Pokemon officially jumps the shark; now with DLC!

[Aaron Fox]

Alas they can't be greedy fucks in a useful way.

Pokemon is perfect for an MMO and it would be fairly trivial to make; but Nintendo has been adamantly opposed for some idiotic reason that makes zero sense.

You've got to understand that Nintendo is not your standard gaming company on the market, it started out as a card making company back in 1889 (whose cards are worth a rather pretty penny to this day), went through a 'throw darts at the wall and see what sticks' phase (which included love hotels) before sticking to toys for a while before becoming a gaming giant, and has been a family-owned company until Iwata became the corporate president in 2002. It is also HQ'd in Kyoto, which is basically the weird (as in 'scratch your head' weird) conservative city of Japan.

You do not survive as a business for 131 years (yes, Nintendo is that fucking old, it's a dinosaur in the business world) with 113 of those years being a family-owned company by being an idiot. After Virtual Boy (and the clusterfuck that caused), they only went 'all in' if doing so won't massively backfire on them.

Yes, that too. Greed would be acceptable if it had positive outcomes, that is encouraged them to do make money through hard work and perseverance and of course creating a product that people actually want.

I am pretty sure Nintendo has their reasons, and that being they are afraid of killing the goose who is laying their golden eggs. Probably far too afraid to take any tepid steps towards diversifying the franchise.

The thing is, Pokemon outside of its own niche it created isn't that capable of being 'diversified' per se. Other franchises can be actually capable of diversification. Take Fallout, for instance, it is perfect for an Impressions Games line of city builders but the problem is the fanbase would riot if you tried right now. Fallout 4 tried to test the waters but... well... one part of the fandom absolutely hated it and another absolutely loved it. It is like how every new Gundam continuity has a tendency to split the fanbase into haters and lovers.

Pokemon, on the other hand, doesn't have that capability without years of research and work. Years that the stockholders won't give them.

 

[Doomsought]

Take Fallout, for instance, it is perfect for an Impressions Games line of city builders but the problem is the fanbase would riot if you tried right now. Fallout 4 tried to test the waters but... well... one part of the fandom absolutely hated it and another absolutely loved it.

Part of the problem was being half assedd and mixing it in with an RPG. A fallout City builder would be much more accepted if it was a pure city builder.

 

[commanderkai]

Part of the problem was being half assedd and mixing it in with an RPG. A fallout City builder would be much more accepted if it was a pure city builder.

To add to this, there's a number of post-apocalyptic city builders in development right now. Most famous is Surviving the Aftermath, but there are others like Endzone - A World Apart and Atomic Society.

Fallout 4's city building mechanics are a bit wonky, but still a lot of fun. If anybody still plays, Sim Settlements makes it even more like a Simcity esque builder, saving you a lot of time

 

[makkapakka]

I had the original Pokemon Red on Gameboy when I was in school and loved it, but never got into the generations except for a brief dabble in FireRed/LeafGreen, until the launch of X and Y. I really liked X/Y, and then Sun/Moon came out and were excellent. The current gen, Sword/Shield, felt like a huge step backwards from Sun/Moon, with a lamer, less engaging storyline, a more generic world, and only a handful of decent characters. It's a real shame, because I actually really liked the field mechanics, being able to see encounters outside of the battle screen, etc. The decision not to include the full National Dex had me predicting DLC releases for the rest right from the start. Such a bummer.

 

[Aaron Fox]

I had the original Pokemon Red on Gameboy when I was in school and loved it, but never got into the generations except for a brief dabble in FireRed/LeafGreen, until the launch of X and Y. I really liked X/Y, and then Sun/Moon came out and were excellent. The current gen, Sword/Shield, felt like a huge step backwards from Sun/Moon, with a lamer, less engaging storyline, a more generic world, and only a handful of decent characters. It's a real shame, because I actually really liked the field mechanics, being able to see encounters outside of the battle screen, etc. The decision not to include the full National Dex had me predicting DLC releases for the rest right from the start. Such a bummer.

GameFreak kind of got themselves in a corner with the National Dex, we're well over, what, a thousand pokemon at this point? Given that GameFreak, without someone looking over their shoulder code-wise, can barely do anything (Iwata able to compress the Gold/Silver games so you can have the entire Kanto region as a playground comes to mind).

Also, there is only so much you can do in 5 years coding and programming-wise. As the industry, in general, keep going towards smaller and smaller dev-times (the various devs are now under a 3-year dev-cycle for a while now), Nintendo has been hesitant in following that trend. Right now, Nintendo can't roll back on the dev-cycle (i.e. more than 5 years) because the rest of the industry is pushing for shorter and shorter dev-cycles.

 

[Terthna]

GameFreak kind of got themselves in a corner with the National Dex, we're well over, what, a thousand pokemon at this point? Given that GameFreak, without someone looking over their shoulder code-wise, can barely do anything (Iwata able to compress the Gold/Silver games so you can have the entire Kanto region as a playground comes to mind).

Also, there is only so much you can do in 5 years coding and programming-wise. As the industry, in general, keep going towards smaller and smaller dev-times (the various devs are now under a 3-year dev-cycle for a while now), Nintendo has been hesitant in following that trend. Right now, Nintendo can't roll back on the dev-cycle (i.e. more than 5 years) because the rest of the industry is pushing for shorter and shorter dev-cycles.

Gamefreak didn't have 5 years to make Sword and Shield; development on the games began in autumn of 2016. Which means they had a little over 3 years; same as they had for Sun and Moon, as well as X and Y. No, time was not the issue here; not when you consider that they openly admitted they understaffed the project in favor of others (only about a third of Gamefreak's employees ever worked on Sword and Shield, just under ninety in total). It's not surprising they had to cut corners somewhere, and they simply chose to cut what they could offer as DLC at a later date.

 

[Husky_Khan]

New Pokemon news and it's good (or bad).

Nintendo sues popular TikToker and Twitch streamer Pokeprincxss

In a YouTube video recently uploaded by a popular TikToker and Twitch streamer formerly known as Pokeprincxss, the internet personality reveals that she has been sued by Nintendo. She’s had to hand…

mynintendonews.com

Pokeprincxss, a Twitch streamer and TikTok personality with almost two million followers looks like she'll have to rebrand herself now as 'digitalprincxss' as well as pay Nintendo for infringing on their brand.

the star has been selling merchandise based around her branding and also trademarked her username. Her name and merchandise are both inspired by the Pokémon franchise, with items including imagery of things like Poké Balls.

Popular Twitch And TikTok Star Pokeprincxss Has Been Sued By Nintendo

Forcing a name rebrand and payment

www.nintendolife.com

She was also creating adult content... Which might be problematic for a family oriented franchise.

With all that said, she does seem to be taking her issues well. In a video she stayed she was young and stupid when she chose this online brand or image and told her followers to not harass Nintendo and even buy a Switch... or something.

 

[Emperor Tippy]

...
If she was branding her merchandise with Pokemon IP, what the fuck did she expect?

I mean the name she could probably get away with, but selling merch with pokemon trademarked images?

I assume that the name change is part of whatever settlement was reached.

 

[Terthna]

New Pokemon news and it's good (or bad).

Nintendo sues popular TikToker and Twitch streamer Pokeprincxss

In a YouTube video recently uploaded by a popular TikToker and Twitch streamer formerly known as Pokeprincxss, the internet personality reveals that she has been sued by Nintendo. She’s had to hand…

mynintendonews.com

Pokeprincxss, a Twitch streamer and TikTok personality with almost two million followers looks like she'll have to rebrand herself now as 'digitalprincxss' as well as pay Nintendo for infringing on their brand.

Popular Twitch And TikTok Star Pokeprincxss Has Been Sued By Nintendo

Forcing a name rebrand and payment

www.nintendolife.com

She was also creating adult content... Which might be problematic for a family oriented franchise.

With all that said, she does seem to be taking her issues well. In a video she stayed she was young and stupid when she chose this online brand or image and told her followers to not harass Nintendo and even buy a Switch... or something.

So is this seen as a general Pokemon thread now? Because I initially created it to complain about Pokemon Sword & Shield. I'm not really sure what a Twith thot getting C&Ded by Nintendo has to do with that. Not that I'm against breathing new life into this thread, and there doesn't seem to be any other Pokemon threads this could go into.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Target stops selling sports, Pokémon cards after parking lot fight

Target will stop selling all sports and Pokémon trading cards on shelves after a man was attacked over the red-hot collectibles.

nypost.com

Target is no longer selling Pokemon cards in stores due to large crowds waiting to get the cards, the fact the number of packs are limited, people opening cereal boxes to get the free Pokemon cards inside, people camping outside the store before it opens to get cards and in one case someone pulling out a gun over a fight over cards though apparently this was over sports cards.

Thankfully you can still (not) buy them online, just like the new Playstation or XBox consoles!

 

[Husky_Khan]

For some reason The Pokemon Company is filing lawsuits against six Chinese companies who own the rights to a game called 'Pocket Monster Reissue' over copyright infringement and unfair competition behavior.

They're seeking damages worth 500 million Yuan for damages and a public apology.

Looking at the artwork....

So that's the Pokemon artwork. Now where is the...

Oh wait no that's the Pocket Monster Reissue Artwork? 😧

The Pokémon Company sues Chinese clone, seeks £62m and public apology

The Pokémon Company is taking legal action against a popular Chinese mobile game, Pocket Monster Issue, which it claims…

www.eurogamer.net

The Pokémon Company sues Chinese mobile game company over intellectual property infringement

The Pokémon Company is suing multiple Chinese mobile game operators over a game that allegedly looks a bit too much lik…

www.vg247.com

 

[Bigking321]

As I recall doesn't China not acknowledge intellectual property rights?

 

[Urabrask Revealed]

As I recall doesn't China not acknowledge intellectual property rights?

Not so much as their attitude towards IPs is "Is it chinese in origin? If no, go fuck yourself." Which is a pretty common stance in post-Mao chinese culture. These people respect nothing but a gun pointed at their head.

 

[Pocky Balboa]

Damnation, it actually happened in my lifetime. Ash and Pikachu really did become the very best.

Spoiler

Ash wins the tournament where all of the regional champions fought to determine who becomes the world champion


Congratulatory tweet from the official Pokemon Twitter account:


LOL, they even showed it special screenings of Ash's victory ceremony in Shibuya's world-famous street crossing:

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I stopped caring about whether or not he would beat the league after XYZ. Beating the league in Aloha with his worst team ever felt like a patronizing consolation prize.

Hopefully this is the end of Ash. The anime became formulaic and stale after Shudo left halfway through Johto. The specials that didn't feature Ash were way more interesting explorations of the Pokemon world, ie the Mega Evolution Acts or Poketoons.

Also, a little sad that Ash never saw May and Max again. Everyone else got to cameo in Sun & Moon and Journeys, but not them? Bummer. I know a lot of people hate Max's guts, but I thought it would have been cool to have seen him grown up and with Pokemon of his own.

 

[What's the sitch?]

You think that to people in Japan it felt like their brother or one of their children finally winning life? He has been an omnipresent figure in their lives for 2 decades.

 

[Typhonis]

Damnation, it actually happened in my lifetime. Ash and Pikachu really did become the very best.

Spoiler

Ash wins the tournament where all of the regional champions fought to determine who becomes the world champion


Congratulatory tweet from the official Pokemon Twitter account:


LOL, they even showed it special screenings of Ash's victory ceremony in Shibuya's world-famous street crossing:

I wonder if we will get a follow on series. Ash has Professor Oak's job, and is married with children of his own. The question being who is Mrs. Ketchum? Misty perhaps?

 

[Husky_Khan]

Lemme know if this is NSFW.

 

[Husky_Khan]

End of an era... Twenty Five Years of Ash Ketchum and Pikachu adventures will apparently be coming to an end after twenty five seasons, over twelve hundred episodes, several movies, and seven hundred twenty Pokemon (from the original 150) as well as all of the games, printed media and merch etc.

Their sendoff will be a special final season of eleven episodes. Likely a real tear jerker I'm sure. I wouldn't know, I dropped off the Ash and Pikachu journey way back when Indigo League was or what have you... back when there were only 150 Pokemon I had to keep track of and that upon watching a fair number of episodes few years back with the anklebiters, was a nice trip down nostalgia lane actually.

Ash & Pikachu Leave Pokemon Anime After 25 Years of Being the Very Best Like No One Ever Was

If you’re wondering what’s the latest Pokémon announcement about, don’t worry we got you covered. The answer is one click away.

twinfinite.net

Ash and Pikachu also look great after twenty years. The character growth must've come from the inside.

Final episodes of their last season will be releasing in Japan in January of next year.

It will... of course... be followed by a new series.

No word yet if Henry Cavill is attached to the project.

 

[Terthna]

End of an era... Twenty Five Years of Ash Ketchum and Pikachu adventures will apparently be coming to an end after twenty five seasons, over twelve hundred episodes, several movies, and seven hundred twenty Pokemon (from the original 150) as well as all of the games, printed media and merch etc.

Their sendoff will be a special final season of eleven episodes. Likely a real tear jerker I'm sure. I wouldn't know, I dropped off the Ash and Pikachu journey way back when Indigo League was or what have you... back when there were only 150 Pokemon I had to keep track of and that upon watching a fair number of episodes few years back with the anklebiters, was a nice trip down nostalgia lane actually.

Ash & Pikachu Leave Pokemon Anime After 25 Years of Being the Very Best Like No One Ever Was

If you’re wondering what’s the latest Pokémon announcement about, don’t worry we got you covered. The answer is one click away.

twinfinite.net

Ash and Pikachu also look great after twenty years. The character growth must've come from the inside.

Final episodes of their last season will be releasing in Japan in January of next year.

It will... of course... be followed by a new series.

No word yet if Henry Cavill is attached to the project.

Honestly, they should have gone with a new protagonist when they changed the art style and tightened the focus of their target audience on younger viewers; would have felt a lot less insulting that way.