Should Game Freak take a break from Pokémon?

[MrMeowPuss]

The game should definitely keep being made, they just need to really be more creative and get out of that too comfortable place they're in.

Considering the new features in ORAS like Soar In The Sky and Dexnav, I would be disappointed to see them take a break as I'm excited for the next game already. They should be doing focus groups or even gathering statistics from 3DS users who play Pokemon to see how long people play. All they would need to do is add something to the 3DS firmware to see how long the person plays each game, then check their Nintendo account to see their age/gender. This could give them a good idea of what direction to go with the franchise is future installments.

I know some developers do listen to their fans and pay attention to forums, but I don't feel like GF are one of them. They do market Pokemon towards kids but as another thread on here discussed, there's a very strong majority of adults that make up the people who play the games. Kids these days are also very smart and learn much more early on compared to when I was a kid, they may even lose interest because they want a challenge just like us adults. If GF put the effort in, they can definitely make a game that's enjoyable for everyone. They just need to start listening to their fans more and making more improvements to the series, even if they're small ones.

 

[Fig]

"A very strong majority of adults who play the game"?

That's the kind of claim that would need formidable supporting evidence...

 

[MrMeowPuss]

"A very strong majority of adults who play the game"?

That's the kind of claim that would need formidable supporting evidence...

I'm just basing it off of this thread :look:

 

[lovandra]

I'm adult.

I play based on nostaligia feeling. Seriously, I don't want to learn too many more hard combinations.

I left several franchises that developt too far from the old games. I like if pokemon developt new feature, but please don't change the core of the game.

Just saying.

 

[Fig]

I'll point this extremely important paragraph from the article you linked:

The fact that more and more adults are playing Pokémon with each successive game tells us that the series’ existing audience is getting older. Eventually, these fans will end up outgrowing the series. Thus, in order for Pokémon to keep growing, the only solution is to keep bringing in newer, younger fans to replace the ones that leave. However, the fact that sales are in decline suggests that this isn’t happening, and that’s a cause for concern. Pokémon—and just about any franchise that sells millions, really—has always relied on younger players to maintain growth over the years. When younger players stop coming, you’re in trouble.
Read more at Pokémon's Audience Is Growing Older - Siliconera

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

Since the fomula is so self sustaining I like to see someone else have a go at it or at least see Masuda take a break from the gen intro games.

 

[The Outrage]

I'll point this extremely important paragraph from the article you linked:

The fact that more and more adults are playing Pokémon with each successive game tells us that the series’ existing audience is getting older. Eventually, these fans will end up outgrowing the series. Thus, in order for Pokémon to keep growing, the only solution is to keep bringing in newer, younger fans to replace the ones that leave. However, the fact that sales are in decline suggests that this isn’t happening, and that’s a cause for concern. Pokémon—and just about any franchise that sells millions, really—has always relied on younger players to maintain growth over the years. When younger players stop coming, you’re in trouble.
Read more at Pokémon's Audience Is Growing Older - Siliconera

I lost the link to this article--but it was pointing out that gaming has become mainstream, and gamers are also now becoming parents. Essentially, what the parents play, the kids will play so maintaining and bringing back your older fanbase, especially with a child-friendly game like Pokemon would be an extremely good strategy in terms of attracting a new generation in the long run. Of course, the age at which the majority of Game Freak's original fanbase becomes parents is probably still a few years away, but it just illustrates the point that maintaining the older fanbase can help solve their problems of trying to bring in new fans.

Similarly, if I recall, the Wii and DS owed much of its popularity due to its ability to attract female gamers. I'm not really sure what Pokemon's gender ratio is, but that's also another way to maintain the numbers--though Pokemon has never really struck me as a gender-exclusive game.

 

[Team Gaara]

Maybe they could take a break from main series games for a bit?

I'm down for another Ranger and PMD game (I know Chunsoft does those)...Ranger tho...that one's begging for a new game...just sayin'...please...?

 

[The Outrage]

Maybe they could take a break from main series games for a bit?

I'm down for another Ranger and PMD game (I know Chunsoft does those)...Ranger tho...that one's begging for a new game...just sayin'...please...?

Game Freak is not involved in any spin-off, though collaborating with another team to help expand their main canon universe would be great maybe they'll have a Looker game where he tries to gain his memory back and we find out he's Detective Pikachu from a PMD universe

 

[Groudon]

Yes I believe that Game Freak should take a break from Pokemon at the completion of this generation. Pokemon has grown stale over the past few years. Innovation has become less apparent. They know that releasing a new game year after year will yield them money no matter how well the game is. The majority of you guys will buy whatever game comes out next regardless of how good it is. Masuada isn't an idiot (at least I hope he isn't). I don't buy the whole ''casuals don't have time for video games'' as the only reason you would buy a dedicated gaming console is to play longer games. He is either dumbfounded by who his actual audience is or he is using it as an excuse to make lazy games. It is most likely the latter. Taking a break from Pokemon could be what is needed to breath fresh ideas into a franchise that is approaching it's 20th anniversary in 2016.

Pokemon games from about Platinum (B2W2 in Japan) onward have been released every year. For most of Pokemon history prior to that, games were released every 2 years. After the decline of Pokemon during the late Generation 2 and 3, a 2 year gap between Emerald and Diamond/Pearl brought some new life into a declining franchise. The large amount of Spinoff games, the propagation of the anime, movies, and tcg contributed most heavily to the significant increase of popularity of Diamond and Pearl. Those 2 years (2005 - 2007 or 2004 - 2006 in Japan) accumulated many fans without any substantial new releases.

Now what Game Freak needs to this is a take a 2-4 year break, figure out who the hell their actual audience is, and market the sh*t out of it. Advertise the unappreciated aspects of the franchise such as the anime, movies, tcg, plushies, action figures, etc. to build hype. Contact Chunsoft, Creatures Inc., HAL Laboratory, and whatever other developers you need to and have them produce many spinoffs. Then out of the blue, announce the Generation VII game.
Possible Timeline
Generation VI
2013- Pokemon XY
2014- Pokemon ORAS
2015- Pokemon (Z)
2016- Generation I re-remakes (20th anniversary).
2016- Nothing
2017- (Nintendo) Release the new console (Game Freak)- Nothing
Early 2018- Nothing
Late 2018-Early 2019 Generation VII

Game Freak probably won't do this. They have become obsessed with money. The sad part is that fanbase who are loyal to Game Freak won't stop buying. Game Freak will only realize the error of their ways if you guys respond to it. From a business perspective they shouldn't stop now. Too much profit. But the older fans who have not fallen prey to Game Freaks's antics and business tactics are not amused by the shoddy games released year after year. I got rid of my 3DS half a year ago and it was the best decision I have made. X and Y were not what they should have been considering they were Game Freak's first 3d games. I expected more.

Succinctly put yes they should take a break. But their current ways yield more money.

 

[MrGriszell]

Yes I believe that Game Freak should take a break from Pokemon at the completion of this generation. Pokemon has grown stale over the past few years. Innovation has become less apparent. They know that releasing a new game year after year will yield them money no matter how well the game is. The majority of you guys will buy whatever game comes out next regardless of how good it is. Masuada isn't an idiot (at least I hope he isn't). I don't buy the whole ''casuals don't have time for video games'' as the only reason you would buy a dedicated gaming console is to play longer games. He is either dumbfounded by who his actual audience is or he is using it as an excuse to make lazy games. It is most likely the latter. Taking a break from Pokemon could be what is needed to breath fresh ideas into a franchise that is approaching it's 20th anniversary in 2016.

Pokemon games from about Platinum (B2W2 in Japan) onward have been released every year. For most of Pokemon history prior to that, games were released every 2 years. After the decline of Pokemon during the late Generation 2 and 3 (which happened for a multitude of reasons including to how short lived the GBA was, the decline of the anime, and the 2 year gaps from Gold and Silver onward), a 2 year gap between Emerald and Diamond/Pearl brought some new life into a declining franchise. The large amount of Spinoff games, the propagation of the anime, movies, and tcg contributed most heavily to the significant increase of popularity of Diamond and Pearl. Those 2 years (2005 - 2007 or 2004 - 2006 in Japan) accumulated many fans without any substantial new releases.

Now what Game Freak needs to this is a take a 2-4 year break, figure out who the hell their actual audience is, and market the sh*t out of it. Advertise the unappreciated aspects of the franchise such as the anime, movies, tcg, plushies, action figures, etc. to build hype. Contact Chunsoft, Creatures Inc., HAL Laboratory, and whatever other developers you need to and have them produce many spinoffs. Then out of the blue, announce the Generation VII game.
Possible Timeline
Generation VI
2013- Pokemon XY
2014- Pokemon ORAS
2015- Pokemon (Z)
2016- Generation I re-remakes (20th anniversary).
2016- Nothing
2017- (Nintendo) Release the new console (Game Freak)- Nothing
Early 2018- Nothing
Late 2018-Early 2019 Generation VII

Game Freak probably won't do this. They have become obsessed with money. The sad part is that fanbase who are loyal to Game Freak won't stop buying. Game Freak will only realize the error of their ways if you guys respond to it. From a business perspective they shouldn't stop now. Too much profit. But the older fans who have not fallen prey to Game Freaks's antics and business tactics are not amused by the shoddy games released year after year. I got rid of my 3DS half a year ago and it was the best decision I have made. X and Y were not what they should have been considering they were Game Freak's first 3d games. I expected more.

Succinctly put yes they should take a break. But their current ways yield more money.

Can you give an example on how the games started getting stale ? I'd admit that I fell off after gen 2 but I came back when HG/SS came out and then I played platinum then gen 3 games. I loved gen 4. Now at the time of release I can probably see why gen 3 wasn't that well received but playing them knowing that I will be transferring them to my gen 4 games made it better. I thought BW were the best in terms of story and music , you talk about lack of innovation but really gen 5 started connecting players world wide, and gen 6 took it to the next level in terms of connectivity and graphics. And I'm just curious how would you have made XY? I hear a lot of people saying GF releases games every year because of money but could it be that it no longer takes 2 years to make a game anymore ? What was so bad about gen 5 and 6 that people complain about? What would you have done different . Why do people think GF is lazy ? I'd admit XY and ORAS wasn't my favorite games but for me that was only because of lack of new pokemon. I loved Gen 4 and 3 because I had to start over and collect all the pokemon. I loved gen 5 because BW gave us the most new pokemon in the series, I loved BW 2 because it gave us good pokemon to choose from the beginning ( I had my entire team before my 2nd badge ). So I think that going forward GF needs to make more new pokemon to make the games better

 

[Groudon]

Can you give an example on how the games started getting stale ?

I don't know, maybe the fact that every game follows the ''beat the 8 gyms, stop the bad guys, defeat the elite four, and become champion'' plot. I am not expecting the series to shift genres. All I am asking to change it up. But perhaps you could learn something. Game developers get lazy. They know what will sell. Why change an established series when you can rely on an established formula that will sell? It's a safety they have. They could take a risk. But what if the new game does poorly? It is better safe than be sorry as they often say.

I thought BW were the best in terms of story and music , you talk about lack of innovation but really gen 5 started connecting players world wide, and gen 6 took it to the next level in terms of connectivity and graphics. And I'm just curious how would you have made XY?

BW were a step up in the storyline department. I give them that. But it is not much better than before. N's back story and the very end was where any decent plot development happened. Also it was Generation IV that began connecting players worldwide. But that is hardly impressive. The DS was developed with that in mind. Many DS games have people interacting worldwide. It is nothing special. As for your last question you should note I am not a game developer. I don't know how I would have made. But to give you some perspective, I would have made a longer main game. I would have added easy, normal, and hard mode like in B2W2. I would have not have had those pestering characters bother me ever. Instead of creating 3 characters without any depth, I would have developed each one. I would make a reasonable plot. I would have plot twists ad develop Lysandre more. Note that I am not a very creative person. You could look up the plots to many romhacks and see a better plot than what was presented in XY.

I hear a lot of people saying GF releases games every year because of money but could it be that it no longer takes 2 years to make a game anymore ? What was so bad about gen 5 and 6 that people complain about? What would you have done different . Why do people think GF is lazy ?r

That's preposterous. While technology has improved to make games faster, it takes more time to create more complex games. Also note it could take any span of time to make a game. The more time that is spent making a game, the better it is. However, Game Freak knows that they can profit off you guys so they will release a rehashed game which they know will make profit. People say Game Freak is lazy because they have yet to release an innovative game. Also Generation V and VI are not bad. The problem is they were not innovative enough.

 

[Bolt Strike]

Now what Game Freak needs to this is a take a 2-4 year break, figure out who the hell their actual audience is, and market the sh*t out of it. Advertise the unappreciated aspects of the franchise such as the anime, movies, tcg, plushies, action figures, etc. to build hype. Contact Chunsoft, Creatures Inc., HAL Laboratory, and whatever other developers you need to and have them produce many spinoffs. Then out of the blue, announce the Generation VII game.
Possible Timeline
Generation VI
2013- Pokemon XY
2014- Pokemon ORAS
2015- Pokemon (Z)
2016- Generation I re-remakes (20th anniversary).
2016- Nothing
2017- (Nintendo) Release the new console (Game Freak)- Nothing
Early 2018- Nothing
Late 2018-Early 2019 Generation VII

Game Freak probably won't do this. They have become obsessed with money. The sad part is that fanbase who are loyal to Game Freak won't stop buying. Game Freak will only realize the error of their ways if you guys respond to it. From a business perspective they shouldn't stop now. Too much profit. But the older fans who have not fallen prey to Game Freaks's antics and business tactics are not amused by the shoddy games released year after year. I got rid of my 3DS half a year ago and it was the best decision I have made. X and Y were not what they should have been considering they were Game Freak's first 3d games. I expected more.

Succinctly put yes they should take a break. But their current ways yield more money.

Yeah, a 3 year break probably isn't happening. That's too long for Nintendo to go without one of their biggest cash cows. They definitely should take a year break soon though.

Also, how can you say that 6th gen isn't innovative? I could see 4th or 5th, but 6th gen? They added a ton of new mechanics to 6th gen, Fairy type, Mega Evolution, the PSS, Super Training, Pokemon Amie. I don't see how you can look at all of that and dismiss 6th gen as not being innovative.

Can you give an example on how the games started getting stale ? I'd admit that I fell off after gen 2 but I came back when HG/SS came out and then I played platinum then gen 3 games. I loved gen 4. Now at the time of release I can probably see why gen 3 wasn't that well received but playing them knowing that I will be transferring them to my gen 4 games made it better. I thought BW were the best in terms of story and music , you talk about lack of innovation but really gen 5 started connecting players world wide, and gen 6 took it to the next level in terms of connectivity and graphics. And I'm just curious how would you have made XY? I hear a lot of people saying GF releases games every year because of money but could it be that it no longer takes 2 years to make a game anymore ? What was so bad about gen 5 and 6 that people complain about? What would you have done different . Why do people think GF is lazy ? I'd admit XY and ORAS wasn't my favorite games but for me that was only because of lack of new pokemon. I loved Gen 4 and 3 because I had to start over and collect all the pokemon. I loved gen 5 because BW gave us the most new pokemon in the series, I loved BW 2 because it gave us good pokemon to choose from the beginning ( I had my entire team before my 2nd badge ). So I think that going forward GF needs to make more new pokemon to make the games better

It basically goes back to what we've been discussing for several pages which is the casual shift that started in 5th gen resulting in a decrease in difficulty and content. I'm not sure I'd call it laziness though, but it's either that or they're just misguided.

And no, 5th gen didn't innovate anything gameplay wise (really just storyline wise, pretty much everything else felt like a step backwards). The C Gear didn't really add much to the connectivity and it was more of a precursor to the vastly superior PSS, the new battle types were gimmicks that haven't been seen much since, the only thing it really added was Hidden Abilities, and even that's not a groundbreaking new mechanic.

 

[MrGriszell]

Yeah, a 3 year break probably isn't happening. That's too long for Nintendo to go without one of their biggest cash cows. They definitely should take a year break soon though.

Also, how can you say that 6th gen isn't innovative? I could see 4th or 5th, but 6th gen? They added a ton of new mechanics to 6th gen, Fairy type, Mega Evolution, the PSS, Super Training, Pokemon Amie. I don't see how you can look at all of that and dismiss 6th gen as not being innovative.

Can you give an example on how the games started getting stale ? I'd admit that I fell off after gen 2 but I came back when HG/SS came out and then I played platinum then gen 3 games. I loved gen 4. Now at the time of release I can probably see why gen 3 wasn't that well received but playing them knowing that I will be transferring them to my gen 4 games made it better. I thought BW were the best in terms of story and music , you talk about lack of innovation but really gen 5 started connecting players world wide, and gen 6 took it to the next level in terms of connectivity and graphics. And I'm just curious how would you have made XY? I hear a lot of people saying GF releases games every year because of money but could it be that it no longer takes 2 years to make a game anymore ? What was so bad about gen 5 and 6 that people complain about? What would you have done different . Why do people think GF is lazy ? I'd admit XY and ORAS wasn't my favorite games but for me that was only because of lack of new pokemon. I loved Gen 4 and 3 because I had to start over and collect all the pokemon. I loved gen 5 because BW gave us the most new pokemon in the series, I loved BW 2 because it gave us good pokemon to choose from the beginning ( I had my entire team before my 2nd badge ). So I think that going forward GF needs to make more new pokemon to make the games better

It basically goes back to what we've been discussing for several pages which is the casual shift that started in 5th gen resulting in a decrease in difficulty and content. I'm not sure I'd call it laziness though, but it's either that or they're just misguided.

And no, 5th gen didn't innovate anything gameplay wise (really just storyline wise, pretty much everything else felt like a step backwards). The C Gear didn't really add much to the connectivity and it was more of a precursor to the vastly superior PSS, the new battle types were gimmicks that haven't been seen much since, the only thing it really added was Hidden Abilities, and even that's not a groundbreaking new mechanic.

First quote was not said by me so please fix that quote . And now you guys are nip picking. Did you honestly complain that the C gear wasn't good because it was less inferior to the PSS? Lol well duh

 

[Bolt Strike]

And now you guys are nip picking. Did you honestly complain that the C gear wasn't good because it was less inferior to the PSS? Lol well duh

What I was saying is that it wasn't really a good idea until they got to 6th gen and enhanced the online, now that we know where they were going with it we can say that it was an idea before its time. Anyway, the real problem isn't that the PSS is better, the problem is that it's near useless to anyone that doesn't do a lot of local multiplayer (and unless you're in Japan, you probably don't). Pretty much the only other reason to use it was to access the Dream World. Meanwhile, where are the apps that past regional gadgets had? It stripped away everything that would've made it useful while introducing communication features that were better saved for 6th gen.

And you think I'm nitpicking? Well what do you expect when 5th gen didn't introduced anything bigger for me to talk about? 5th gen didn't add anything on the scale that 2nd, 3rd, 6th, hell even 4th gen added something significant to the gameplay. We didn't see any changes in the battle mechanics (like abilities, physical/special split, Mega Evolutions), no new types, etc. In fact, most of its changes were more destructive than constructive. So it's a little hard to not talk about the minor things when everything it added was minor in the first place.

 

[MrGriszell]

And now you guys are nip picking. Did you honestly complain that the C gear wasn't good because it was less inferior to the PSS? Lol well duh

What I was saying is that it wasn't really a good idea until they got to 6th gen and enhanced the online, now that we know where they were going with it we can say that it was an idea before its time. Anyway, the real problem isn't that the PSS is better, the problem is that it's near useless to anyone that doesn't do a lot of local multiplayer (and unless you're in Japan, you probably don't). Pretty much the only other reason to use it was to access the Dream World. Meanwhile, where are the apps that past regional gadgets had? It stripped away everything that would've made it useful while introducing communication features that were better saved for 6th gen.

And you think I'm nitpicking? Well what do you expect when 5th gen didn't introduced anything bigger for me to talk about? 5th gen didn't add anything on the scale that 2nd, 3rd, 6th, hell even 4th gen added something significant to the gameplay. We didn't see any changes in the battle mechanics (like abilities, physical/special split, Mega Evolutions), no new types, etc. In fact, most of its changes were more destructive than constructive. So it's a little hard to not talk about the minor things when everything it added was minor in the first place.

Well I always thought that Hidden abilities and reusable TM's were a big thing. What changes would you have had them make( if you say get rid of hm's just end the convo now)

 

[Silverwynde]

And I'm with Kyriaki - I really don,t like the mansion being semi-mandatory to gain access to lots of casual-useful things (tutors, lots of items, Wally rematches) really annoyed me.

You can always send over BP via Bank, which is what I've been doing since November. I already have 108 BP on OR and over 400 on X, which is how I got the Power items and a few Ability Capsules. Granted, some of the ones on X were earned via Singles runs but the bulk came from Bank. The Wally rematches I can't help you with, however. And even I wonder if I'd be able to tough it out for a run of fifty; I've done several runs of twenty on X just for the Ribbons. If I hadn't been so blasted stubborn and wanted the Skillful Battler Ribbon for some of my prized Pokemon, I probably wouldn't go anywhere near that place. Getting leveled by a smirking Lumineon will absolutely destroy your confidence as a battler, trust me. I'd love to get the Expert Battler Ribbon but I think I'd get far too fed up to actually see it through to the end. Pity, as it would look awesome on my Riser but I digress.

As to whether or not GF should take a break from Pokemon.... I'm not sure. I'd welcome it if we were given a story on par with Gen V, as that was one of the best developed plots I had ever seen. Something like that would be very welcomed in my corner of the universe. But other than that I don't really know.

 

[Bolt Strike]

Well I always thought that Hidden abilities and reusable TM's were a big thing. What changes would you have had them make( if you say get rid of hm's just end the convo now)

Again, those are hardly game changing things. Hidden abilities are just a rarer, more restricted ability, and reusable TMs is really just giving you more options. You couldn't do anything new with them.

 

[MrGriszell]

Well I always thought that Hidden abilities and reusable TM's were a big thing. What changes would you have had them make( if you say get rid of hm's just end the convo now)

Again, those are hardly game changing things. Hidden abilities are just a rarer, more restricted ability, and reusable TMs is really just giving you more options. You couldn't do anything new with them.

Are you serious right now? I'm pretty sure your trolling now

 

[Bolt Strike]

Well I always thought that Hidden abilities and reusable TM's were a big thing. What changes would you have had them make( if you say get rid of hm's just end the convo now)

Again, those are hardly game changing things. Hidden abilities are just a rarer, more restricted ability, and reusable TMs is really just giving you more options. You couldn't do anything new with them.

Are you serious right now? I'm pretty sure your trolling now

I am dead serious. Those aren't really things that make you play the game differently. They're just tweaks. Hidden abilities don't really change the way abilities work, just how you can access them. Reusable TMs just improve the accessibility of the moves, but you can't do anything different with them. There's nothing in 5th gen that really improves the gameplay on a more fundamental level like say, breeding, abilities, Mega Evolution, or anything like that.