Lifespan of the Pokémon Franchise

[Ho-oh]

I'm not exactly sure if this is okay, but here goes.

I've been noticing that more people are starting to believe Pokémon will be ending soon. Note that this topic relates to the entire franchise. However, feel free to discuss the end of just a single part, like the anime.


Discuss and debate.

Also, in case this is not where it should be, please move it rather than lock it. Thanks.

 

[SolgaleoGX]

Those that keep saying it's going to end soon are freaking ignorant. The franchise still makes millions of dollars and draws in new fans. Enough for it to live for a long time.

 

[Ho-oh]

I have to agree with that point. While it's unlikely for the franchise itself to end, it's relatively easy to imagine the current anime series ending within a few years.

 

[Glitchipedia]

The story of the games attempts to become more and more epic every time. If they try to get much more epic, it'll end up just being ridiculous. Not to mention anticlimactic. Seriously, Arceus is fine where he is, at the end of the dex.

Plus, they release over 100 Pokémon for each Generation. There are now 493 species. If they make 100 more for Generation V, there'll be way too many to even hope to be able to capture before Generation VI adds 100 more, and by that point, even the most steadfast trainers will be fed up.

On top of that, Game Freak seems to be running out of ideas for passable Pokémon. The English names are also starting to grate—I mean, come on, who in their right mind would approve a name like "Bidoof"?

But in spite of all of this, Game Freak will, more than likely, never retire their forefront franchise. After all, it sells faster than a Lopunny can reproduce.

Not that I have a problem with that—no matter how ridiculous it gets, I think I'm stuck on it for life.

 

[Ho-oh]

But also remember that there are plenty of other ways to expand the franchise. Maybe make a broader attempt to include other consoles. Maybe broaden the target demographic.

 

[Cybersai]

None of us will still be around by the time the franchise ends, so why bother to ask?

Most of us won't be interested in Pokemon forever.

 

[Glitchipedia]

Most of us won't be interested in Pokemon forever.

Good thing I'm not most of us.

 

[SolgaleoGX]

Same. The addition of more species is one of the things I've learned to love about this franchise. It's what has given their world an indentity of it's own unlike what it was when Pokemon first came to America. The more Pokemon revealed the more I'm interested in learning about that world, so I doubt I'll be fed up.

 

[TTEchidna]

Mario's lasted 28 years, counting Donkey Kong, 24 starting with Super Mario Bros. Zelda's lasted 23 years. Pokémon's been going since 1996. 13. It's not ending soon. Know what Zelda was doing at this time in its history? The "best game ever" in the series came out the year before, and its hyped sequel was in development to see release the year after.

Pokémon's not going anywhere soon. It's one of Nintendo's best franchises, and undoubtedly like the other two of Nintendo's best, has the ability to run for 20 years, 30 years... hell, it'll be 2020 and Zelda and Mario will still be around, why the heck WOULDN'T Pokémon be?

 

[Ho-oh]

Mario's lasted 28 years, counting Donkey Kong, 24 starting with Super Mario Bros. Zelda's lasted 23 years.

Of course. Adventure games are a bit different compared to RPGs in that they require very little change to make things fun and interesting. Take Mario, for example. Each version is the same thing with a new look. You still jump on your enemies to kill them, Bowser is usually the bad guy, rescue the princess, maybe use Luigi a bit, etc. It's the same thing, but all of us know Mario is always interesting, no matter the iteration. Same goes for the others.

But Pokémon is different. It's an RPG, and RPGs demand change. You explore and catch Pokémon, but you'd want some more added features in addition to the old IV/EV training, battles, etc, right?

 

[CamyPSyrup]

I don't think the series will end. If it keeps on selling and making all this money, it'll be a long, long time before it ends. But even then I'll still be a fan (unless I were to take interest in something else)

 

[Olaf-symbiote]

To be blunt, it'd be ridiculous to assume Nintendo would even allow Gamefreak to kill one of its biggest and most profitable franchises. There's no way in Hell that would happen. People haven't stopped buying Mario games, even though when there's been a crapload of them. New Super Mario Bros. is one of the best selling DS games, even when there's not so much innovation. Pokémon will always find new fans, so it's obvious that anyone in their right mind would continue the series.

As always, I didn't try to offend anyone even if I sounded a bit harsh.

 

[XD375]

New Super Mario Bros.'s appeal, like that of Mega Man 9, is the fact that there was no innovation and that the game simply backtracked instead. I wonder how a new duo of Pokémon games on DSiWare in 8-bit style with only the original 151 would fare?

 

[The White King]

I don't see it ending but its also unfortunate how little progress is going on with it. I guess its just the Japanese game paradigm. In America its all about producing the best game that one ups its competitors. In Japan its treated more like an art. As long as the cash flow is good there is no incentive to go the extra mile.

 

[Phoenicks]

I don't think that the Franchise of Pokemon will end for a long time. It makes money. There's no reason for it to end right now. Now, the one thing that's unsustainable about pokemon is the way that they expand on the concept. We can only have so many games with some new region, where there's about 100 new pokemon, with 8 new gym leaders, and a new evil team, with more new legendaries, etc. etc. etc. That's not sustainable, they can't just keep adding more and more. I mean, who could see a point 30 years in the future where we have 2,000 pokemon? My bet is that after a certain point, Generations for Pokemon will look different from how we've defined them, that there will be new ideas behind the games, instead of adding in more and more.

 

[PDL]

Of course. Adventure games are a bit different compared to RPGs in that they require very little change to make things fun and interesting. Take Mario, for example. Each version is the same thing with a new look. You still jump on your enemies to kill them, Bowser is usually the bad guy, rescue the princess, maybe use Luigi a bit, etc. It's the same thing, but all of us know Mario is always interesting, no matter the iteration. Same goes for the others.

But Pokémon is different. It's an RPG, and RPGs demand change. You explore and catch Pokémon, but you'd want some more added features in addition to the old IV/EV training, battles, etc, right?

The Final Fantasy series would like to have a word with you.

Anyway, the Pokémon games still follow the same basic ideas it had since Red and Green. Catch and train Pokémon for battle and eventually against human opponents.

EDIT: Fire Embelm and Dragon Quest as well.

 

[Sleet]

Pokémon's predicted lifespan is a bit of a paradox. On one hand, it's ridiculous to assume it will go on forever; nothing can do that. On the other hand, there is no good reason for it to end at any time. Let's just say it'll last a long, long time. Pokémon won't go away for quite a while. It has tons of room for expansion and innovation, yet it has been massively successful without utilizing much of it at all. Considering how little effort needs to be put into the anime and how (at least right now) there is not a lot of super threatening competition, I can see the anime lasting all the way to the end. The Trading Card Game, while hardly singing its Perish Song yet, doesn't seem to be showing the same signs of longevity as the other pillars of the franchise. It'll probably die first, but not for a while.

 

[Ho-oh]

People haven't stopped buying Mario games, even though when there's been a crapload of them. New Super Mario Bros. is one of the best selling DS games, even when there's not so much innovation.

Let me ask you this: did you read my previous post? If not, consider looking back and read it. RPG =/=(or != for you computer geeks out there) Advanture/action. Those two separate genres demand different strategies.

What I've noticed is that, as The White King said, in America, the business strategy is to spend lots of money on innovative storylines and gameplay, shiny graphics, etc (Command and Conquer, Call of Duty, Star Wars, and others), while in Japan, the philosophy is more like "If it isn't broken, don't fix it" (Mario, Pokémon, and the like). At least that's how I see it.

I understand both perspectives. But Pokémon is most popular in Japan. Popular in the US and Europe? Of course.

A quick Google search (US) shows:
1999 (Pokémon Generation I)

1. GBY Pokémon Blue
2. GBY Pokémon Red
3. GBY Pokémon Yellow
4. N64 Donkey Kong 64
5. GBC Pokémon Pinball
6. N64 Pokémon Snap
7. PS1 Gran Turismo
8. N64 Super Smash Bros.
9. PS1 Driver
10. PS1 Spyro the Dragon

Here Pokémon occupies the first, second, third, and fifth ranks.
2000 (Pokémon Generation II)

1. GBC Pokémon Silver
2. GBC Pokémon Gold
4. N64 Pokémon Stadium
3. GBY Pokémon Yellow
5. PS1 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
6. N64 Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
7. PS1 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
8. PS1 Gran Turismo 2
9. GBY Pokémon Blue
10. GBY Pokemon Red
11. PS1 WWF SmackDown
12. N64 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
13. GBC Pokémon Trading Card Game
14. GBC Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
15. PS1 Madden NFL 2001
16. N64 Mario Party 2
17. N64 Perfect Dark
18. PS1 WWF SmackDown 2: Know Your Role
19. PS1 Final Fantasy IX
20. N64 WWF No Mercy

Pokémon's still at the top.
2005 (Pokémon Generation III)

1. PS2 Madden NFL 06 -- 2.9 million
2. GBA Pokémon Emerald -- 1.7 million
3. PS2 Gran Turismo 4 -- 1.5 million
4. XBX Madden NFL 06 -- 1.2 million
5. PS2 NCAA Football 06 -- 1.1 million
6. PS2 Star Wars: Battlefront II -- 1 million
7. PS2 MVP Baseball 2005 -- 970,000
8. PS2 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith -- 930,000
9. PS2 NBA Live 06 -- 820,000
10. PS2 LEGO Star Wars -- 800,000
11. XBX Star Wars: Battlefront II
12. PS2 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2006
13. PS2 God of War
14. PS2 Midnight Club 3
15. PS2 Star Wars: Battlefront
16. PS2 Need for Speed: Most Wanted
17. PS2 SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy Seals
18. PS2 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
19. PS2 Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
20. GCN Resident Evil 4

We're starting to see many others beginning to pull ahead - in this case EA does it by a wide margin.

2007 (Pokémon Generation IV)

1. 360 Halo 3 -- 4.82 million
2. Wii Play -- 4.12 million
3. 360 Call of Duty 4 -- 3.04 million
4. PS2 Guitar Hero III -- 2.72 million
5. Wii Super Mario Galaxy -- 2.52 million
6. NDS Pokemon Diamond -- 2.48 million
7. PS2 Madden NFL 08 -- 1.90 million
8. PS2 Guitar Hero II -- 1.89 million
9. 360 Assassin's Creed -- 1.87 million
10. Wii Mario Party 8 -- 1.82 million

As you see Pokémon Diamond is 6th place. Halo 3 sold twice as many copies as Diamond.

Of course, these results alone are by no means conclusive. However, they show that the Pokémon games are slowly losing steam in foreign markets (Note: I'm using the US because as the world's leading economic superpower, the US market dramatically influences those of foreign countries).

Now, as for anime, I couldn't find any consistent results, but on a global scale, Naruto, One Piece, Code Geass, Gundam, etc rank among the top.

EDIT:

The Final Fantasy series would like to have a word with you.



Anyway, the Pokémon games still follow the same basic ideas it had since Red and Green. Catch and train Pokémon for battle and eventually against human opponents.



EDIT: Fire Embelm and Dragon Quest as well.

I'll look in to that; not too familiar with those tbh.

 

[Cybersai]

Yep, but every time a new game or remake comes out, it still sells over a million copies.

Nintendo has nothing to worry about. Also think of all the new younger kids just getting into Pokemon for the first time.

A lot of the kids getting Pokemon now were not even born yet when Red/Blue originally came out.

 

[Phoenicks]

@ Ultradude2912:

I really don't agree with what you're saying. First, Japan is the country that always innovates. New story or graphics aren't innovation, they're just taking what was done before and adding a little bit more.

That aside, I'm not sure what to say about your data. Does that show sales for the entire year, or just a snapshot from that year? It seems fishy to me that Emerald sales would top Ruby and Sapphire combined (unless the sales chart didn't combine them). Also, sales from Emerald to Diamond actually increased, not decreased as you seem to imply.