Pokemon Burnt Out On Pokémon?

Junichi Masuda made an interview recently about ORAS that I found to be quite appalling especially for his reasons as to why the Battle Frontier was removed from the Hoenn remakes among other issues:

https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/co...with_junichi_masuada_reasoning_behind/cmo8u8g

Let that sink in for a minute and discuss. There's also an interesting blog about Pokémon's audience getting older If anyone is interested in reading it:

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/12/01/pokemons-audience-growing-older/
 
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Yorepoor, I have to say in terms of freedom I don't feel that any Pokemon game has that kind of feel too it, regardless fo whether you want to talk Red/Blue the latest ORAS or anything in between. In fact really the only two games I have ever played that I thought came the closest to that would be Final Fantasy X and Super Mario RPG.

Admittedly I have ORAS but I honestly haven't played them yet. Part of that is just the way things are during the holidays, especially when one works retail as I do, but another part of that does kind of come from being a bit burnt out myself. I have several grand VG plans and right now no ambition to make it happen. I have to say though for the record the lack of Battle Frontier doesn't concern me. I barely touched it in the original days anyway and there is no guarantee that I would do so now.

I know this would never happen but what they need to do is release a really good long term console game for their console (not handheld as really those are pretty limited compared to consoles,though one could argue both are limited compared to PC) platform that would have a new adventure but with more exploring options that are present in modern rpg's and with ways as the game ultimately progresses of gradually adding new regions and the ability to get Pokemon that you previously couldn't get.

I do think TCG is kind of linear with very little strategy, which might be one of the reasons I collect and not play. The problem is it's hard to find the right kind of complexity. I think at times Yugioh is more complex than needed and the first ccg I was into was more complex than either one of these (set up itself could take near an hour if done by the book) and that same company had another ccg on their property license that I heard more than once was even more complex.
 
Card Slinger J said:
Junichi Masuda made an interview recently about ORAS that I found to be quite appalling especially for his reasons as to why the Battle Frontier was removed from the Hoenn remakes among other issues:

http://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/2olg6s/interview_with_junichi_masuada_reasoning_behind/cmo8u8g

Let that sink in for a minute and discuss. There's also an interesting blog about Pokémon's audience getting older If anyone is interested in reading it:

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/12/01/pokemons-audience-growing-older/
Click to expand...

Masuda taking the "new generation is a bunch of babies" outlook too far.

Does it matter if your content will be fully played by every player? Let's say only 10% of your audience actually play it. In Pokemon terms that's still a lot of people.

Honestly it sounds like he was just being lazy or they were more time constrained than planned.
 
Card Slinger J said:
Junichi Masuda made an interview recently about ORAS that I found to be quite appalling especially for his reasons as to why the Battle Frontier was removed from the Hoenn remakes among other issues:

http://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/2olg6s/interview_with_junichi_masuada_reasoning_behind/cmo8u8g

Let that sink in for a minute and discuss. There's also an interesting blog about Pokémon's audience getting older If anyone is interested in reading it:

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/12/01/pokemons-audience-growing-older/
Click to expand...

I was wondering when someone would bring this up.

Yeah, it's pretty clear that the only thing on Masuda's mind is "casuals = $$$", the entire game revolves around them to a ridiculous degree. And that line of thinking is even more laughable when you take the Siliconera article into consideration. Because there's one key factor that Masuda isn't considering: the hardware. If people don't have time for video games as he claims, why would they bother buying a video game centric console? Casuals are firmly entrenched in the mobile market, they view video games as simply one part of a larger multimedia package and they're not going to get that out of the 3DS. So Masuda is appealing to a market that doesn't even care, if he wants Pokemon to go casual it needs to move to mobile (if that's even possible, could Game Freak break away from Nintendo or are they contractually obligated to remain Nintendo exclusive?). But yeah, I can't take him seriously after reading this interview, it seems like he's lost touch with reality. Either Nintendo should step in and knock some sense into him or he needs to step down and someone else with a better vision for this series needs to take over.
 
Card Slinger J said:
Junichi Masuda made an interview recently about ORAS that I found to be quite appalling especially for his reasons as to why the Battle Frontier was removed from the Hoenn remakes among other issues:

http://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/2olg6s/interview_with_junichi_masuada_reasoning_behind/cmo8u8g

Let that sink in for a minute and discuss. There's also an interesting blog about Pokémon's audience getting older If anyone is interested in reading it:

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/12/01/pokemons-audience-growing-older/
Click to expand...

I'm honestly not that bothered by the battle frontier not being in oras.
Really i was never good enough to get to the brains.
 
In this case, it just makes next to no sense. The Battle Maison functions in the same manner as the Battle Frontier, only it's way less exciting, way less unique, and feels way less rewarding. It's just standard endless battle mode. The Battle Frontier had something for everyone, not adding it is dumb. The Battle Tower alone covers everything that the Battle Maison does, and you have the option if another six facilties if just battling forever makes you feel bored.
Yeah, in the end most people feel burnt out cos the franchise is supposedly targetting new fans and not the old ones... only it does so in the wrong way.
 
Honestly, it looks to me like Masuda worded the answer poorly (not to mention the interview is translated) while also missing the point of the question.

First off, it was clear there wouldn't be a BF in these games way ahead of release. Just the absence of any mention whatsoever in the marketing was a huge clue. Especially considering that it's a feature big enough that it was the main thing they were showing off leading up to Emeralds release, but even moreso considering they had no problem whatsoever in spoilering the Delta Episode for no reason.

And secondly, a big feature like the Battle Frontier is not just something small they can slap onto a game a week before it's out (or when people go so far as to say they've "taken it out" ^^" this is worse than the customisation whining). It requires investing a decent amount of development time into it, and simply looking back, just remember at what points in the past they got around to making a battle frontier so far:
-Emerald
-Platinum
Notice what those have in common?
The basis for them was a full pre-existing game at the start of development. In neither of those 2 projects did they have to create a game from scratch. They merely modified and improved, so of course the development time will go into something bigger for a core audience rather than the casuals.
In ORAS, they had their hands full with remaking the whole Hoenn region and story from scratch, bringing it up to date with 3 generations of improvements, keeping up with the standard we're used to atm, adding new designs, AND even decided to add a bunch of really cool features like Soaring and the DexNav. For just a year after XY, they did a tremendous job (on the other hand, they work on more projects simultaneously for a few past gens already anyway, but then the business standpoint kicks in, ala how much more development is worth putting in for how much predicted additional profit. And we all know ORAS sales would have been marginaly different with however much more content they'd have put into these game. So any extra development is of better use for whatever the next game is)

And that brings me to my point: it wasn't because they don't care about non-casuals anymore ever, it was simply a matter of priorities and time constraints.
They're always alternating on the subejcts of nostalgia vs fresh, casuals vs core-fans, evolutions vs standalone region etc..

I'm fairly confident we will see the Battle Frontier reinvented in the Kalos sequel, if not earlier (whether that's a Delta Emerald with unexpected twists to justify it, or as an e-shop exclusive pokebank compatible game based on ORAS like the demo we had or who knows what).

Gamefreak have a habit of being awfully unprepared and missing the point in interviews, especially when they're not being interviewed in japanese..
 
Chaos Jackal said:
Yeah, in the end most people feel burnt out cos the franchise is supposedly targetting new fans and not the old ones... only it does so in the wrong way.
Click to expand...

The only reason why Nintendo/Game Freak doesn't want to cater to both the old and new fanbases of the Pokémon franchise is because they think it will hurt their "image" as a company which is already being reflected by their other IP's and it makes it look as If Nintendo/Game Freak refuses to acknowledge the fanbase that made Pokémon a pop culture phenomenon. So what If the fanbase that grew up with the franchise are young adults now that's no reason to sweep them under the rug just to cater to a younger fanbase that didn't get the privilege to experience what Pokémon was like when it was at it's prime in the late 90's and early 2000's when they weren't even born yet.

If Nintendo/Game Freak got away with the kind of business practices they've been doing recently with the majority of their IP's in the last 16+ years, Pokémon would have never become the pop culture phenomenon it is today let alone ANY Nintendo IP for that matter. How does a video game company go with a successful game formula only to be reduced to milking it for money solely for the sake of milking it for money without actually taking into account some form of innovation that's desperately needed to save their IP's cause at the current rate Nintendo is going with the Pokémon franchise (especially when it comes to Mario and Zelda) they're no better than Activision when it comes to milking sequels for Call of Duty let alone Ubisoft with Assassin's Creed.
 
Card Slinger J said:
Let that sink in for a minute and discuss. There's also an interesting blog about Pokémon's audience getting older If anyone is interested in reading it:

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/12/01/pokemons-audience-growing-older/
Click to expand...

Hmm..

Perhaps it would be a good idea to split the main series into (still compatible of course) 2 kinds of games?
With alternating releases they could put out games for new kids/"everyone"/casuals/nostalgia-milking, and more serious games/for core fans/with focus on expanding the pokemon world rather than trying to bring back what we already experienced..

this way if "gaining" new kids to the franchise continues failing, at least the actual fans won't feel ignored perhaps.
 
I love Pokémon and always will. XY made me feel kinda disappointed, because even though I love the fairy-type/Lysandre/Diantha/Player Costumization, soundtrack was bland apart from some tracks, legendary catch rate felt low as hell, evil team felt like a rehash from DP and no post game. ORAS is awesome, even though I've only played for like 40 hours and got it 3 days before release. Too bad that Persona Q got out in the same day. Also, I play TCG competitively, so yeah, always loving mah pokeymanz
 
Mitja said:
Honestly, it looks to me like Masuda worded the answer poorly (not to mention the interview is translated) while also missing the point of the question.

First off, it was clear there wouldn't be a BF in these games way ahead of release. Just the absence of any mention whatsoever in the marketing was a huge clue. Especially considering that it's a feature big enough that it was the main thing they were showing off leading up to Emeralds release, but even moreso considering they had no problem whatsoever in spoilering the Delta Episode for no reason.

And secondly, a big feature like the Battle Frontier is not just something small they can slap onto a game a week before it's out (or when people go so far as to say they've "taken it out" ^^" this is worse than the customisation whining). It requires investing a decent amount of development time into it, and simply looking back, just remember at what points in the past they got around to making a battle frontier so far:
-Emerald
-Platinum
Notice what those have in common?
The basis for them was a full pre-existing game at the start of development. In neither of those 2 projects did they have to create a game from scratch. They merely modified and improved, so of course the development time will go into something bigger for a core audience rather than the casuals.
In ORAS, they had their hands full with remaking the whole Hoenn region and story from scratch, bringing it up to date with 3 generations of improvements, keeping up with the standard we're used to atm, adding new designs, AND even decided to add a bunch of really cool features like Soaring and the DexNav. For just a year after XY, they did a tremendous job (on the other hand, they work on more projects simultaneously for a few past gens already anyway, but then the business standpoint kicks in, ala how much more development is worth putting in for how much predicted additional profit. And we all know ORAS sales would have been marginaly different with however much more content they'd have put into these game. So any extra development is of better use for whatever the next game is)
And that brings me to my point: it wasn't because they don't care about non-casuals anymore ever, it was simply a matter of priorities and time constraints.)
They're always alternating on the subejcts of nostalgia vs fresh, casuals vs core-fans, evolutions vs standalone region etc..

I'm fairly confident we will see the Battle Frontier reinvented in the Kalos sequel, if not earlier (whether that's a Delta Emerald with unexpected twists to justify it, or as an e-shop exclusive pokebank compatible game based on ORAS like the demo we had or who knows what).

Gamefreak have a habit of being awfully unprepared and missing the point in interviews, especially when they're not being interviewed in japanese..
Click to expand...

We all know GF is always thinking ahead so ASOR was already and probably with good development, at least in concept. ASOR didn't have the novelty of 3D, despite requiring the usual work of building a region, not to mention that time constraints are created when a deadline - and a stupid one in this case - is created. GF is simply losing their sh*t! It appears that delaying a game is bad (have they not seen AC: Unity's example?). It's better to take some more time and deliver a game with everything, including features that were novelty and well received (and long wanted) by fans than making a game that doesn't know what it wants to be or it simply wants to be a prostitute.
Let's face it, 3D requires work but not only ASOR wasn't the one introducing that novelty but also the game didn't needed to be in 3D. If they want to make a great Pokémon game in 3D, go to the WiiU, instead of betting on graphics that take room and force them to not introduce/keep older features. And to those that say it would be stupid to still make a 2D game on 3DS, then look at Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, made in 2D for the PSOne and that is the best in the series because Konami stayed true and didn't tried to take a step bigger than their legs.
 
I haven't been playing Pokemon much lately, but its not due to a perceived sad event happening within the community/company to discourage me, I just really got into fighting games recently. I'll probably pick up Smash Bros "4" if I ever get lucky, and I would REALLY like to try Pokken. If anything might convince me to get a Wii U, its Pokken.
 
PumpedAaron said:
I haven't been playing Pokemon much lately, but its not due to a perceived sad event happening within the community/company to discourage me, I just really got into fighting games recently. I'll probably pick up Smash Bros "4" if I ever get lucky, and I would REALLY like to try Pokken. If anything might convince me to get a Wii U, its Pokken.
Click to expand...

While Pokken seems nice (taking into account what little we know), it unfortunately shows how the main series are gaining even more ground, with less M.Dungeon and Ranger games. Pokken seems like a late and shy approach to something different, just like Conquest.
 
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