Pokemon devs not planning Wii game or MMO

Hear, hear!

Now, I wouldn't mind a Pokemon MMO, if done right. But for so long, I've felt that Pokemon is right at home in its current state--in my pocket. Despite the limitations placed by Nintendo on online play, I've still managed to communicate with other people, acquiring Pokemon I couldn't and battling strangers, all the while meeting new people.

In short, I'm satisfied with the state of Pokemon right now.

(Oh...and if anyone would like to see my Pokes (perhaps some trading too?)...http://www.marriland.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=95&t=190583)

Wait, Pokemon still has it soul? After 10 years of rehash? If any other game came out like that, people would hate all over it. I mean, say what you want about the game (I've never played it, but it must be fun to sell so well), but you can't say that they don't care about the bottom line when they've played it completely safe since the beginning, taking no risks and basically porting it from handheld to handheld. They lucked upon a sweet game mechanic, and have done nothing beyond that.

I don't see why playing against someone online would be that much different, if implemented properly. You'd probably meet some people and make new friends (hell, people get married in WoW), and it seems like such a logical step. And how about this, if you don't want to play online and are happy with your friends, then don't. But if I ever wanted to try out this community thing you are talking about (which I assume you can't really get playing on a handheld by yourself), I have no friends who are interested in it, and the internet is the only place I'd be able to do so. As other people said, not every one is either still in grade school or has friends around who are interested in said things, so why deny others the opportunity to experience your enjoyment?

I've made plenty of perfectly good friends over xbox live. XBL happens to be one of the least friendly atmospheres around and I've made friends on it that I would consider crossing the country to go visit. In fact, one of my roommates friends that he met on XBL came 5 hours to visit us this past weekend. If I can meet someone on XBOX Live and consider them my friend, then I believe I can just as easily do so in the world of Pokemon and get just as much emotional gratification out of a trade or battle as I could if I met them in person.

You are right though. A good amount of people don't take the connection they have with a person through a game seriously. Many ignore communication functions or are abusive of them. It all just comes down to finding the right people and giving off a sense of friendliness yourself.

@ aristokrat

You're misinterpreting me I think: Of course they care about the bottom line, I was only saying that I think as game developers, and parents, they also care about producing a product that is important and something that has always been important to the Pokémon formula has been communication and friendship.

Playing against someone online is radically different because the mode is different. You can't see their face, you can't (generally) hear their voice; you might as well be playing a robot or computer. Maybe if you've never played the game face to face it'd be harder to empathize but I think there's definitely something to that face-to-face communication.

Yes, people get married in WoW. Barring how that generally works out (read: not well), I'm sure you can recognize that they are in the minority, and indeed its the same case for anyone who ever builds a lasting friendship outside of the game.

I'm not denying anyone any enjoyment. I think that the MMO model is not a suitable one for Pokémon. I don't think it would work and I think it would change what makes Pokémon unique. In fact, I'd even say that the decidedly "safe" direction the games have been moving in (or not) is one of the things that makes the game stand out, and thats what I love about the franchise. Everything I loved in Pokémon Red Version when I was in elementary school is still in there, and so much more: people always seem to forget about the innovation that IS there, be it contests, double battles, the battle frontier, day and night (or a working clock for that matter), shiny pokémon, animated sprites... To say the series is at a standstill is simply wrong. Granted, employing some artistic license in the story-telling department is something I think we'd all appreciate.

They're getting there. Between GTS, Battle Tower, and adding Online Underground to Platinum, its getting closer. Of course, with Nintendo at the helm, they'll run up against the limits of how online the game could go right quick, and as evidenced here, they don't want it nor need it to be online-centric.

"Gamefreak seem to have this bizzare idea that you're constantly surrounded by hundreds of people all playing pokémon at the same time."

the reality of living in japan

Hell yeah!

Oh no, they love money. They go to bed every night on stacks of 10,000 yen bills.

@Donald: They've begun to weave special tatami mats for these guys.

Game reporting needs its John Stewart to keep it in check.

Or might be ZeroPunctuation can start also comment on game reporting. I'd watch that.

Because you can charge an annual/monthly fee for an MMO and thus make even more money that way.

And since it's Pokemon they could charge whatever fee they want and people will still eat it up.

Well said, but a Pokemon MMO would be instant awesome