Tamagotchi m!x Coming in July

Top row: Melody m!x. Bottom row: Spacy m!x.

Back in early April Bandai Japan filed a trademark for Tamagotchi m!x (pronounced "mix"), which was picked up on by an automated trademark bot on Twitter, and quickly spread among hardcore Tamagotchi fans. Official announcements of the new toyline followed in May and June. The Tamagotchi m!x virtual pet will launch on July 16th, 2016, in three colors and two variations, "Melody m!x" and "Spacy m!x."

The main feature of the m!x is that when two Tamagotchi get married, the resulting offspring now inherits the visual traits of its parents. The offspring resembles a fusion of its parents, not unlike the latest Digimon's App Fusions. Tamagotchi characters on the m!x can inherit traits from their parents from as far back as 20 generations, resulting in many unique combinations of characters with different visual traits. Unlike in the case of Digimon, the overall reception to "combining" characters by fans has been positive--but this feature is also not old hat to them.

A m!x family tree. The Papa and Mama characters on top and bottom m!x to create the next character in the sequence.

According to a Bandai press release on the m!x, it incorporates a 128x128 color dot matrix screen, 32 bit RISC microcomputer for its CPU, and is targeted at elementary school girls. (Like Digimon's Appli Drive, the toy is listed as suitable for ages 6 and up.) Mysteriously, Bandai opted not to assign an MSRP to the new product. The m!x is instead being sold at an "open price," meaning the price is being left up to the individual retailers. This may be in reaction to the lukewarm reception of the Tamagotchi 4U and 4U+, which had an MSRP of 5980 yen at launch.

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On eBay, web shops have listed listed the Melody m!x and the Spacy m!x at no lower than $69.66, with some going as high as $83.46. Accounting for the increased shipping cost and proxy markup, the Tamas are probably being acquired from retailers for 4500~6000 yen depending on the location.

Bandai is promoting the m!x via a crossover with the LINE messaging app, making Tamagotchi-themed stickers available to LINE users. (Eagle-eyed Digimon fans will note two Oyajitchi stickers--the Tamagotchi secret character who's the basis for our own Nanimon.)

Traditionally Digimon and Tamagotchi have made up a brother-and-sister pair for Bandai, targeting different genders within the same demographic group since 1997. While Tamagotchi sparked the initial boom, from '98 until 2003 Digimon was the more table of the two properties--until a string of Digimon-related financial crises forced Bandai and Toei to downscale operations, restricting Digimon to just its trading card and virtual pet properties. In 2004 Tamagotchi revitalized under the Connection brand, and has remained one of Bandai's most consistent properties ever since, while Digimon has been something of a problem child for the company up to the present day.

Recent problems with the Tamagotchi 4U and 4U+ toys underperforming compared to projected sales may have reversed this relationship once more, as the six-years-running Tamagotchi anime was abruptly canceled in 2015. The 4U was poorly received by the public due to its over-reliance on NFC, and lack of past models' features--among them infrared communication and built-in content, as the device needed to be used with real-world download points for its NFC features. The m!x is designed as a return to form, reintroducing the infrared popularized by the Connection.

The m!x will have its own set of dedicated Tamagotchi stations in toy stores, like the 4U before it. However, the NFC support seems to have been dropped. The first commercial for the m!x is currently available on Twitter.