Being the media titan that it is, it’s not inconceivable that you’ll find a Pokemon game in just about any genre. But probably one you’d have not expected to find until now is virtual pets. After all, it’s the hallmark of the Tamagotchi line, and by extension, competitor franchise Digimon. But it looks like The Pokemon Company is indeed dipping its fingers into that particular genre. And this is being done with the help of Takara Tomy.
Officially, the product is called the Pokemon Poke-nade Monster Ball. Which is a very complicated way to describe a virtual pet housed in a Poke Ball-shaped device. Or, for probably important context here, the “nade” refers to “naderu”, which is petting or stroking in Japanese.
And according to the report by Essential Japan, there is indeed a tactile feature of the toy, to elicit cute reactions from your virtual pocket monster pet. Different physical interactions, like length and speed of the petting, or even a quick tap, will illicit different reactions.
On that note, while there are a total of 157 monsters to encounter and befriend, only seven can be your virtual pet. These, designated as Partner Pokemon, are Pikachu, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Quaxly, Lucario, Eevee and Sylveon. There probably won’t be any of the death and rebirth stuff from the virtual pets made by Bandai. But in its stead is a diary – the toy saves the interactions the two of you had, which you can view at any time.
The Pokemon Poke-nade Monster Ball is priced at JPY7,480 (~RM213), and ships on 11 October. No word on an international release yet. But it’s worth reiterating that it’s a Takara Tomy, for what it’s worth.
(Source: Essential Japan)
