The Tamagotchi Music Fever (たまごっちミュージックフィーバー) is a music player toy that was released only in Japan in December 2006. It is not a virtual pet, but it can directly record and store audio playing on a computer, stereo, or any other device that has a headphone socket (audio output). It also has some gameplay elements. The toy takes two AAA batteries.
Design[]
The Music Fever is unique from any other Tamagotchi toy. As well as the music player, it also comes with some ear buds and a short aux cord. The music player is white and about 9 x 4.8 centimeters. It is about 1.7 centimeters thick, but the battery cover on the back juts out an extra 0.7 centimeters. The front is mostly decorated with a colorful design of Mametchi, Memetchi, and Kuchipatchi in front of a white, blue, yellow, green, and orange background with orange "TMGC" letters in the upper right corner.
The display is a black-and-white pixel screen like standard Tamagotchis of that time, except it is 64 pixels wide and 32 pixels high. There is a thin transparent covering over it, so the screen itself can't be touched. There are a total of 7 buttons, not including the reset button. They represent play/pause, volume up, volume down, next track, previous track, and menu, but they are used for other functions as well. For example, the next track and previous track buttons are also used for scrolling left and right through options. The largest button is called the game button.
The headphone socket and aux cord socket are on the right side of the device. The left side has two holes on the corners for attaching keychains or possibly a wrist strap. Though the device is horizontal by standard, some activities ask the player to turn the device vertical.
Features[]
Pressing the Menu button shows the menu screen which has the following options. Pressing it again goes to the normal music playing mode. When the Music Fever is idle, the time will show onscreen.
Record[]
Record is the first option on the menu screen. All icons are pixelated sprites unlike on the Plus/Connection virtual pets. The Record icon looks like a circle with the word "REC" above it. To record, the user has to have one end of the aux cord plugged into the Music Fever and the other plugged into the headphone socket of CD player, computer, or other device. There are three sound quality options. High quality has about 68 minutes of storage, medium quality has about 85 minutes of storage, and low quality has about 120 minutes of storage. After selecting the quality option, the user can press the play/pause button on the Music Fever and then they should start playing a song on their device for it to be recorded. It is important to note that the volume of the computer or music device determines how loud or quiet the recording will be. The play/pause button should be pressed again when the song is complete, and then the user will be able to name the track. They can use Hiragana, Katakana, English letters, numbers, and symbols.
Fun[]
The Fun icon looks like a music note with a face and has two options. They are Session Mode and Dance Mode. In Session Mode, a song of the user's choosing (They can choose "random" if they want) will play while their character is on a stage. The character will have an instrument, and pressing the game button will make the character use it. This allows the user to add extra sounds during the music whenever they want. Different characters have different instruments and sounds.
In Dance Mode, the Tamagotchi character will dance to the song. There are six unlockable dance stages. They are a plain stage, a parade float, a beach, a concert, a disco, and a royal ball. Dance Mode is set vertically. The rhythm and tempo of the song itself have no real effect on the Tamagotchi's dancing.
Games[]
The Game icon looks very much like a Game Boy Advance SP. There are two mini-games. Like with Dance Mode, the sound of the song has no effect on the games, but they still play during gameplay. The first game is Surfing. The game button can be held down to prepare to jump, and releasing it makes the Tamagotchi character jump. The Tamagotchi will ride up and down waves, and needs to jump over large ones. If they crash into a large wave, they will lose one life. There are three lives, and the maximum score for this game is 950.
The second game is Trampoline. The Tamagotchi will jump up and down on a trampoline while items pass by overhead. An energy bar is at the bottom, constantly depleting. The user should press the game button to boost their jump so the Tamagotchi can touch food items, which replenish their energy. There are also poops passing overhead, and touching one will drastically increase the energy bar. Because the Tamagotchi is always jumping and can only be boosted while their feet are on the trampoline, timing is important. As the game goes on, new food items that restore more energy will start to pass by.
Characters[]
The Character icon looks like shadows of Mametchi and Kuchipatchi with arrows between them, to represent switching characters. There are 19 characters on the Music Fever. Mametchi, Memetchi, and Kuchipatchi are available at first, but the rest need to be gradually unlocked by gathering points from playing mini-games. The character is who will show up in Session Mode, Dance Mode, and Game Mode, and can be changed at any time. This is a list of characters and the instrument they play in Session Mode.
- Mametchi (Trumpet)
- Memetchi (Cymbals)
- Kuchipatchi (Maracas)
- Mimitchi (Party poppers)
- Violetchi (Bell)
- Yattatchi (Clapping hands)
- Kuromametchi (Turntables)
- Makiko (Plastic hand clapper)
- Ichigotchi (Whistle)
- Nonbiritchi (Bird chirping)
- Tensaitchi (Spring)
- Gozarutchi (Hunting horn)
- Androtchi (Xylophone)
- Shimashimatchi (Drum)
- Bikertchi (Gong)
- Gomasuritchi (Taiko)
- Ciaotchi (Triangle)
- Kunoitchi (Party whistle)
- Classictchi (Conductor baton)
Settings[]
This icon looks like a wrench. There are four different settings. The user can rename songs, delete songs, adjust the time, or adjust the contrast.
Trivia[]
- The Music Fever doesn't have a speaker of its own, so the ear buds or a mini-speaker need to be plugged in to hear the audio.
- Because it has a different kind of sound chip made for playing music, the sound effects are more advanced than on other Tamagotchi electronics. For example, there is a recognizable water bubbling sound effect when the Tamagotchi crashes into a wave during the surfing mini-game.
- As this is a children's' toy with an emphasis on interactivity, even the "High" quality audio option is low quality. Using high quality headphones with the Music Fever has no effect on the sound.
- Even though the volume of the music can be adjusted, the in-built sound effects of the Music Fever can't be turned off or volume-controlled.
- It is possible that this toy (and animations showing Tamagotchis playing musical instruments on stage) inspired the overseas virtual pet, Tamagotchi Music Star. In fact, the time screen animation showing a Babytchi biting music notes is identical on both toys.
- In Session Mode, there are stick figures on stage with the Tamagotchi. It is unclear what they are meant to be, but it is possible they are humans.