Stingy Soldier Wallet Savior: A digital household account book/RPG (Japan-only)

It’s Takara Tomy again. Following “the world’s smallest walking robot”, the Japanese toy maker today announced the “Setsuyaku Senshi Osaifu Seibaa” (Stingy Soldier Wallet Savior) [JP], a mix of electronic household account book and RPG (seriously).

Users will be able to register household expenses with a data pen and collect printed receipts at the back of the palm-sized device. Takara Tomy says they see the Wallet Savior as a way to help people cut costs in the current economic turmoil by providing a fun way of keeping track of expenses.

The main selling point is a kind of RPG that is built into the device. Users enter their daily budget into the device, divided by categories such as food, entertainment, clothes etc. If they spend too much money, the Wallet Savior, a small digital character holding a wallet, loses his energy and eventually dies. Keep your numbers in the black and he will become stronger over time.

In fact, Takara Tomy developed a complete story for the device. The Wallet Savior has to fight a number of different characters, for example “the three lavish sisters”, handsome teenagers or hardworking office workers, learning special moves along the way.

The Japan-only Wallet Savior goes on sale December 27 and costs $42.