Nintendo DS - Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop

Format
Nintendo DS
Publisher
Bandai
Developer
NanaOn-Sha
Country of origin
Japan
Genre
Virtual pet

First Look at Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop

By David Rasmussen
12th Feb 06

Apparently it had to happen. Sooner or later it just had to happen… we had to start seeing games that were Animal Crossing clones. However if Tamagotchi Connection : Corner Shop is supposed to be the next great “crack” of video gaming addiction? It looks like something you won’t have a hard time shaking off.
I don’t know how it happened, but when BANDAI jumped headlong into the video game market they somehow got themselves a group of people who are better at saying “Yes” than they are saying what needs to be said. Harsh? Yes, and I apologize for sounding abit sharp tongued on that, but consider the facts.
With the exception of the excellently done (dot)hack Quadrilogy which I’ve praised many times in the past? I have not seen many BANDAI games I can honestly praise as worth your time (and money) to invest in.

Ghost in the Shell : Stand Alone Complex needed an infusion of Grand Theft Auto and a longer more sustained gameplaying experience. The game was too short, and didn’t look all that inspired. What it needed was either a freeroaming gameplay experience worthy of a good GTA clone like Incredible Hulk : Ultimate Destruction, or the vibrant and fulfilling gameplay of The Warriors (which stood true to the movie and yet provided lots of gameplay for you to get into the gameplay as you got to know your fellow “Warriors” all the better). Anything that would have provided a gaming experience longer than 6 hours maximum, and a greater chance to get into the minds of the characters and get to know them better is a good thing in my opinion.

Mobile Suit Gundam games needed (and still needs) to leave the field of rock ‘em/sock ‘em robots and enter a whole new field. What it needs is new blood, what it needs is it’s version of Resident Evil 4 to revitalize and revolutionize the franchise from it’s so-so kind of sameness that’s been infecting previous incarnations of the franchise of games.
Some ideas (from me) on revitalizing the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise requires a new dress coat of gameplay to bring new life to it. One idea that struck me as good was to turn towards the field of the intelligent turn based strategy game, ala Front Mission 4 or Advance Wars, in finding the next innovation in the Gundam franchise of games. Both Front Mission 4 and the three presently available Advance Wars games for both the GBA & Nintendo DS are good plays, and if applied towards the Gundam Universe I think we can be assured a new experience of the kind we have yet to see from a Gundam game.

Another possibility, and this is not to be flippant despite the fact it is not a universally loved franchise, is Gundam going into the card battle combat meets strategy genre. Yeah, I know, Metal Gear Acid for the PSP is not the best example, but I am presently reviewing Battles of Prince of Persia from UbiSoft for the Nintendo DS and if I got ahold of a Mobile Suit Gundam DS game of this high quality I think I’d have rave things to say about such a game! (If you played Battles of Prince of Persia you know how solid it is).

Finally for rock ’em/sock ’em action that isn’t dull how about some hard hitting fun 3rd person military strategy on a wide scale ala Battalion Wars for the GameCube. With fast paced energetic action that really gets your fingers working and your pulse pounding in your ears as you turn upon your 15th unit of Zeon Mobile Suits with guns and rockets blazing away and the frantic action of on screen all out total war before your awestruck eyes…. Ah, now that sounds like bliss.

Of course just giving the game a new fresh coat of innovation is not enough. The Gundam franchise needs to be more… well… user friendly. Present Gundam games are not looking out for the newbies, preferring to set their aim at die hard old school fans of the series whose played many previous Gundam game before these new games.
That means, in order to be more newbie friendly, the games need to have that all important tutorial section which seems to be woefully absent in Gundam games. New players who have not picked up previous Gundam games, or are renting the present game and don’t have that instruction booklet to read, will not be enamored with having to learn how to play by trial and error. They would love a walkthrough that respects them and their skills, which future Gundam series most dearly need ASAP.
The games also need to supply a storyline that isn’t written more for long term Gundam fans (who know who pilots what Gundams from appearance alone) than it is for those unfamiliar with the Gundam Universe, and need more detail and depth in their stories so they can better understand the Gundam Universe (for the next Gundam game that hit’s the shelves will be the first exposure quite a few of these would be future fans (and future customers) will have of the Gundam brand, so the game has to be the perfect salespitch to keep those players interested and bring them back for more (which I feel is lacking in present Gundam games).

Then there is the matter of Digimon World (4), which really was a low point. If anything needs to get a complete redress and revamp it’s Digimon World. The series needs to be completely overhauled from the bottom up, with a fresh innovation of gameplay, storytelling and combat that’ll breathe fresh lovely new life into the series and make it strong again… just as long as the game doesn’t pull a Neopets : The Darkest Fairy, because that game is awful. Nobody should ever mimic that game… or The Legend of Kay (PS2).

One Piece should have been a high flying action platformer in the same venue and depth of original innovative gameplay as Sucker Punch’s Sly Cooper series. Considering the abilities and traits of all the characters in the One Piece series I think I would probably have more fun with an expansive platformer with the innovative twist ala Sly Cooper than a simple fighter.

But we’re not talking about any of those games, what we’re focusing on is BANDAI’s newest title, which (if memory serves me correct though I could be wrong) is also their first venture into the world of the Nintendo DS. And how will they enter the world of the Nintendo DS, by the way? Why they’ll do it by combining the world of the Tamagotchi together with the world of Neil Cavuto and business capitalism, adding a town called “Tama Town” and possibly an Animal Crossing style element, wrapped in a tight bow by the people who bought you… PaRappa the Rapper!!
Oh well, there goes my enthusiasm for the game. Bye-bye all hope I’ll actually enjoy this game… yet I did enter the contest over at Shoujo Beat to see if I can win a copy of the game… y’know, for review.

When I first looked at PaRappa the Rapper those some years ago that I remember seeing it, the first thing that leapt to my mind was… not repeatable. But I did think the graphics were basically something Picasso threw up on a bad cubist night. I mean, really, what the hell! People actually like these graphics?!? They look terrible! But then I got ahold of Animal Crossing and forgot all about PaRappa the Rapper, because the world was beautiful and the gameplay addictive. But now BANDAI has joined forces with the creators of PaRappa the Rapper and created their own world based on the Tamagotchis… because nobody bothered to tell BANDAI that Tamagotchis are -- DOA. These days it’s Neopets and NintenDogs that have the core interest of people who like to raise things, not Tamagotchis. Somebody out there still plays Tamagotchi, of that I’m certain, but I know more NintenDog owners than Tamagotchi owners personally.
Heck, when it comes to my opinion of the Tamagotchi I can’t even recommend the game that gives you a chance to raise human “Tamagotchis”… or at least keep them alive. Huh? What’s that game? It’s the Nintendo DS game Lost in Blue, which is kinda like Lost meets Blue Lagoon with Tamagotchi style gameplay mechanics (feed, water, bathe and care for your two potential (yet never really fulfilling) lovebirds… and solve some mysteries ala Lost, only without the apparent appeal of the mysteries of Lost).

Look, I might not be up on every single fad in Japan but Isn’t the whole thing of raising Tamagotchis done and done already to death? What the heck? Why bring up a Tamagotchi game now?!? Are people really demanding Tamagotchi games?? I guess so since somebody made Lost in Blue, so there must be some interest left in it that I wasn’t aware of… still, with the success of games like NintenDogs (also for the Nintendo DS) you shouldn’t kid yourself if you don’t think for a second that Tamagotchi Connection isn’t going to have a hard time of it from the word go (because it has it’s work cut out for it).

When you compare the two it seems that NintenDogs has the advantage. The game has beautiful, crisp, clean and gorgeous graphics to show off, while Tamagotchi Connection : Corner Shop does not. It‘s graphics is hard on the eyes, sports character designs that look like the people who created PaRappa the Rappa should be graduating from 6th grade within a year or two, and basically there is no comparison between the beautiful visuals of NintenDogs and Tamagotchi Connection. The former clearly outshines the latter in all respects.

So where visuals fail we must turn towards the depth of gameplay to tell the tale. When it comes to NintenDogs, of course, you didn’t need a review since one look at the graphics spoke volumes as to whether you’d buy it or not. Is the same true of Tamagotchi Connection, or is there hidden depth to lure gamers in?
As the name of the game suggests you are going to tackle the world of capitalism by opening your own business, selling your services to interested parties… and no, I don’t mean THAT WAY!
You first have to team up with your favorite Tamagotchi… if you, heaven forbid, have a favorite Tamagotchi. Me? My favorite (as of this review) is one that doesn’t look like something Sakaki drew and/or created in stuffed animal form for the Year 1 Culture Fair at her school… they have something like that, right? Anyway once you pick a partner to work with you’ll need to pick a “religion” and stick to it… I.e. pick a business you’d want to get into, and stick to it.

- For instance you can clean te-- ugh. I just went to the dentist and had that done to me… I… I don’t want to talk about it….
- …still don’t want to talk… it’s… a sensitive topic…
- …ok, I’m over it… maybe. Uh, let’s see, what else… you can also do laundry… hmm, open your own Chinese Laundry? Run your own Swiss Laundry and do dry cleaning? Run your own Laundromat? I am not entirely certain what “do laundry” implies, but I guess you do need clean clothes even in Tama Town.
- Perform music! Because nothing soothes the savage Tamagotchi owner like music… I think. (flicks open lighter and waves it in air) Do the opening credits of Mars Daybreak!! Whooo!!
- From the images on the ad I have here… it looks like you can also open up either a sushi joint or generally a place that serves tako (octopus), a dessert place (which is good since you can’t beat a well crafted Japanese pastry), and a weird looking place that looks like a bar run by a rejected Mario sub boss creature.
I’ll run desserts, and drive my customers to the dentist… to punish them… punish punish PUNISH P-- sorry, got carried away. Maybe I’ll do music.

Now since it’s called a “Town” (Tama Town) I’m going to take it that during a day you can leave your shop and wander around, looking about town at your “competition”, and also so you can purchase new stuff for your business to expand it and make it better.
I’ll also take it for a fact that there will be other Tamagotchi in Tama Town, and you can talk and communicate with them, which may help you in some way… I don’t know.
If the game is anything like the addiction that is Animal Crossing it’ll have some freeroaming element that gets you out of the shop and into the “world” you’re running a shop in… maybe. Now I don’t promise that’s in the game, for all I know your whole “world” may be the shop, but if it wants to compete against the addiction that is Animal Crossing it needs something like that to prove a draw to both adults and younglings (which means you need to have a world that you can explore).

There really isn’t much I know about this world. Partially because I’m working off an ad, and partially because I can’t seem to make Nintendo’s website work since it is very very hard to maneuver on the damn thing (so darn user unfriendly… just like Nintendo at times). I do know this additional info though…
- The game’s menu systems look easy to understand, and easy to grasp, yet it offers up abit of choice from this one example menu screen (from what looks like the music shop business). Without trying it first hand I have to say that I think I can easily work the game’s menus with little effort, which is good since this is aimed at children (after all) so it should be easy to work for a non-child like myself.
- The game promises that you can swap items with “friends” wirelessly.
Now, mind you, it does not promise you can use Wi-Fi Connection to swap items, just wirelessly.
Pity, since it is the same problem I have with Animal Crossing : Wild World, in that I want to go wireless online and the game makes it hard to do so.

Ok, the problem with Animal Crossing is way different than the probable problem with Tamagotchi Connection but… here… the one problem with the new Animal Crossing (Wild World) is that you must have friends who own the game before you can use the Wi-Fi Connection, otherwise you have the ability to link online but not the opportunity by which to do it. Sure, this is all well and good if you and your friends all buy this game, happen to live in the same area, and can swap Friend Codes and all… but if you bought the game in order to make friends (like me), and don’t already have friends who own the game? Well… you won’t be making friends this way since you must already have a Friend Code with someone else in order to visit them via Wi-Fi.

Yes, I know this makes sure kids don’t get in touch with potential sexual predators but this also makes it harder for adults who want to meet new Animal Crossing players to hook up since you have to already know them (and swapped codes with them) in order to meet them.
Anyway this is mostly a moot conversation since there is no mention of Wi-Fi Connection compatibility when it comes to Tamagotchi Connection so I guess this game won’t be linkable online if I am good at reading between the lines.

- Another promised gimmick is the ability to unlock secret codes for your Tamagotchi Connection virtual pet… how? This wouldn’t involve visiting a website and watching advertising ala Neopets now will it? Don’t like that about Neopets.

Ok, even now I don’t have enough information to provide you that can solidly give a reasonable doubt as to whether this is worth buying or not. I might like this game, especially since you can run your own business and become the master of your own domain… now if the game only offers online abilities so you can sell your “wares” to a wide audience across the internet.
In short I really really really have to get this game in order to shake it down and give you a final say about it… so stay tuned, a more complete look at this game (and whether or not it can be played by reviewing loners as well as children with friends who each own a Nintendo DS) is coming in the near future. Promise.

I wish Nintendo had a magazine like Playstation, and released DEMOs of Nintendo DS games ala how Playstation releases DEMO Disks of games… then I could tell you faster how the game fares once I get the DEMO. Oh, well, more to come so keep an eye out.

-- David Rasmussen 12th Feb 06

Nintendo DS Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop Images