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Nintendo Celebrates Pokemoniversary
Thanks to IGN Pocket for their article pointing out that Nintendo's Pokemon franchise is celebrating its 5th anniversary in the States. According to the article, "Pokemon first launched on the original Game Boy in Japan in 1996. Since bringing the franchise to North America in September 1998, Nintendo has sold more than 110 million Pokemon games worldwide. Pokemon merchandise has generated over $15 billion in worldwide retail sales since 1998." With the HAL-developed Pokemon Pinball:Ruby And Sapphire out now for GBA, and Pokemon Coliseum for GameCube forthcoming early next year as a Pokemon Stadium-style companion for Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire on GBA, it seems Pikachu and friends are here to stay.
sorry I had yo...
While Pokemon is still around, it obviously isn't as popular as it once was. One reason for this is Nintendo's making Ruby/Saphire incompatible with the Pokemon from previous editions.
kinda reminds me of kirby pinball, which is an excellent (for bw gb) game, with good physics feeling even the plaything is a cutesy character.
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um. yes.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Absolutely right. Lousy foreign Pokemon taking all our jobs. And in the latest versions of the games, kids are encouraged to breed them, ensuring a saturated job market. Curse Nintendo and their moneymaking ways. ;)
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That is who you meant by "they", right?
I still remember (was it back in 1998? Seems longer...) when I got my Pokemon Red game. The games had just been released in the U.S. and the series wasn't exactly popular at that point in time. I got the game because I heard it was a good RPG, and I found out that it was. Decent storyline (too bad it hasn't changed in any of the other GB games...), incredibly deep battle system (Bulbasaur or Squirtle?), lots of replay value...Screw Final Fantasy. Now this was an RPG.
It's unfortunate that Nintendo killed the series' popularity through overexposure (the card game was a bit much). It also didn't help that the new Game Boy games brought some innovations (Gold and Silver) but were mainly retreads of what's been done before (Ruby, Sapphire, Yellow, Crystal).
In any case, I'm going to remember Pokemon for what it began as: a damn good RPG.
Goo goo g'joob.
These games are much closer to the adventure games of old in that they are story and character driven. Please stop calling them RPGs. I suggest you play a game of Morrowind or Neverwinter Nights to see what a real RPG is like.
Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.
They call them RPGs because they don't know any better. I've never played D&D in my life, btw, but nice try.
Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.
However...
Nintendo realises a loophole in this system. If you have a copy of Red and a copy of Gold, you can trade your starting Pokemon from Gold to Red. In Red, this Pokemon can be trained in Unknown Dungeon to, say, level 55. Upon returning to Red, however, the trainer would not need a badge to control this Pokemon, since the ID number states that this Pokemon did, in fact, belong to said trainer. Badges are only necessary to control Pokemon whose original trainer (OT) is different.
This system of incompatibility ensures that cheaper ways out of actually training Pokemon is relatively eliminated. Nevertheless, I do agree that Nintendo shot themselves in the foot with making Ruby/Sapphire incompatible.
I agree. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal made several provisions for backward-compatibility:
Perhaps Mister Mattern has not said Pokemon games; if so, then, he cannot be blamed for his blatently incorrect statements.
I believe you are taking a point of view that is slightly too purist for general convention. A role-playing game is, after all, a game where you take actions within the confines of a role. You must deal with the many issues that such a role would throw at you.
For example, the player Red is a Pokemon trainer. He must deal with buying Poke Balls, dealing with trainers, and winning badges. He cannot be expected to achieve the presidency; that is not in his role.
Agreeably, this definition is slightly broad. Under this definition, Super Mario Bros. is a very, very weak RPG. However, Morrowind or Neverwinter Nights is also a very weak RPG, as you must create a character as you go along. There is no 'role', as you must define one for yourself. MMORPG's are not RPG's anymore.
last post!
Baby Ruby says "bwarghhhhh!"
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