Pokemon MMO

[The REAL Joey]

We've had discussions on this before i'm sure and how awesome it would be. I am still of the believe that it would instantly draw a huge crowd and if done right could tap into infinite amounts of potential but over the last year i've been thinking about it and the more I do, the less plausible it seems.

For one, Nintendo's track history in the online world is sub-par at best. We have the annoyance of Friend Codes and all the online systems they've put out could have been improved in a number of ways (Partially down to hardware as well)

Secondly, the Pokemon brand itself. Pokemon since its inception has been predominately aimed at kids and focused itself on being family friendly. If an MMO is constructed it is going to be a LOT harder to maintain that especially with certain groups of people on the internet.

And one final other point is the fact the Pokemon creators themselves do not seem interested in the idea at all. I remember looking at an interview ONM had with Matsuda and Sugimori and they were both very adamant on that is not where Pokemon's future lie and instead they will be sticking to their guns of a portable adventure.

I'm sure there are other things that stop this from becoming little more than a pipedream but alas. All I can say is at least we have a roleplaying forum such as ZapdosZulu. In many ways, it's probably the best thing we'll get to an MMORPG Pokemon game. We've mirrored the system perfectly on the games and have interaction between players.

[revolvingscott]

On behalf of ZapdosZulu, awk shucks, thanks for the compliments

I agree. The main problem is that, since it's aimed at children, few parents will let their child walk around with strangers online. Since, as we all know, THE INTERNET IS PAEDO-CITY.

[The REAL Joey]

I can see swastika formations with players already.

Could you also imagine how much the monthly fee subscription would be? It being Pokemon I can see myself being drawn to it and racking up a very huge expense! Oh and I thought of another point. Nintendo being Nintendo, they aren't going to be too happy to release their MMO on a computer (Which in all honesty, seems the perfect platform for that sort of genre). Sure there's been the odd one or two MMO on home consoles but I can just seeing it be restricted in that sense.

[camtoniac]

Yeah, as unbelievably brilliant as it could potentially be, I can't see it happening.. I can imagine something a bit MMOish coming out as an online feature for a Wii game, but not in a fullfledged game with free interactions or whatever. We can't even choose what we write on the ingame letters we can send ffs

BUT CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW GREAT IT WOULD BE /dreamland

[The REAL Joey]

The Underground mining system in GenIV and the Entralink in GenV are very, VERY botched examples of the potential to be had. In B&W it was pretty funny running about as this eerie figure trying to find your friend's character.

Hm, thinking of that, I would definitely prefer having something like a two player co-operative Pokemon game as opposed to a fully fledged MMO. At least with the co-operative idea they've already tested the waters with it so to speak.

[revolvingscott]

May 13, 2011 2:05:14 GMT 11 The REAL Joey said:

I can see swastika formations with players already.

Could you also imagine how much the monthly fee subscription would be? It being Pokemon I can see myself being drawn to it and racking up a very huge expense! Oh and I thought of another point. Nintendo being Nintendo, they aren't going to be too happy to release their MMO on a computer (Which in all honesty, seems the perfect platform for that sort of genre). Sure there's been the odd one or two MMO on home consoles but I can just seeing it be restricted in that sense.

Oh God, it'd be on the Wii! D: You're right! D:

Here, have a visual representation:



You're welcome, Cammy.

[The REAL Joey]

The only two games I can think of that have had absolutely brilliant online is Mario Kart (Say what you will about the game itself but it never lags and i've never had any faults) and Monster Hunter Tri (which admittedly didn't use the Nintendo WiFi servers and used their own Capcom ones instead).

All this talk of pedos is really making me think if an MMO was ever developed we'd have to use premade text responses in order to converse. It'd just be balls. With an MMO you NEED the ability to talk to one another. It'd be sacrilege otherwise.

[revolvingscott]

May 13, 2011 2:16:34 GMT 11 The REAL Joey said:

All this talk of pedos is really making me think if an MMO was ever developed we'd have to use premade text responses in order to converse. It'd just be balls. With an MMO you NEED the ability to talk to one another. It'd be sacrilege otherwise.

We would, yes. Which is why the game wouldn't sell. No amount of protection is going to stop angry parents and few older fans will want to talk about 'EDUCATING ABRA FOR ALL'... They'll want to converse. I may still buy it but then there's the subscription fees... No, wouldn't be able to afford it.

[The REAL Joey]

The more we talk about it, the more flaws i'm seeing. While subscription fees don't bother most MMO players (WoW has done pretty well considering it has the fees), people like you and me are going to be a lot more careful in dropping a monthly subscription on it. If they can get it down to like £8 (Which I think is a pretty average fee for most MMOs) then it's debatable. But then there is also the issue that the legions of children that make up the composition of the Pokemon series won't be able to as easily get a subscription fee due to not having required credit/debit cards. Of course, parents would be able to but it makes them that more reluctant.

Their current business model of releasing new generations and then a director's cut along with previous gen remakes seems to be bringing in the dosh well enough.

[revolvingscott]

May 13, 2011 2:27:24 GMT 11 The REAL Joey said:

Their current business model of releasing new generations and then a director's cut along with previous gen remakes seems to be bringing in the dosh well enough.

I agree. They could always do something like this if they've decided to end the pokémon franchise and just want to leave giving us everything they could. Though, they most likely won't want to end it while it's bringing in the money... Which, although possible, I don't think will happen for a good long while at least. And even if they did, doubt they'd do something like this.

But if they're ending the franchise, they may just say '***** it' and release it without the disgusting pre-made text. Which is a plus.

[The REAL Joey]

Haha, i've seen people say this of a lot of companies. "If Square Enix goes bust they'll release an updated remake of FFVII" I suppose the same could be said of Nintendo. If if it ever gets as bad as it did with the Gamecube (Apparently if the Wii had not been such a success they may have folded due to how down they were) they can always release this as their shining trump card. The amusing thing is, when Pokemon first came out, people labelled it a fad. "It'll die out not long after!" And yet a good decade on and its still selling as strong as ever. I think they've got a lot left to milk really.