Where is Generation III going?

[Silktree]

In the past year I have touched upon this subject to the point of mild (hopefully) obsession. My view has not changed since Diamond and Pearl took the place of the GBA games as the main series.

But it is because my opinion has not changed that it would be redundant of me to write down my thoughts on the matter for the upteenth time. I want to see what other fans think for a change - the less biased their opinion, the better.

Do you find that Diamond and Pearl render the GBA games obsolete? If not, how can these games retain a certain level of stature - the kind of which the GB games have lost?

In a nutshell, is Generation IV to Generation III as Generation III was to Generation II and Generation II was to Generation I?

 

[Nick]

Actually no, I do not find Generation III games obsolete. In fact, I depend on my Japanese GBA games to trade TMs over on mules (Diablo II term for item storage people or in this case Pokémon) via Pal Park. I also still find the Generation III games very interesting, and will be replaying through at least Ruby when I get done with Diamond.

Heh, this person on YouTube who has put up some very impressive videos of him/her completely destroying in battles against the Frontier Brains in Emerald (and they seem legit) which has also increased my interest once again in the previous generation.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=fujisaki11

 

[Doctor Oak]

I fail to see why it matters. If you want to play a Generation III game... play it.

No need to whine on about it.

 

[Nick]

I fail to see why it matters. If you want to play a Generation III game... play it.

No need to whine on about it.

Is that for me or Unown Lord. If for me, pardon if the response seemed as though it was whining, I was just trying to make a point about my opinion. Sometimes my posts seem more vicious then they actually are, so pardon if there's any confusion caused over it.

 

[Jukain]

D/P depends on the previous gen for quite a bit of pokemon. It even expands on its TM list. Does this mean they like the third gen more? I don't think so. Does it mean they have something in mind? Unlikely. As far as I know, Gamefreak just knows the high importance backwards compatibility has. Albeit, for this gen, the link only goes one way; to the fourth gen. I have no problems with the third or fourth gen, I just think that all that can be said for the third gen has already been said, and there is no more to tell.

 

[Silktree]

I don't see anyone whining in this thread.

This is not a discussion about whether or not it makes sense to play the games. There is a long way to go before that becomes a real question.

This is a discussion about whether or not 2007 should see more of this . If Winter is any indication, players who have played Diamond and Pearl for long enough eventually return to their GBA games. Is it possible that the two generations will "co-exist" in that one series of games can replace the other once the play-time loses its freshness, then vice-versa, and so forth?

 

[Æsahættr]

Well, I agree with Sceptile. D/P (using the dual slot function) does depend on GBA games quite a bit. And, Gen III still has a HUGE fanbase. But, worst case scenario, Gen III could become just, as Winter said, mules for filling the National Dex on D/P.

P.S: Remember, I said Worst Case Scenario.

 

[Habunake]

I see Gen III going where Gen II went when R/S came out.

 

[Æsahættr]

Gen II went into the drawer. Gen III will be going on the shelf. I say this because Gen III was not backwards compatible making Gen II near to redundant. D/P will still give R/S/E/FR/LG a workout.

 

[Habunake]

Well, the same as GS being compatible with RBY did. I doubt we will have any "Gen III" games now, which I really don't get exactly what you mean by that.......

 

[Æsahættr]

Not going on Store shelves. Lol. I meant metaphorically. After R/S, Gen II became redundant so people put them away in their drawers. R/S/E will begoing on peoples shelves because they'll still be useful. That really wasn't metaphorical was it?

 

[Habunake]

Ah, ok, I get it.

But I expect every game from now on too have Fouth Gen Pokemon in it as well. I highly doubt we will get anymore games just compatible with Gen III.

 

[Argy]

I think the Battle Frontier saved Gen III from being pushed completely aside by Gen IV. I've seen Ruby and Sapphire in clearance bins, and FireRed and LeafGreen have gotten price cuts.

 

[Silktree]

The GBA games are no doubt intertwined in Generation IV as much as the GB games bore significance to Generation II. There is a major difference between the two generation families, though, which is the fact that Generation IV does not "rectify" Generation III--no one can argue that the GBA games are out of his league after having played Diamond and Pearl, which was actually an acceptable claim regarding Generation I at the time.

Generation III consists of 5 GBA entries and two complementrary GameCube games. It will be some time before the same number can be ascribed to Generation IV. That time will no doubt come, but as it stands Generation III offers a greater variety, justifying the usage of the term generation as opposed to simply "RS".

It is interesting to note that Game Freak had even more in plan for Generation III than what they had produced before shifting to Diamond and Pearl. This is rarely acknowledged when discussing the prospect of a third game to FireRed and LeafGreen--viewed as absurd by some, or as desirable for seemingly no reason by others. As for Game Freak, perhaps the following lines from the ending of Emerald have a meaning:

And where will you go from here?
... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ...
Fufufu, even I couldn't tell you that.

 

[Doctor Oak]

I think the Battle Frontier saved Gen III from being pushed completely aside by Gen IV. I've seen Ruby and Sapphire in clearance bins, and FireRed and LeafGreen have gotten price cuts.

Lord knows where you shop, but everywhere around here sells all the GBA main games at full price. That's R/S/Fr/Lg/E all at the full £35 whack.

 

[Cybersai]

Lord knows where you shop, but everywhere around here sells all the GBA main games at full price. That's R/S/Fr/Lg/E all at the full £35 whack.

It's called the United States, FR/LG are part of the Player's choice line and sell for only $19.99.

I'm not sure if Nintendo cut the price for the games outside the U.S.

 

[Lil Brother]

The annoying part of them becoming Player's Choice was that it was only a couple months after I picked up FR for me and LG for my sister.

I could have used those $20 for something else, Nintendo!

 

[Doctor Oak]

There was no Player's Choice range for the GBA in Europe. Though most games were cut in price fairly quickly anyway 'cause no-one was buying them/they were crap.

All the Pokemon games still get sold full price though - 'cause obviously they actually sell.

 

[Nick]

Lord knows where you shop, but everywhere around here sells all the GBA main games at full price. That's R/S/Fr/Lg/E all at the full £35 whack.

At most mainstream stores in America, Emerald is on sale while Ruby/Sapphire aren't. Of course, that's also because in America, Ruby and Sapphire were released in March 2003 and Emerald in May of 2005. Probably by the middle of next year in America, Emerald will be taken off of the front section of most shops that still sell GBA games.

 

[Silktree]

I have a suggestion for a possible means by which the GBA games can "remain on shelves", as it were.

As most of us know, there are 90 Pokémon exclusive (the term is used loosely here) to the GBA versions, four of which are actually Generation IV Pokémon--Mojanbo, Elekible, Booburn and Glion. This means that alone, Diamond and Pearl only account for 398 Pokémon, or 400 considering that Manaphy and Phione have been unveiled (unlike Darkrai, Sheimi and Arseus). However, the Pokémon Company is not treating this fact as benefitting the GBA series' prominence, but rather as adding multiple fabrics to the completion of the National Dex in Diamond and Pearl. We can therefore see Groudon and Kyogre associated with Battle Revolution, even though the game is incompatible with the GBA.

The above number of 90 can be reduced. First of all, 39 Pokémon are taken care of by inserting the GBA cartridges, while not removing data from the GBA games (as opposed to Pal Park). As for Pal Park itself, Tangela (available in FireRed, LeafGreen and XD) and Tropius (available in Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald and Colosseum) can be caught multiple times. The other 48 (starters and legendaries) require the following assumption: an involved player of Generation III is supposed to own either Ruby or Sapphire, either FireRed or LeafGreen, as well as Emerald, Colosseum and XD. In this way, the starters can be bred and there are multiple legendaries to "spare" (by transferring to Diamond and Pearl).

The above is not entirely correct, as the Kanto starters, Mewtwo and two of the legendary beasts (only one can be acquired in addition to the three in Colosseum) all require both FireRed and LeafGreen, rather than just one. This has to do with the lack of a third game. Regardless, the more important topic at hand is the eight event Pokémon--Mew, Lugia, Ho-oh, Celebi, Latias, Latios, Jirachi and Deoxys--called phantom Pokémon in Japan.

The Pokémon Company actually recognizes these 8 phantom Pokémon as "Pokémon appearing only in the GBA series". That is the description for Lugia, Ho-oh, Latias and Latios in the current promotion. You will notice that there is not a sole reference to the new DS series on the page, yet the campaign is very much ongoing and up to date with Japan's standards. Distributing the Mysticticket and Eonticket assures that players have more than one Lugia (XD), Ho-oh (Colosseum), Latias and Latios (even with both Ruby and Sapphire, only one of the two can be spared thanks to Emerald).

But Mew, Celebi, Jirachi and Deoxys are more essential in this regard; with them it is not a matter of sparing, but having at least one with which to begin. Of particular note is Deoxys, the transfer of which is encouraged by Diamond and Pearl, yet there has only been a grand total of one event to obtain it for the GBA games in Japan. The data of Birth Island in Emerald has so far gone wasted.

Wii opens up a word of options with WiiConnect24, a Wi-Fi download service, which can host DS Download Play downloads triggering Mystery Gift in FireRed, LeafGreen and Emerald. Should the Mysticticket/Eon Ticket promotion lead to support of GBA downloads in WiiConnect24 throughout 2007?