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Tamagotchi Smartphone Game Revealed for Next Year
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Bandai Namco Entertainment announced on Friday that it is developing a new smartphone game in the Tamagotchi series titled My Tamagotchi Forever. The game is slated to launch for iOS and Android devices in 2018. The game's trailer hints that the game may contain augmented-reality features.
The game celebrates the franchise's 20th anniversary. Pre-registering on the game's official website gives registrants a chance to be the inspiration for a new Tamagotchi character that will appear in the game.
Bandai Namco Entertainment released the Tamagotchi no Puchipuchi Omisecchi~Ninki no Omise Atsumemashita~ (Tamagotchi's Tiny Shops~I've Gathered Popular Shops~) game for the Nintendo 3DS on November 16. Like the upcoming smartphone game, the 3DS game also celebrates the franchise's 20th anniversary.
Bandai launched the Tamagotchi franchise in 1996 and sold about 40 million virtual pets in the first wave. The company then revived the brand in 2004 and sold more than 38 million more Tamagotchi toys, including 1.72 million in the Tamagotchi iD line that launched in 2009. As of March 2016, the franchise has sold more than 81 million handheld games worldwide.
The first two Tamagotchi television anime series were the 1997-1998 Anime TV de Hakken! Tamagotchi television series and the 2007-2008 Saikō! Tamagotchi television series. A new Tamagotchi! television anime premiered in 2009, and the Tamagotchi! Yume Kira Dream television anime followed in 2012. Bandai then debuted the Tamagotchi! Miracle Friends television anime in 2013, the Go-Go Tamagotchi! anime series in April 2014, and the Tamagotchi! Tama Tomo Daishū GO! anime in April 2015.
Bandai also created the 1997 Tamagotchi Honto no Hanashi theatrical short, the 2007 Eiga de Tōjō! Tamagotchi Doki Doki! Uchū no Maigotchi!? feature film, and the 2008 Eiga! Tamagotchi Uchū Ichi Happy na Monogatari!? feature film. In addition, the franchise received an anime film short in May as part of the 20th anniversary celebration.
Source: CNET (Nicholas Tufnell) via Hachima Kikō
Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.
