First of all, let me clear something up: Although I do not like RPG's, I don't have any fundamental problem with people who do.
However, I do have a problem with Nintendo for essentially publishing the same god-damned game every 2 years since 1996. People complain about this sort of thing when, let's say, Call of Duty does it, but I do not very often hear people complain about Pokemon. So my question is this: How do people not get sick of endlessly buying the same game over and over again?
/rant

Maybe because it's the same goddamn game again and again, therefore guaranteeing the same level of quality again and again (assuming that they liked one game in the chain)?

The fuck are you talking about? People complain about Nintendo doing it all the time.

If you want to see a meltdown, look at the Pokemon X boards on GameFAQS. It's a hilarious terrible shitshow.

@video_game_king said:

It's probably also worth noting that they don't release these games with anywhere near the frequency of Call of Duty or similar franchises. I mean there's been, what, 6 generations of Pokemon games over 15+ years now?

@flappy: Jesus Christ, you were not wrong. This is amazinghorrifying.

They want different people to buy the games. They are always targeted at kids. Some 7 or 8 year old kid doesn't give a fuck if the new Pokemon game is similar to a game released a decade before they were born.

For new players it's a well produced, friendly, entry level rpg.

For veterans its rpg comfort food.

For both it has the appeal of expression, in picking and raising your very own team of virtual creatures.

Why do people keep buying Call of Duty? Why do people keep buying Need for Speed? Why do people keep buying Assassin's Creed? Sometimes a game has a formula people enjoy and a new setting/characters/etc. is enough for them. It's not something you need to get angry about.

Pokemon X/Y are also looking pretty significantly different from previous entries into the series, even if the core formula is still the same.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/696959-pokemon-x/67415249

They're really fucking fun games. CoD's really fucking fun, too. People generally play games to, y'know, have fun.

And X/Y looks pretty different from Black 2/White 2.

@turtlebird95: GameFAQS is a wonderful place for laughs.

I haven't bought a single Pokemon game in my life. With that said I have played a few and Game Freak hasn't really done anything too drastically over the years to make it more appealing.

The Pokemon designs are so fucking stupid right now. I mean, what the hell is this?

@nekroskop:

@nekroskop said:

I mean, what the hell is this?

It's my new favorite Pokemon! I used to think Vanillish was pretty good, but this one certainly has it beat!

They're fun. Really, what other reason do you need? Besides, they're not actually the same game every time. People whine that they don't change enough, but there have actually been some very important changes over the course of the franchise that make the experience significantly better. Going back to Red/Blue now would be next to impossible. There's also the fact that it has developed a pretty significant competitive following, which means for all intents and purposes a new Pokemon game is the equivalent of a fighting game update. (Roster updates, balance changes, new moves, new mechanics, etc.)

I recall Ryan saying at one point he enjoyed it as a low impact RPG experience, which is not far from my feelings toward the franchise.

I'll never understand people who outright claim they don't play a particular game going around whining that a game isn't doing enough to appeal to them or that other people enjoy said game. If you don't play it why do you even care?

New Pokemon with each new generation, new characters, experiences, and mechanical improvements with each new entry.

It also helps that the series has primarily sold to the same audience since its inception; children. As long as Pokemon titles are made, each new entry will be someone's first.

With the Pokemon that have come out in the last....2/3 gens, it's safe to say that Pokemon has gone the Digimon route and started taking influences from machines/other weird/obscure sources. As a person that only buys in once every couple of games (last Pokemon game I purchased was Diamond), it doesn't really bother me.

I'm sure the diehards are having conniptions, though.

They're fun and nostalgic for a lot of us. I wont be getting it because I don't have a 3DS/money/time, but I'm just a little envious of those that will be.

Because I think they're fun.

Depends on the die-hard. A Pokemon-loving friend of mine is really looking forward to X/Y.

Pokemon is still pretty rad. And that Nintendo adage still applies, especially with Pokemon - it's always some kid's first experience. Which is also pretty rad.

Because for people like me, It's something I can always come back to and enjoy. I can expect the same general formula with slight iterative improvements. In other words, the Pokemon games are comfort food. I fully expect to enjoy this game, the next and the following one after that simply because it's a formula I enjoy.

Some diehards can't wait for X/Y. It's mostly the genwunners who bemoan every new generation for it's "lack of creativity".

Because I'm a sucker.

This thread is focusing on the wrong problem. Splitting their game into two is the sin this franchise commits, except unlike Skylanders or Disney Infinity everyone gives Pokemon a pass because it came out when they were kids so...nostalgia.

@hailinel: Good point. I've spent so much time observing the GameFaqs folks that I've forgotten about the other groups.

As a person that got hooked on Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow at the age of five, I'm not sure if that same five-year old would be able to jump into X/Y. Although the basic premise is still the same, GameFreak has added a lot of layers onto the systems that they put into place 15 years ago.

"I gotta memorize the type-chart and the typings of 700+ Pokemon? So much for getting my homework done..."

@_zombie_: Gen One will always hold a special place in my heart, but Gen Two has Totodile. Gen II > All.

pokemon and nintendo players in general are the equivalent to call of duty and Madden players. They enjoy the game and never tire of the format or rules and enjoy the ways it has been updated. I feel like the same could be extended to Moba's. Humans like routine, and when we desire change, updating the maps or the players is enough. I feel like being a player who is only interested in new experiences is what deviates from the norm. Granted, as much as I can I am such a player but we all have something we are constantly replaying.

The only game I will not forgive is Zelda (except windwaker). A lot of these games may not change the gameplay too much but many of them are geared to be multiplayer. There is a structure (catch pokemon, ev train, battle friends; quickscope, level, prestige; dont feed, play your lane ...(?)) and then you have fun experiences. Zelda has a story mode that has been redone so many times, there is no variation in how the player tackles it and while they are good games it SUCKKS so bad that the backbone of the game is unchanging

Because people (including myself) like Pokemon, and it doesn't come out every year so there is a big enough gap to have a break and have the urge to play a Pokemon game again.

@brendan said:

That's really not much of a problem at all since they added online trading and you can get whatever Pokemon you want without actually owning the other version. As a fan of Pokemon there are number of things I would want to see changed before that I would care about that.

Have you not read anything on A Link Between Worlds? That game is specifically and directly addressing the old trope of beating dungeons in a specific order.

I'm curious when the main series of Pokemon will actually end. They've had a good thing going for a long time now, but when do we reach the point of too many Pokemon? I wonder if they'd ever consider wiping the slate and going for a totally new generation with no ties to the past.

Gotta catch 'em all!

Well they kind of did that with Black and White. I don't think Pokemon is going anywhere anytime soon, but I do think there will be a point where they have to get away from the idea adding 50-100+ Pokemon every gen being one of the big selling points. Eventually they'll probably just have a couple notable new ones and then put their focus on some other part of the game.

I've never followed pokemon closely, but I wonder the exact same thing. Is it really the exact same game over and over again? because that's what it looks like the the casual observer.

That seems like a HORRIBLE purchase. Even more so for me because everytime tey come out with a new game, you have to memorize a whole new slew of characters. that's what turned me off the orignal pokemon when I played it original. I LIKED it, and thought it was fun, but ultimately I just wanted to keep using my bubasaur that I had grown attached to for the rest of my life. I didn't want to learn a bunch of new pokemon and evolve the ones I already liked.

Still has an anime going targeted towards children. Children still buy it (and their parents who don't know videogames probably know what Pokemon is, so an easy Xmas present). Kinda like Mario for handhelds really.

Except you don't need to buy the other game to get all the pokemon, especially not now that you can trade over the internet.

I think the real question we should be asking here is;

Why is Ash Ketchum still a pre-teen? Is he human? What does he want from us?

I don't know about anyone else, but I definitely don't want to just keep using the same Pokemon over and over. That's why I thought Black/White was so great, because they completely cut out all the old Pokemon and only had new Pokemon until you beat the game. Just using the same Pokemon every time would be boring as hell. If that's all I wanted I would have stopped playing too.

Pokemon is a known quantity. The core structure of the games has not changed one iota from the days of R/B/Y and a consistent level of quality can be expected, so it's basically RPG comfort food. Sure, I sort of stopped playing Black version a few hours in because it seemed boring as hell, but that doesn't change the fact that I sunk an embarrassing amount of time in Diamond and Soul Silver long after I thought I was done with the series. Nostalgia is a hell of a thing.

Oh, also kids. We on "internet forums" sort of forget that there are a bunch of kids playing these games which is why Pokemon is always among Nintendo's best selling franchises.

So that's a "NO" on the Quick Look right...right?

If they QL it, it's because some suit from CBSi made them, who has no idea how boring/unprofitable the QL would be to all involved.

Don't be dumb, whatever you like it or not (I certainly don't) a new main line pokemon game is a major release and it isn't coming out in apocalypse season (november) so they will certainly do a quicklook. They've been doing quicklooks for bottom of the barrel XBLA games lately, they'll surely find time for pokemon.

On an unrelated note: Nintendo, where the fuck is my open world Pokemon WiiU action RPG? Do you hate money or something? Selling consoles to anyone but the most hardcore nintendo fanboys will require something more ambitious than the sequels to goddamn 3DS, DS and gamecube games.

Pokemon Wii U action RPG? Is this the new Pokemon MMO that everyone is sure would be a monster hit despite having no idea how such an idea would even work in practice?

Besides, they already brought out Pokemon Rumble U this year.

I'm sure someone has already said it ..

This is the first pokeyman game Ever for a big chunk of kids. Let them have their fun. You don't have to buy it, care about it, even recognize it's existence.

It's not for you dude. Move on.

@tsutohiro:

Except they Quick Looked Black/White and are clearly capable of covering 3DS games.

@pyrodactyl said:

You are basically the only person I have ever seen who has claimed to want a "open-world WiiU action RPG", so that could be a reason.

Because I want to buy it. So I can have the fun with it.

Duh.

And Klefki is a fairy that steals keys.

As much as I respect your opinion, and understand the "impact" of yet another Pokémon game. Does it really deserve a QL? I think not.