Was the Gen III reboot successful?

[Joshawott]

The current generation of Pokémon which began with Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version has been said to a reboot of the franchise. The majority of people have claimed that this was quite successful. However, this is not the first time Game Freak tried to reboot Pokémon (and indeed, it isn't the most controversial). Pokémon Ruby Version and Pokémon Sapphire Version were the first games in a new era for Pokémon. When comparing the two reboots, was the Gen III restart successful?

Obviously, there are key differences about the two events, which include (but are not limited to):

Ruby and Sapphire:
- Inability to communicate with previous games.
- Previous Pokémon in the regional Pokédex.
- No National Pokédex without trading.
- No old characters reappear.
- On a completely new console.
- Complete overhaul of the data system.

Black and White:
- Ability to communicate with previous games.
- No previous Pokémon in the regional Pokédex.
- National Dex obtained after main story.
- Looker and Caitlin reappear.
- On the same console as the previous generation.
- No drastic data changes.

However, saying that, there were some similarities as well:
- Both started a new route ordering system (Hoenn had 101+ rather than continuing where Johto left off; Unova reset back to 1).
- Naming throwback to Generation I (RSE = same colour scheme as Red, Blue and Green. BW = Going back to use colour names [Yes, Black and White are technically shades, but ssh]).
- Both introduced new battle methods (RSE = Doubles. BW = Triples and Rotation).
- Both had main legendaries in conflict with each other (Groudon-Kyogre, Reshiram-Zekrom). (In fact, Reshiram is Fire-type, which is boosted by Sun, which Groudon creates. Zekrom is an electric-type, and Thunder, which it can learn, gets an accuracy boost in Rain, which Kyogre creates).
- Both gave a pair of Pokémon the Drought and Drizzle abilities (RS = Groudon, Kyogre. BW = Ninetales, Politoed).
- Both introduced new abilities for a lot of Pokémon (RS introduced them, BW brought the Dream World).
- Story had two friendly rivals (RS - Brendan/May and Wally, BW - Cheren and Bianca).
- Both had Dark and Ghost-type Elite 4 members.

However, despite all the similarities, the Generation III reboot was a highly controversial topic at the time, as some say it was more of a forced restart than Black/White, due to the inability to communicate with past games altogether. However, despite that, it was an incredibly vital era for the franchise.

To reiterate the question - do you think Gen III was a succesfull reboot?

 

[Mr. Moustache]

I think it was. I mean, I don't have any specific facts, but it kept me entertained. And, to me, that's most important.

By the way, would you mind asking more questions? I feel like I could have added more to my post, other than the regular "it-was-good" response.

 

[Joshawott]

By the way, would you mind asking more questions? I feel like I could have added more to my post, other than the regular "it-was-good" response.

Well, discussions escalate from how a question evolves into more questions xD

Here's another one then: Which reboot was better?

 

[Mr. Moustache]

Well, discussions escalate from how a question evolves into more questions xD

I just am just a casual payer, so I don't know all there is to know, nor would I ever want to. So, having more questions, at the start, would help me give a better response. That's what I think, at least.

Here's another one then: Which reboot was better?

That's hard to answer, but I'll try. I don't remember too much of Gen III; I remember the grind being a pain in the ass, but seeing all-new pokémon was exciting. I never knew what I was going to see next, which was always fun.

Now, as for Gen V, it's boring. The new pokémon are just lame. I didn't even attempt to catch them all, because I could care less about another cactus, or an ugly buffalo. Plus, I was getting tired of the "destroy-the-world-so-we-can-create-a-new-one" plot. Then again, it could have been the fact that I got over-hyped about it. I don't know, I still want more. Hopefully, the 3rd game (I'm assuming there will be) will remedy that.

 

[Water Max]

I think the generation III reboot was not successful in terms of the number of people playing the games during in the generation because you had to wait until Emerald version released to be able to complete the national pokédex which caused many people who played the series in previous generations to not be interested in the series anymore but I think that it was a better reboot than generation V's because of this fact and it allowed you to use some pokémon from previous generations in Ruby and Sapphire before the other games were released.

 

[Blue1225]

Well every pokemon games been succesful, but its just a fact that Ruby and Sapphire sold the lease amount of copies out of all the games. Of course even with that they still made plenty of money, they just did worse than the other games.

I like to think of each Generation as an age in pokemon history. I think Hoenn as basically the Renaissance of Pokemon. Everything changed in Gen 3. Drastically new pokemon with a different region. A lot of what came before was dropped and replaced with something new. Gen 3 led to a mass abandoning of the franchise as many people (Myself included) stopped playing at that time, while many people started playing around that time. I'd go so far as to say that most of the people who play today started in Gen 3 and its now reached the point where it'll be accused of the same thing Gens 1 and 2 were. Nostalgia. While the Generation had its problems in terms of sales and keeping the older fans, it can't be denied that it was extremely succesful in attracting AND keeping newer fans.

 

[βƹβƹ ɱɪɢηѻη]

I think that R/S is actually a successful reboot. Even though it lost a lot of fans, it gained a lot to counter that.

R/S helped the older fans to deal with change, and even though they were nasty about it, they accepted it over time. Also, if it wasn't that successful, Generation IV probably wouldn't have been around. But that's sort of debatable since Game Freak earned a boatload of money through the first 2 generations.

The reboot may have been seen as unsuccessful initially, but I think that it actually helped the Pokemon franchise accelerate to where it is now.

 

[BlqJstr]

I never looked at it this way but i say the Gen III rebbot was amazing. Yeah we seen alot pokemon schemes before but pokemon are based the animal kingdom turtles ie: Blastoise and Carracosta get what Im sayin. <I'm still waiting for an poison/electric ant> We cant get everythin from pokemon but jus a taste cause that'll be bad for business. Also the reboots gives us new mechanics and that's possibly to keep the older fans around, I been here since RBY so i thinks it working.

 

[Blue1225]

I think that R/S is actually a successful reboot. Even though it lost a lot of fans, it gained a lot to counter that.

R/S helped the older fans to deal with change, and even though they were nasty about it, they accepted it over time. Also, if it wasn't that successful, Generation IV probably wouldn't have been around. But that's sort of debatable since Game Freak earned a boatload of money through the first 2 generations.

The reboot may have been seen as unsuccessful initially, but I think that it actually helped the Pokemon franchise accelerate to where it is now.

Not that I disagree, but that can be said about every generation. No generation would be here without Gen 1 lol. It was still succesful, overall though it was the least succesful Generation.

Reboot isn't really the right term to be using when I think about it. Since in the games nothings ever left behind. The timeline's all the same.

 

[BlackwaterPark]

I don't think Generation V was even that much of a reboot, to be honest. To me, it feels like an upgraded version of Generation IV.

As for Generation III, not having access to every species of Pokemon was a huge change. I mean, it used to be all about "gotta catch 'em all," right? I knew a lot of people who were pretty upset about it. But aside from that, I'd argue that the Generation III reboot was successful - it set many of the fundamentals that we see in Pokemon to this day. It was also when the regions and storylines started getting more creative, which I see as a huge plus for the series.

 

[Pidgeot]

The Gen III reboot wasn't successful in the long run, seeing as Gen V did it right. However, I still prefer Gen III to Gen I and II due to the huge difference it created.

 

[Composer]

Yes. Gen.III was a reboot in most of important aspects of Pokemon. In some segments it was a step forward (new mechnics,better story,music,remakes) and in some it was a step backwards (graphics,new Pokemon,region design) and B/W seem like a reboot 2.0 since they based the changes on what was good with Gen.III and didn't repeat things that lacked in it. Anyway Gen.III was highly necessary for the series as it set the basis for modern Pokemon games.

 

[Blue1225]

To comment on Gen 5, I think that in the long run Gen 5 will 1)Sell better and 2)Be remembered a little more fondly. I haven't really seen or heard that many people say they hate Black and White so far. What i'm mostly hearing is that its revolutionary, that the new pokemon are interesting and that the game has an amazing plot and characters. I haven't heard of a significant amount of fans that stopped playing. In short, almost everything i've heard about Black and White has been good so far. I still don't think that "Reboot" is the proper term to use (Maybe upgrade would be better) but Generation 5 seems liike its just going to be all around better than Generation 3 was in all aspects. LOL, which is ironic because the RSE remakes are probably going to be this Gen.

 

[rubinek]

I'm glad that this thread was created. Many people nowadays seem to forget about the first true reboot of Pokemon franchise that was RSE.

The reboot was extremely controversial at the time, that's for sure. I, for one, think that RSE preceded it's time. Players were not yet bored of recurring Pokemon such as Zubat and Geodude appearing in each gen, and apparently having their lv. 100 Lugias and Typhlosions in the next generation was a huge deal for many people. If RSE were made, say, two generations later, said reboot would be much more welcomed, as Black and White had shown us.

As for the lower sales, remember that it was the time when The Great Pokemon Fad finally started to die out. Pokemon just wasn't cool anymore, which led many fans to leave the franchise, new games being released or not. Not to mention that popular media (at least where I live, idk if it was a case in USA) started making fun of the franchise (for the lack of the better words), further deterring potential new players from jumping straight into it. It was a dark age for Pokemon as a whole, and RSE being a reboot of the series really had nothing to do with the slightly lower sales IMO. (because let's face it, 13 milion copies is hardly what one would call "low")

Ignoring all the controversies, was the reboot sucessful? Definitely! Unlike B/W, it brought some very important changes to the stats system, including a rehaul of EVs/IVs and the introduction of natures. The game also saw a massive graphical improvement, which has yet to be repeated. I'll let the screens speak for themselves:

Spoiler

The OP forgot to mention that both gens had [almost] no ties to the previous gens as far as Pokemon are considered. 3rd Gen has a grand total of TWO Pokemon which were merely expanding the existing evolutionary line, while BW had none (Alomomola should have been Luvdisc evo)

At any rate, I greatly enjoyed this generation, and I hope the speculated remakes will remind us why it was the greatest gen of all time.

 

[BZW Golem]

Actually, I think that B/W did better as a reboot.

Gen 3 did provide us with better graphics and introduce natures, EV and IV but..
when playing It I hadn't felt that It took one step forward.. I rather felt that It was one step back.

Gen 3 has thrown away many good things that were established in gen 2 ( like the day and night system.. or events that occured on only one/two days per week).
Also, after finishing the 2 gen games the 3 gen ones feel.. really short. I know that being able to explore 2 regions probably won't appear anymore in any of the pokemon games.. but being able to visit both kanto and jotho in one game was awesome. And after that I get a game that one more time has only 8 gyms and nothing interesting after you finish the game =_="
B/W at least has the rest of Unova te explore after you beat the main part of the game
And the change that hurt the most was being unable to connect with previous generations.

5 gen actually did not show us many changes.. but It left everything that I liked the most.

 

[Blue1225]

Actually, I think that B/W did better as a reboot.

Gen 3 did provide us with better graphics and introduce natures, EV and IV but..
when playing It I hadn't felt that It took one step forward.. I rather felt that It was one step back.

Gen 3 has thrown away many good things that were established in gen 2 ( like the day and night system.. or events that occured on only one/two days per week).
Also, after finishing the 2 gen games the 3 gen ones feel.. really short. I know that being able to explore 2 regions probably won't appear anymore in any of the pokemon games.. but being able to visit both kanto and jotho in one game was awesome. And after that I get a game that one more time has only 8 gyms and nothing interesting after you finish the game =_="
B/W at least has the rest of Unova te explore after you beat the main part of the game
And the change that hurt the most was being unable to connect with previous generations.

5 gen actually did not show us many changes.. but It left everything that I liked the most.

Which is why I said, for a normal game it was still extremely succesful, but for a pokemon game they were still the lowest selling games.

Graphics is where the games and the designs for the new pokemon is where the games truly shined in my opinion. Two Gens later I STILL think that Hoenn was the most beautiful region we've ever seen.

I agree with you though, the fad ended. Pokemon was going to lose fans one way or the other, but the number increased due to the games.

I'm glad that this thread was created. Many people nowadays seem to forget about the first true reboot of Pokemon franchise that was RSE.

The reboot was extremely controversial at the time, that's for sure. I, for one, think that RSE preceded it's time. Players were not yet bored of recurring Pokemon such as Zubat and Geodude appearing in each gen, and apparently having their lv. 100 Lugias and Typhlosions in the next generation was a huge deal for many people. If RSE were made, say, two generations later, said reboot would be much more welcomed, as Black and White had shown us.

As for the lower sales, remember that it was the time when The Great Pokemon Fad finally started to die out. Pokemon just wasn't cool anymore, which led many fans to leave the franchise, new games being released or not. Not to mention that popular media (at least where I live, idk if it was a case in USA) started making fun of the franchise (for the lack of the better words), further deterring potential new players from jumping straight into it. It was a dark age for Pokemon as a whole, and RSE being a reboot of the series really had nothing to do with the slightly lower sales IMO. (because let's face it, 13 milion copies is hardly what one would call "low")

Ignoring all the controversies, was the reboot sucessful? Definitely! Unlike B/W, it brought some very important changes to the stats system, including a rehaul of EVs/IVs and the introduction of natures. The game also saw a massive graphical improvement, which has yet to be repeated. I'll let the screens speak for themselves:

Spoiler

The OP forgot to mention that both gens had [almost] no ties to the previous gens as far as Pokemon are considered. 3rd Gen has a grand total of TWO Pokemon which were merely expanding the existing evolutionary line, while BW had none (Alomomola should have been Luvdisc evo)

At any rate, I greatly enjoyed this generation, and I hope the speculated remakes will remind us why it was the greatest gen of all time.

The gen threw away a lot of what came before. As I said before, I like to think of Hoenn as the Renaissance for the pokemon franchise. It brought a lot of new things and ideas to the table, but at the same time it threw away a lot of what made the previous gens good and that pissed people off at the time. No Gen since Gen 2 has improved on everything that was in the previous gen. There'll be improvements and then a few things from the previous gen will be simply thrown away.

I agree Gen 5 didn't really change much, but it did a really good job with what it had. At this point its my 2nd favorite gen (If were not counting remakes). I think GF did a really good job lol i'm still suprised I liked it as much as I did. IDK why, but I think they did a better job than Gen 3 did of leaving the old behind.

 

[Mr. Moustache]

IMO, all that matters is that you enjoyed it. Who cares about the sales?

 

[Faye Scarlet]

I think it was. D: Sure it was around the time when the Pokemon fad was dying out, but the only thing Pokemon lost wasn't fans: it was meek-minded trend followers. Actual fans would have stuck around and at least tried it, and if they didn't like it then that was fine. That's how I see it, anyway. OTL Actual fans who were disappointed but fan-enough to stick around were rewarded with their patience with FRLG after all.

 

[Mr. Moustache]

Looking back, I don't think I really said what I wanted to say. So, allow me to try again.

Do I think it was successful? Yes, I did. Now, like I said, I don't have any facts or figures, but I do know that I was entertained; I enjoyed the experience. To me, that's all that matters. Sure, numbers do matter, in certain aspects, but all I care about is whether or not I'm going to have fun. Will I care if the game gets a bad review? No, I'm going to see for myself (that's why I don't pay attention to reviews, hardly). All in all, it wasn't my favorite, but I damn-sure had fun.

Now, switching to Black and White, I was bored, after the main story. I caught a few pokémon, and left it to collect dust, for a few months. Then, I came back to it, played for 10 minutes and got bored with it. Basically, it wasn't as fun as I'd hope it to be. Granted, it was refreshing to see all-new pokémon, but they didn't leave anything to be desired, IMO.

I hope that clarifies my previous posts.

 

[Noctis]

The Generation III reboot was successful, but some aspects of the Gen III games were horrible. GameFreak threw many revolutionary ideas out of the window. The lack of a day-night cycle was the worst decision GameFreak made.