Genre: Role-Playing
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games
Developer: NanaOn-Sha
Release Date: June 17, 2008

Tamagotchis have a long and colorful history, even in the United States. They were the start of the "digital pet" revolution that caused a sensation in elementary and middle schools all over the country. Ultimately, many schools banned Tamagotchis in an attempt to prevent the disruptions and distractions that they caused in the classroom. Technology has come a long way since then, and the little digital creatures have now scurried their way to the NDS.

Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 3 is my first glimpse of Tamagotchis on anything other than a 10x10 grid of LED pixels hanging from a keychain. I approached the game cautiously, not knowing what to expect. Would I once again be feeding, walking, and cleaning up after a blocky little guy who would inevitably die when I wasn't looking? Would I lament his loss for a day, swear never to kill again, and then boot him back up from an egg to start all over again?

Well, no. Corner Shop 3 may involve those same cute little creatures, but that's about the only thing that's stayed the same. As the player character, you're transported to Putchi Hill and transformed into a Tamagotchi to live and work amongst them. You're supposed to be ecstatic over this opportunity, but if you're over the age of seven, you'll likely book a first-class ticket out of there as soon as you can, with your stacks of easily earned cash.

You see, unlike most video games, Corner Shop 3 has absolutely no objective or incentive. From the outset, you're not prompted to do anything at all if you don't want to. You receive vaguely urgent letters from your "friends," Kuchipatchi and Memetchi, asking you to come to their aid, which you can then ignore as many times as you want, without any consequences. When you get tasks in your shop, you can abandon them halfway or before even starting them, again without any consequences. The only impetus for advancement is the hope of upgrading your shops and eventually unlocking new ones so that you can perform even more menial tasks.

As with prior offerings in the series, you're tasked with improving the economy of TamaTown by attracting more patrons to local businesses via simple minigames. Corner Shop 3 features new shops, games and items. You can hang around in the park with your partner or go and do specific tasks within the stores. You can also access multiplayer options from the clock tower, where all four of your available partners sit around when you're not with them.

No matter where you are, though, the gameplay consists of selecting the right tool for the job and tapping or sliding the stylus appropriately. You can perform actions like breaking apart a rock to reveal a hidden treasure in the treasure hunter game, or pour water over a seed you just planted. The shops include everything from a recycling center to a day spa, but nothing ever feels … well, necessary or important. While there are 13 new shops on Putchi Hill, there's also nothing that's worth the work.

Frustratingly, Corner Shop 3 is extremely straightforward and easy, except in shops like the decoration and card shop. The card shop will tell you to create a name card with no indication as to what a name card is. The game presents a few options for the card type, and you just have to guess which one is most likely to be a "name card." This leads to inevitable failures and an even longer time spent in the only vaguely frustrating shop, listening to the same two or three scripted interactions between Tamagotchis.

For me, the most troubling aspect of this game is that the age group that this title seems to be made is the four- to seven-year-old crowd, who are just learning the ways of the world and the difference between right and wrong. In place of a learning curve, there is simply gentle chiding and nudging from the characters when you do something that's not quite right. Instead of being fully satisfied, your customers are only partially satisfied. That's all, really. It just takes a bit longer and a few more tedious tasks to gain back that lost satisfaction, and soon enough, your shop has grown again. This is fine as a learning show or some other less interactive medium, but when you're giving young children free reign on a hundred-dollar system with a sharp pointy object, I have to wonder if it's exactly appropriate.

With all of that said, though, Corner Shop 3 is a perfectly acceptable good time for the intended audience. There's no need to play it in anything but short bursts, and there is lots and lots of replayability for those who can actually find some fun in repeating the same tasks, and it's sufficiently cutesy for the younger crowd. Really, it's a perfect game if you feel like you can trust your young child with the DS for a while.

If your child has friends with the same game, he can trade items or share tiny, restrictive journal entries with them. That's it. Then the child can go back to training for his future designing cards, recycling garbage, or … baking and gardening at the same time? What a weird game.

The audio is perfectly acceptable, if a bit annoying and very quirky. The game's visuals follow the same pattern, falling into the category of "charming scribbles." Everything's passable in Corner Shop 3, but nothing's great.

I could go into detail about how the stylus controls work for each of the 13 shops on Putchi Hill, but that would be pointless and a waste of space. Ultimately, all I can tell you is that Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 3 is an adequate, albeit not outstanding, way to keep a very small child occupied. It may help kids learn, but it will more likely keep them distracted for a few minutes before they close their DSes. It's not a very practical proposition, but the game causes no physical or mental agonies. I'd have to say it's perfectly, absolutely and perpetually safe.

Score: 5.3/10