The Pokémon Story - A Look into the Games Industry

This post will be dedicated to finding out about the games industry and will focus heavily on the success of the Pokémon series. Before I start actually talking about the franchises success, let me just explain to you what exactly Pokémon is about, just in case you've been living under a rock for the past decade.

Pokémon takes place in a fictional universe that is very similar to our own with the main difference being that humans share the world with not only animals, but other creatures called Pokémon. These creatures can vary in shape and size and they all have a type. So for example, a Pokémon that lives in the sea will probably be a water type, the same as a Pokémon that lives underground is probably a ground type. All Pokémon have different names as well, to help differentiate the 500+ creatures and make them more memorable.

Pikachu, the mascot of the Pokémon franchise

These creatures can be captured and tamed with the help of a Pokéball - a contraption that catches a weakened Pokémon. These Pokémon can then be used to battle other Pokémon, although this sounds barbaric and very similar to cock or dog fighting, the Pokémon enjoy the activity and it is regarded as a competitive sport in the Pokémon universe. When a child turns ten in this universe, they are given the opportunity to become a Pokémon trainer and travel the world in search of Pokémon to train.

The Pokémon universe was created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996, who was an avid insect collector as a child, this gave him the idea for Pokémon. Satoshi Tajiri already owned a game development company with his friend Ken Sugimori called Game Freak and together they designed and created 151 different creatures for a role playing Game Boy game called Pocket Monsters (Pokémon). These original games came in two colours, red and green, distinctly different by the Pokémon you could catch in each. This meant if you wanted to catch all 151 Pokémon you would have to trade with your friends. The player was given the incentive to 'become a Pokémon master' by training and evolving their Pokémon into stronger Pokémon and beating 8 Pokémon gyms, which each housed a particularly strong opponent and then eventually battling the elite four, who were regarded as the worlds finest Pokémon trainers. 

An example of a Pokémon's evolutionary line

Instantly the game was a success and two newer, more defined versions of the game were asked for by Nintendo that would be fit for sales in the rest of the world. Thus Pokémon Red and Blue were created.
Pokémon Red and Blue
These games were praised by critics and received mostly positive reviews. The Games were also ranked third in a countdown of best games for the Game Boy. The success of the game was seen as the innovative idea and addicting game play. The multiplayer aspects of the game that included battling and trading Pokémon was also praised and proved to be very popular with children who would battle their school friends. The success of the games was also attributed to the unique appearances of the Pokémon and the chance to define who you were by the Pokémon you chose. It gave children a chance to express themselves and gave them a feeling of individualism. Soon an anime and manga series were being made and a feature length film was in the works. After such a success, it was inevitable that the series was going to continue, and it did, with the release of Pokémon Gold and Silver.

Mew, the last of the 151 original Pokémon

Pokémon Gold and Silver
Gold and Silver were released in 1999 and were highly anticipated games that had a high bar to beat, but the fans were not disappointed with this second instalment. Another 100+ Pokémon were introduced, some evolutions of older Pokémon, some prevolutions of Pokémon, but mostly brand new species. as well as new Pokémon, the game took place in a different region to the first, the 'Johto' region, before the second installment of games the first games region didn't have a name, but it was referred to as the 'Kanto' region from Gold and Silver onwards.

Magcargo, a second generation Pokémon

 Pokémon Gold and Silver provided a lot of new features for players, for example the game was now in colour as it had been made for Game Boy Colour, the game featured a day and night system with certain Pokémon only appearing at certain times of day, a radio and mobile phone system were incorporated so you could listen to in game music whenever you liked and call up beaten trainers for rematches, held items were introduced to give you the edge oer you opponent in battle, a wider variety of pokéballs became available and the chance of encountering ultra rare 'shiny' Pokémon was introduced. Reception of the game was very positive and sales beat Pokémon Yellow's (the collector's edition of Pokémon Read and Blue) record sales. And so, another instalment was planned.

 Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
The third generation of Pokémon, Ruby and Sapphire were released in 2002/3 and were set in the Hoenn region. This region was a particular favourite of mine which is why it surprises me that these games were the first received with a more negative reception. Fans were angered that they could not recover their Pokémon who they had become attached to from their Red, Blue, Crystal and Gold games, this was due to Ruby and Sapphire being switched over to Nintendo's newer console the Game Boy Advance which didn't have the ability to let the newer and older games interact with each other. However, the games received positive reviews and continued on in the list of Pokémon successes, becoming Game Boy Advance's biggest selling games. Nintendo then began planning the next Pokémon instalment.

Mudkip, a third generation Pokémon

Pokémon Diamon and Pearl
Diamond and Pearl were released in 2006 and welcomed players to the Sinnoh region. This game was more risky than others before in terms on sales in the west as most children who had grown up with Pokémon were now young adults and there were fears that not as many people would buy the games. However, these games were also big successes and were praised by critics for the use of the dual screen functions of the Nintendo DS, the newest console from Nintendo. The bottom screen could run applications found in game that ranged from a stop watch to a Pokémon happiness reader.

The bottom screen, currently set on the time application

However, some reviewers felt that the series was getting old and running out of ideas, and although the game play was still engaging, the story was lacking. Despite this Diamond and Pearl were the best selling opening week Pokémon games before Black and White. After the success of this game and wanting to improve on the game's story, another generation was announced.

Pokémon Black and White
Black and White were released in 2010 and take place in the Unova region, so far they are the most recently released games. These games include a much bigger more interesting story than the other games and so far is the only game that gets a sequel - Pokémon Black and White 2. This was probably a response to the critics negative comments on previous games lack of story, this change in direction is refreshing to see as the company has actually listened to people's opinions and changed. There are countless game franchises that refused to adapt and are now non existent. Black ad white brought a new battle system into play, the triple battle, along with an extra 150 Pokémon. It also has a lot of hours to offer as the story continues after the completion of the elite four, so much so that getting to the elite four is only half of the region, the other half contains much more.

Purrloin, a fifth generation Pokémon

Black and White was created to look much more urban than previous games, the cities actually looked like cities and were full of people, there were bridges that with cars going past, skyscrapers and modern architecture. This is because the Unova region isn't set in Japan like the previous games, it is set in New York. This was because these games wanted to include a different example of living, multi-ethnic groups and a different examples of communities. It also answered the question many fans pondered which was what is the rest of the world like and did they even have Pokémon. Critics praised this game and it received higher rating than previous games, the story was engaging and the Nintendo DS was being pushed to its limits graphic wise, it is interesting to note that this is the first game in the series to be on the same console as its predecessor Diamond and Pearl, however, the graphics were greatly improved in Black and White and the games took advantage of the current 3D boom and included many three dimensional structures such as bridges and harbours.

Vanilluxe, a fifth generation Pokémon

The sales of the Pokémon series so far are as follows:

Red/Green/Blue: 20.08 million copies
Gold/Silver: 14.51 million copies
Ruby/Sapphire: 13 million copies
Diamond/Pearl: 14.77 million copies
Black/White: Undetermined

These sales figures alone are astonishing but when you take into consideration the follow up games, the collectors editions and the spin off games the sales are over 200 million copies, and that figure rises everyday. Pokémon is the only behind Mario in the total amount of games sold ever and i hope one day it does overtake. Mario always looked so smug.

Politoed, a second generation Pokémon

The Pokémon series is one of the biggest success stories known to not only the gaming world but the media world in general. A small idea sparked a huge trend, inspiring and captivating millions of people around the world. Even after ten years the series is going stronger than ever and expected to continue far into the future. Although original fans may still only love the original 151 Pokémon, new younger fans have grown up with newer generations and so the newer generations are enjoyed by roughly the same audience as the first generation. Game Freak has taken on board criticism and adapted to a new style of Pokémon game that not only promises us the same fun we have come to expect from a Pokémon game but also gives us a meaty story to bite into.

Ralts, my favourite Pokémon

The Pokémon series has always really inspired me and the story of how such a simple idea snowballed has always fascinated me. Although i understand it is foolish to expect the same results from your own idea, you can still hope that it will achieve just a fraction of the success that the Pokémon series has enjoyed. I think that Pokémon is timeless and ten years down the line children and adults alike will be enjoying Pokémon games, and maybe even a few decades after that too, who knows?