I don't understand how Pokemon got away with it and keeps getting away with it; they release two "versions" of a game and they're literally the same game.
So for the original games it was a new idea and a new concept. You wouldn't complain about an MMO requiring an internet connection, because the entire point is playing with and connecting with others players. For Pokemon a key part of the gameplay was trading and battling with other players.
So, to further encourage trading you create two different versions with version exclusives.
Every version split beyond the first is just legacy. That's just what Pokemon games are.
Now, I completely agree that it can viewed a "evil" or done only for money, etc. I don't think that was the original intention, but I'm sure the idea crossed some minds when it was first being developed.
You also have to remember that Nintendo has pioneered, or at least popularized, a lot of video game "gimmicks" that have resulted in interesting new mechanics. In this case the trading cable. But you have the Rumble Pack for the N64, or motion controls with the Wii. Video games couldn't talk to one another before the trading cable, once it's added you get new ideas. Some bad, some good, some meh.
Actually there's a way to get mew in the original game without attending one of the events, although it relied on the missingno bug. Also you had to be aware of it very early in the game, and skip facing a particular trainer until much later. But yeah you should totally have just got it when you got all 150.
If you are referring to Nintendo as a trading card company I don't think Hanafuda cards are meant to be collected and traded like say, Magic the Gathering. If you are referring to GameFreak/The Pokémon Company as a trading card company, well, that actually came later on. Also, the "gotta catch 'em all" slogan was not part of the original vision, and I think they made it up for the international release of the anime and/or game; thus, it was most likely an American invention to — indeed — sell more crap.
Agreed. I'm glad I'm at least playing the older games in front of my kids. My 4yo loves Swanna, Haxorus and Volcarona from recently playing White and nobody has any idea what she's talking about except me. Lol
So in Japan, it was originally Pokemon Red and Green. The original third version was Blue, with bug fixes and some updated Pokemon sprites.
Japanese Blue was used as the base of the international Red and Blue versions, but for some reason they included the original sprites in international Red version. Maybe to make more differences between international Red and Blue?
Yellow was actually a fourth version, lol.
This is also why the GBA remakes were Fire Red and Leaf Green.
Red and Blue had the same graphics outside of Japan. People seeing these boxes weren't choosing between sprite work.
In fact, going by the Japanese versions, it was Blue that we never got. Red and Blue outside of Japan were just reskinned Red and Green.
Hence why one of the trainers being able to talk about the Raichu that you traded him evolving -- it came from the script of the wrong version of the game (I'm guessing Blue) even though the games have the Red/Green trades (I think).
You might have known this, but adding for clarity that the west still got Red/Green under the hood but with Blue's sprites shared between both games.
I still remember when a kid told me he figured out how to copy pokemon. You would trade using the link cable and pull the cable out in the middle of the transfer. But the crappy Ratata was the first to be sent over and then he pulled the cable and I lost my Hitmonlee.
Defeat the Elite Four 100 times with a team of only Mewtwo and Magikarps, no visiting the Pokemon Center between runs. Then fly to Cinnabar Island and walk around the island 51 times, COUNTERCLOCKWISE, then fly to Pallet Town and talk to Professor Oak who will battle you. Win the batt and he'll give you Mew.
It's funny a few months back when Pokopia was first released I was trying to lookup some information about how to find a certain Pokemon. I stumbled onto some terrible LLM generated page that started off "ok", but quickly went into full hallucination mode. It felt like the good ole days of Pokemon lies on the Internet. I just wish it has been a person lying.
In 1998 we very much had newsgroups communities and local/regional BBS that had gaming discussions, hints, maps, puzzle solutions, etc. NNTP in particular could allow the quick regional and global spread (connecting to other BBS was long distance phone charges, but still possible if you knew about them).
I remember it being the person with the good pokemon switching off the console at the right time.
Back in primary school I sacrificed my save file, pick a starter, clone it over and over again, repeat with the other starters till we had about 2 of each. Then cloned back the others to me.
From then on we could evolve one of each and keep another spare for cloning to others.
Someone somehow got a mew. So we cloned that to everyone too.
Blue had Victreebel which is the best grass type behind Venusaur (Exeggutor is mid game and is really slow to lvl so less useful for a run) and Victreebel's base 70 Speed gives Razor Leaf a 99.9% chance of landing a critical hit.
Also Meowth lets you farm money really easily which gives access to TMs.
Red has Arcanine as a standout but good fire types aren’t hard to come by and Scyther… but having the best bug type isn’t really doing anything.
55 Comments
Exulion@lemmy.world · 55 pts · 91d
But they were both deceived, for there was a third choice.
Cethin@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 90d
Not at launch. Our only choices were red and blue.
Tattorack@lemmy.world · 36 pts · 91d
I don't understand how Pokemon got away with it and keeps getting away with it; they release two "versions" of a game and they're literally the same game.
MimicJar@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 91d
So for the original games it was a new idea and a new concept. You wouldn't complain about an MMO requiring an internet connection, because the entire point is playing with and connecting with others players. For Pokemon a key part of the gameplay was trading and battling with other players.
So, to further encourage trading you create two different versions with version exclusives.
Every version split beyond the first is just legacy. That's just what Pokemon games are.
Now, I completely agree that it can viewed a "evil" or done only for money, etc. I don't think that was the original intention, but I'm sure the idea crossed some minds when it was first being developed.
You also have to remember that Nintendo has pioneered, or at least popularized, a lot of video game "gimmicks" that have resulted in interesting new mechanics. In this case the trading cable. But you have the Rumble Pack for the N64, or motion controls with the Wii. Video games couldn't talk to one another before the trading cable, once it's added you get new ideas. Some bad, some good, some meh.
Tattorack@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 91d
They are a trading card company. Before videogames trading cards had all the scummiest techniques to get people to buy more.
One of Pokemon's main catchphrases is "Gotta catch 'em all!"
Cypher@aussie.zone · 8 pts · 91d
And it was impossible to catch mew.
I’ve always had a little hatred for Game Freak because of that.
silasmariner@programming.dev · 4 pts · 90d
Actually there's a way to get mew in the original game without attending one of the events, although it relied on the missingno bug. Also you had to be aware of it very early in the game, and skip facing a particular trainer until much later. But yeah you should totally have just got it when you got all 150.
Cypher@aussie.zone · 6 pts · 90d
I’m aware of the bug and have confirmed it works on original hardware but it wasn’t intended by Gamefreak so they’re still pricks.
silasmariner@programming.dev · 3 pts · 90d
Completely reasonable position to hold, have a great day
maxalmonte14@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 90d
If you are referring to Nintendo as a trading card company I don't think Hanafuda cards are meant to be collected and traded like say, Magic the Gathering. If you are referring to GameFreak/The Pokémon Company as a trading card company, well, that actually came later on. Also, the "gotta catch 'em all" slogan was not part of the original vision, and I think they made it up for the international release of the anime and/or game; thus, it was most likely an American invention to — indeed — sell more crap.
nullspace@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 90d
Yeah, that tagline was an American addition. The character Ash Ketchum was named Satosi in Japan, being named after the creator of Pokemon.
The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 91d
You don't become the most profitable IP of all time without a few tricks, lol
taiyang@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 91d
Tbf, that's not driven solely by their game sales. Both my kids literally wearing Pokemon clothes right now, lol
nullspace@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 90d
The (recent) games are just ads for the mech. It's why they're so cheap-looking and buggy.
taiyang@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 90d
Agreed. I'm glad I'm at least playing the older games in front of my kids. My 4yo loves Swanna, Haxorus and Volcarona from recently playing White and nobody has any idea what she's talking about except me. Lol
greedytacothief@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 91d
Genuinely surprised by fist of the north star, like it's totally badass, so deserved. But it's not really kid friendly.
The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 91d
Maybe that's why it's not merch heavy
slazer2au@lemmy.world · 34 pts · 91d
The real choice was Yellow.
Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 91d
That came out over a year later.
Leviathan@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 90d
Yeah, it wasn't even an option then and people who got yellow later were not immediately welcome.
nullspace@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 90d
Intro music wasn't nearly as awesome and getting all the starters was kinda cheap.
wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 24 pts · 91d
Blue had better Pokemon sprites (graphics).
So in Japan, it was originally Pokemon Red and Green. The original third version was Blue, with bug fixes and some updated Pokemon sprites.
Japanese Blue was used as the base of the international Red and Blue versions, but for some reason they included the original sprites in international Red version. Maybe to make more differences between international Red and Blue?
Yellow was actually a fourth version, lol.
This is also why the GBA remakes were Fire Red and Leaf Green.
otp@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 91d
Red and Blue had the same graphics outside of Japan. People seeing these boxes weren't choosing between sprite work.
In fact, going by the Japanese versions, it was Blue that we never got. Red and Blue outside of Japan were just reskinned Red and Green.
Hence why one of the trainers being able to talk about the Raichu that you traded him evolving -- it came from the script of the wrong version of the game (I'm guessing Blue) even though the games have the Red/Green trades (I think).
You might have known this, but adding for clarity that the west still got Red/Green under the hood but with Blue's sprites shared between both games.
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 15 pts · 91d
I got blue and my brother got red. To this day he's still a little bitch.
SleeplessCityLights@programming.dev · 5 pts · 91d
As the sibling who got red, fuck you too.
glimse@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 90d
POV you're looking at Mr. Burns buying ketchup
happysplinter@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 90d
Catsup
adarza@piefed.ca · 11 pts · 91d
both. "gotta catch 'em all"
IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 91d
Pokemon red/green minimum requirements:
[x] Game boy
[x] Batteries
[ ] Friends
OwOarchist@pawb.social · 2 pts · 90d
Don't need friends if you've got two game boys...
CannedYeet@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 91d
I still remember when a kid told me he figured out how to copy pokemon. You would trade using the link cable and pull the cable out in the middle of the transfer. But the crappy Ratata was the first to be sent over and then he pulled the cable and I lost my Hitmonlee.
The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 91d
It's amazing how these tricks circulated pre-internet.
MimicJar@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 91d
Defeat the Elite Four 100 times with a team of only Mewtwo and Magikarps, no visiting the Pokemon Center between runs. Then fly to Cinnabar Island and walk around the island 51 times, COUNTERCLOCKWISE, then fly to Pallet Town and talk to Professor Oak who will battle you. Win the batt and he'll give you Mew.
It's funny a few months back when Pokopia was first released I was trying to lookup some information about how to find a certain Pokemon. I stumbled onto some terrible LLM generated page that started off "ok", but quickly went into full hallucination mode. It felt like the good ole days of Pokemon lies on the Internet. I just wish it has been a person lying.
nullspace@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 90d
Na, man, Mew is hiding under a truck.
pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 90d
Lol. That's great. I hope we can teach AI to claim it's uncle works for Nintendo.
farmgineer@nord.pub · 2 pts · 91d
In 1998 we very much had newsgroups communities and local/regional BBS that had gaming discussions, hints, maps, puzzle solutions, etc. NNTP in particular could allow the quick regional and global spread (connecting to other BBS was long distance phone charges, but still possible if you knew about them).
glimse@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 90d
In 1998 I knew exactly one other middle schooler nerdy enough to even know what a forum was
adavis@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 91d
I remember it being the person with the good pokemon switching off the console at the right time.
Back in primary school I sacrificed my save file, pick a starter, clone it over and over again, repeat with the other starters till we had about 2 of each. Then cloned back the others to me.
From then on we could evolve one of each and keep another spare for cloning to others.
Someone somehow got a mew. So we cloned that to everyone too.
FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 91d
The right answer is Wartortle.
commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 91d
red was the best. it had the best exclusives.
Cypher@aussie.zone · 3 pts · 91d
Blue had Victreebel which is the best grass type behind Venusaur (Exeggutor is mid game and is really slow to lvl so less useful for a run) and Victreebel's base 70 Speed gives Razor Leaf a 99.9% chance of landing a critical hit.
Also Meowth lets you farm money really easily which gives access to TMs.
Red has Arcanine as a standout but good fire types aren’t hard to come by and Scyther… but having the best bug type isn’t really doing anything.
Honestly I prefer Blue’s exclusives.
commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 91d
I was glad to have meowth. but the prima guide just seemed to slant to red, and when I play on emu, I always play red
commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 91d
the best grass is tangela.
torubrx@piefed.social · 6 pts · 91d
I always go with bulbasaur. He's always the right option
CMDR_Horn@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 91d
Wasn't much of a choice for some of us. Red was out of stock everywhere...
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 91d
You chose: Digimon
kronarbob@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 91d
The fire lizard couldn't fly back then, but I was able to surf on the turtle... Yeah blastoise is always the solid option.
Leviathan@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 90d
Red then, red now.
Don_alForno@feddit.org · 4 pts · 91d
The only choice that matters is when you pick charmander.
seeking_perhaps@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 91d
the illusion of choice
Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 91d
Fun fact, if given the choice of only primary colours, there will always be a bias towards blue.
Yellow and red makes us pay attention more, but blue gives the feeling of trust.
DylanMc6@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 90d
Why not both?
bfaliszek@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 91d
LovableSidekick@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 91d
por que no los dos?
fox2263@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 91d
The yellow one