The Chao Doctor on the SA1 website (archived at least partly through dreampipe, IIRC) does reference the Light Chao a few places and hints at how to get it. I haven't tested this any time recently but as I understand it, while it's easy (if potentially glitchy) to import a chao from SA1 into SA2, it's not possible to do the reverse, since Chao Adventure 2 isn't data compatible with the original chao adventure, so SA1 can't read the data. The chao downloads take up the 'game' space on the VMU they're downloaded to, IIRC, but I understand that it's an extremely stripped-down version of the SA2 chao program that has the chao data and, effectively, nothing else.
One thing I've long wondered about the online Black Market was how it worked? Supposedly you could trade emblems for Chao. Does that mean that if you bought a Chao that costs 20 emblems, 20 emblems would be removed from your save file, so you would have to re-obtain them latter? If so, how were the emblems chosen? Was it random?
In elementary school, all of my friends that were into Sonic knew about it though (though this was 2004 and not 1999). Info about Chaos Chao was written in guidebooks as well as online game strategy/tips sites like GameWinners, and of course it was detailed on almost every Sonic fan site.
I remember a terminal appearing in an offline Phantasy Star Online quest. After searching, it looks like this appears in the quest "The Fake In Yellow". You can read the quest's script I contributed back in the day.
I can narrow it down. This is the "Nintendo GameCube + Game Boy Player: Enjoy Plus Pack" which according to Nintendo came out on the 21st June 2003. That sticker suggests the catalog disc was bundled in, though not all boxes seem to have this sticker. However, Nintendo dropped the price of the GameCube in October and seems to have stopped hyping up this particlar package around that time. On 22nd July 2004 a new bundle with a "crystal controller" replaced it. Either way this was well after the events where you could download Chao.
If dreampipe is an accurate representation your save file is used to verify emblem count but nothing is deducted from your total. I would imagine it worked this way at the time too.
So hey, I can contribute a few things I'm sure of here! The "Shadow" Chao from raising a Dark high Run-stat chao definitely exists in the Dreamcast version of SA2, I raised one before raising a Sonic Chao back in the day. My Dreamcast is packed away now, but it's likely I still have the save data on my VMU. The Tails Chao that transfers to SADX/SA2B from the PSO Episode I & II quest "The Fake in Yellow" definitely came to the US. You don't need to be online as the GCN requires an external adapter to even get online and it was rare enough that I never had one. The fact that very few games used the adapter had SEGA releasing the game with most (all? It's been ages so I can't remember) of the content accessible through split-screen multiplayer. The game *could* also go online, although again I never had the adapter so never played the GCN release online. Finally, you could also play both the Dreamcast PSO and the Episode I & II release offline in single-player mode, but who - other than teenage me for some unfathomable reason - would play an MMO offline in single-player mode?
A while back I was researching SA1 Dreamcast VMU files, including Chao, and posted what I know here and here.
The adapter was released at the same time as Phantasy Star Online, so this was not a consideration. Split-screen was pretty limited because there were no quests, but you could do Challenge Mode and Battle Mode. The Plus release added all downloadable quests, which were only playable solo. Lots of people played PSO offline, including yours truly. Even alone, it was fun. Furthermore, it was the only way to permanently unlock areas, and the Hunter's Guild had a collection of solo quests that introduced characters and built the world. Plus, you could level up more easily as online enemies had their stats boosted. Finally, PSO is not an MMO.
Sorry to necro, I've been doing Tiny Chao Garden research and this thread is the most comprehensive collection of rare Chao info I've been able to find. I added some information on the JoyCarry Collection to the wiki (with plans to update the Chao pages as well), where I added most of the rare Chao distribution info from this thread; any chance anyone has links to sources for all the information shared here? I've been able to find a few Japanese-only blogposts with pictures of some rare Chao but nothing particularly thorough, so I wasn't able to seriously use those as research materials. In particular I couldn't locate sources for most of the convention images, and that Light Chaos Chao image looks like it's from a magazine/game guide or such. Are the sources for these known at all? It turns out the Chao distribution program inside the eCatalog disc is called "JoyCarry Collection", and one could fully extract from the rest of the disc (details here). Once extracted, the program's name and Gamecube banner can be viewed as if it's a standalone game. It doesn't have a save icon as it can't save to the memory card, though. If there's anything missing from the article I built do let me know, I'd be happy to work on the wiki page further.
@Gravel If you know someone who can translate them for us you, the Japanese strategy guides (e.g., this one) look like a good source for Chao related stuff:
I only have a beginner's understanding of Japanese, I'm able to read these (this has very beginner-friendly kanji reading aids as it's aimed at kids) but not really translate much nor very accurately unfortunately. At a glance this doesn't seem to have any new information compared to what the equivalent English Tiny Chao Garden strategy guide sections offer (see here pg. 38-39), but I'll keep it in mind! The Game Boy link page in particular seems interesting.
That comes from the Chao Secret Book, located on the Sonic Adventure: Navigation Guide page. It's on Page 15 of the .pdf.
Would be happy to give a go at translating the guide really quick, though my Japanese isn't perfect. Sorry this one is a bit long, but here's a brief overview of all the information on every page. Page 106) Explains that Chao are artificial life forms living in the world of Sonic Advance. The goal of the Chao Garden is to raise Chao to be respectable (beings) as you communicate with them. Then it goes into more technical stuff, their life cycle, "You want to raise an excellent Chao" (we get it.), and that they're transferable to SA2B. An interesting note here is that they use a male pronoun (「このあとの彼(?)の運命は、」) to address the Chao they're using as an example. Just thought that was funny. Page 107) Discusses how to keep Chao in a good mood. Apparently, they are predisposed to getting lonely. You can get them in a good mood by giving them head pats with your cursor. After your raise the stat of being in a "good mood" to max, the stat won't raise again until some time has passed, even if you give it head pats. You can also give your Chao tree nuts by buying them from the item shop, which will raise various stat limits. The table shows the types of tree nuts and what stats they raise (In order: # of rings required, mood, hunger, swimming, flying, running, power, stamina). Page 108) Explains the types of toys you can buy along with their price in rings. Chao react to toys differently depending on their type! Then, there is a Chao type explainer. There are 12 types of Chao eggs that can be bought, with what types are available changing every time you play a minigame. The chart on the left lists the cost in rings for normal Chao types (In order: Normal, Silver, Gold, Ruby, Sapphire, Amythyst, Emerald) and the chart on the right lists the cost in rings for rare Chao (In order: Garnet, Aquamarine, Peridot, Topaz, Onyx). Lastly, it goes into how to get rings (play the 2 minigames: Rock Paper Scissors or a card-matching style memory game). Page 109) It just goes into detail on how to play Rock Paper Scissors and a Card-matching memory game, but I'm not going to translate that here since I'm pretty sure everyone knows the gist of how to play those. Pages 110 and 11 talk about transferring Chao to SA2B and how to use the Chao Garden/Kindergarten/Stadium/Lobby in that game. Some of the notes include: Adult Chao can only be raised in the Chao Garden (SA2B), Chao hate weeds, Chao will run away from you if their mood is 0 (in which case they are to be petted immediately), You can only buy toys in the order of Trumpet → Rubber duck → TV (when you buy one, the next one will appear in order), and Chao get better at the Trumpet the longer they play them (aww!). Hope this was helpful to some of you!
Wow, way past cool. ^^ Thank you very much for that. Just as a quick reminder, a ton of Japanese strategy guides made their way to the wiki. They provide a lot of in-depth information on all kinds of stuff, like level maps, enemy profiles, and much, much more. For those interested, I'd recommend checking out the media sections of the following pages: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, SA1, SA2, Sonic Advance 1 and 3, Sonic Battle, ShtH, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Rush and Rush Adventure, Sonic Riders, and finally SATSR. Translations etc., as always, are welcomed
you're saying this one was in Sonic Adventure Dreamcast specifically? because in SA2:B and SADX, you get this Chaos Chao by performing a set of very specific conditions, and there are even Hero and Dark versions of it. lmao til it was there in the first game even! I learn something new every day.