of surprise and fun. I also appreciate that like "webkinz" and other products on the market today, each TamaTown Tama-Go comes with a code that you can use online to play fun games and have new experiences.

Setup is simple and you can have your new gotchi up and running in a matter of minutes. Each Tama-Go also comes with an interchangeable faceplate design as well as one TamaTown character. Each character will product two unique items and games within the Tama-Go and as you add new figures to the Tama-Go, you will earn rewards.

What makes this different than the original? A lot! Your gotchi now has a room that you can buy new layouts for in the "shop." It can go to the park to play with friends. There are new fun games with each added character and you can buy different food items to mix up your gotchi's diet. They can even get married! It is also easier to see what your gotchi needs and how happy it is. Plus, the best feature of all for use parents, is the ability to pause the Tama-Go. That's right, no more babysitting gotchi's when your child is busy or sleeping so they won't die. Simply pause the system and you are good to go and no more dead pets or beeping orders! Here is a short video to explain a little bit more about these new toys.

My 7 year old really enjoyed this toy. The others enjoyed the fact that it forms piles of "poop" that you can clean up. Yes, they are boys and bodily functions are hilarious to them. My 8 year old played with it a little as well, but my 10 year old had no interest. My 4 year old had interest, but not nohow. I would say that 6-7 is the perfect age for the TamaTown toys. It was easy to work and functioned as it was supposed to.

Now, there were some things I did not like about it. The screen is small, although that is to be expected and didn't seem to matter to my son, it was kind of a pain for me. Also, it can be hard to see what is on the screen in certain light. Other than that, these toys have provided hours of fun for the family and quite a few giggles as well.

{Buy It}

TamaTown products by Tamagotchi came out last month and can now be found at Walmart, K-Mart, Toys R Us, and online at Amazon.com. The Tama-Go kits are sold for around $19.99 and the extra TamaTown Characters can be purchased for around $6.99 each, making these an afforable gift option for anyone.

*I am disclosing that I received TamaTown by Tamagotchi products from Bandai America Incorporated to Review. However, all words and opinions expressed above were entirely my own and were not influenced by any other means.

Continue with more Blog Fest fun by visiting In the Hammock!

Kathleen

Kathleen is a homeschooling mom of four boys with a serious case of the Wanderlust bug. Her love of travel extends to her children, and has resulted in the family visiting 48 states to date, and traveling nearly a third of the year. She is the owner of LifeWith4Boys.com where you will find information on Family Travel, recipes, reviews, lifestyle and more.