Hey, kids! I know a lot of you young'uns here on PokeBeach think SP Pokemon are a brand new addition to the gameplay, but... guess what? They're not!
I remember years and years ago browsing an issue of Beckett Pokemon and wondering when the VS series was going to be released in America. I really liked the cards in the series, and the fact you essentially got to play with Pokemon that belonged to Gym Leaders and Elite Four Members alike. Much to my dismay, though, the set was never released in America.
Medaf and I had been speculating as to why the set was never released here in the States. The best reason we could come up with was maybe WotC (who owned the Pokemon TCG at the time) felt that American players couldn't intellectually handle the idea of playing Basic Pokemon that were evolved from other Pokemon.
Tonight, I was browsing Bulbapedia to look at old rare and unreleased cards and finally found the answer to this age old inquiry; the reasoning I found is on the link I posted in the preceding paragraph:
Hmmm... high HP? Low energy-cost? Too broken? Sounds like a certain other set of cards we have today in America...
Discuss the similarities between the unreleased VS set and today's SP Pokemon? If WotC still owned Pokemon, how do you think they would have compensated for their adversity to these sorts of cards? What is your general opinion of SP cards? Do you think they did break the game to some extent, or was WotC just being a tad bit too cautious back in the day?
Additionally, I'd be curious to know if anyone knows how the metagme looked in Japan upon the release of the VS set.Did it break the game there like WotC felt it would in America?
I remember years and years ago browsing an issue of Beckett Pokemon and wondering when the VS series was going to be released in America. I really liked the cards in the series, and the fact you essentially got to play with Pokemon that belonged to Gym Leaders and Elite Four Members alike. Much to my dismay, though, the set was never released in America.
Medaf and I had been speculating as to why the set was never released here in the States. The best reason we could come up with was maybe WotC (who owned the Pokemon TCG at the time) felt that American players couldn't intellectually handle the idea of playing Basic Pokemon that were evolved from other Pokemon.
Tonight, I was browsing Bulbapedia to look at old rare and unreleased cards and finally found the answer to this age old inquiry; the reasoning I found is on the link I posted in the preceding paragraph:
- Wizards of the Coast officially stated that they had no plans to release the VS set, primarily because Wizards had competitive play in mind. The majority of Pokémon featured are fully evolved and designated basic cards. Therefore, many feature high HP and quite broken attacks for basic cards, and would give an unfair advantage in battles.
Hmmm... high HP? Low energy-cost? Too broken? Sounds like a certain other set of cards we have today in America...
Discuss the similarities between the unreleased VS set and today's SP Pokemon? If WotC still owned Pokemon, how do you think they would have compensated for their adversity to these sorts of cards? What is your general opinion of SP cards? Do you think they did break the game to some extent, or was WotC just being a tad bit too cautious back in the day?
Additionally, I'd be curious to know if anyone knows how the metagme looked in Japan upon the release of the VS set.Did it break the game there like WotC felt it would in America?