Topic: Official Sales Thread

[Mop it up]

I know there are a lot of adults who also buy the Pokemon games still because they are good RPGs. The Pokemon games are among the rare games that have something for everyone.

What I'm asking is, why would anyone need more than one? They are all essentially the same. Then again, it is likely one of those things which I am not meant to understand.

one has to respect that if Nintendo hadn't made a huge amount of money off Pokemon in the late '90s, they might not have made it past the Cube generation and there certainly would be no more portables (the franchise single-handedly revived the Game Boy in the US at least).

I think you are giving the series too much credit. Despite their relatively small market share, both the Nintendo 64 and GameCube were quite profitable for Nintendo. Even if they weren't, Nintendo still had a boatload of money to dip into if they got into trouble. I don't recall the Game Boy ever struggling but I do remember lots of buzz over the Game Boy Color, which is what I would say resurrected the Game Boy brand, if it even needed saving.

I buy all three versions. I don't have a really logical reason for this other then completeness

I can understand this. I have things in my collection where whenever I see them I ask myself "Why do I have this again?"

[Ymeegod]

Couldn't really get into Pokemon myself.  Missed the original GB versions but ended up with Pearl.  The story was pretty crappy (hell the cartoon series is better) but what turned me off was the AI.   Loved when their attack did zero damage but they continued to issue the same damn command over and over.

Also you were limited to 4 learnred moves per Pokemon, wished it was a bit higher myself (at least 6 but 8 would be idea) that way you can really get more combination without having to level up another one or having to forget something that could be useful down the road.

I really didn't see much change in any of those versions other than new areas and Pokemon.  Yeah they added color, mp, even connection with consoles but the barebones combat and story hasn't changed at all. 

Also Gamefreak really does a poor job of animation too.  I mean comon--the battle animation is something that was impressive for the SNES era but the DS can easily have real movement for crying out loud.

If they fix these issues then maybe I'll buy one again but in til then I think Nintendo just making a them as a cash cow.

[Stratos]

I knew a guy who was home schooled a lot and didn't get out much, so he got all the versions because he wanted to catch them all and that was the only way he could. That's probably why a number of kids get multiple versions. People miss the fact they should leave their house to complete the collection.

Also, imagine providing better animations to all the 510+ different pokemon and their different forms. That would take a lot of time and space.

I would like to have more move options if only because there are WAY too many HM moves. I refuse to place the crappy HMs on my main team but then I have to go and loose a spot for a junk monster that can do most of the moves. Defog? Rock Smash? Come on! At least surf and fly are OK moves. And the inability to delete them without a large effort is annoying as well. But having too many moves would probably unbalance the game. Imagine a monster that has a move that counters every monster that it is weak against.

I still think they could move the series to a more MMO style and be safe with their little kids online. But I think it is going to take a poor selling main version to force Nintendo to greatly evolve the franchise.

[Ymeegod]

Cough, it's 2D.  You're not even talking about a 3d game.  So there's really no excuse for the animation especially considering the format. 

It's plain lazyiness on the developers part considering the millions they make per game.  Like I said "cash cow".

[Mop it up]

Also you were limited to 4 learnred moves per Pokemon, wished it was a bit higher myself (at least 6 but 8 would be idea) that way you can really get more combination without having to level up another one or having to forget something that could be useful down the road.

I don't think that they should be allowed more moves as the limit adds at least a little strategy to the tedious battle system. Instead, the moves should work more like equipment in that you can select which of the four moves out of all the ones it has learned to be used in battle. That would definitely help when it comes to the HM moves as those are really annoying; I'm sure we all had a "diseased" Pokémon that we dumped all those moves on.

Also Gamefreak really does a poor job of animation too.  I mean comon--the battle animation is something that was impressive for the SNES era but the DS can easily have real movement for crying out loud.

If they made them more detailed there would be no reason to release the Pokémon Stadium-type games.

I still think they could move the series to a more MMO style and be safe with their little kids online.

Safe maybe, but I think it would become too complicated and require even more effort than it already does.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Pokemon saving GB? This is a new one on me, I understand it contributed heavily to its overwhelming success but I don't recall there ever being a time when GB was in trouble from any handheld or was on its way out. AT that point the GB already had an amazingly long life cycle so if anything Pokemon mainly caused them to delay the next big iteration. In regards to Pokemon saving Nintendo, like Mop_it_up said while it contributed heavily to Nintendo's revenue they still made profits on every one of their systems mainly because their games still sold amazingly well along with taking minimal losses on each hardware unit sold.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Pokemon didn't save the GB it re-energized it.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Pokemon didn't save the GB it re-energized it.

Yeah that sounds about right. The GB brand was still strong but the current iteration was on its last legs and probably without Pokemon we would have seen GBA much earlier.

[Chozo Ghost]

Tetris is what saved the GB.

[Mop it up]

The GB brand was still strong but the current iteration was on its last legs and probably without Pokemon we would have seen GBA much earlier.

I don't know about the GBA, but the GBC might have been released sooner. Then again, Nintendo still tried the Game Boy Pocket before going to the Game Boy Color so they didn't seem to want to create new hardware until they absolutely had to. As profitable as Pokémon was, I still think everything would have played out just the same had it not existed. There are so many factors to consider however, so it's hard to say.

Tetris is what saved the GB.

Tetris launched the Game Boy.

[TJ Spyke]

By 1996 (when the first Pokemon games were released in Japan) the Game Boy was basically dying. It had been out for 6 1/2 years and was seeing decreasing support. The Pokemon games did help revive it. Didn't do much outside of Japan though (here in the United States, Red and Blue came out only 2 months before the Game Boy Color). I think it can be argued that Pokemon was a huge factor in helping Nintendo stay profitable during their darker years since they have made billions from the franchise (not only the games, but through all the licensing). Diamond and Pearl are great games, easily among the best DS games.

As for Tetris, I think it was a big selling point for the Game Boy and was easily the best launch game (Super Mario Land came out later that same month). It was perfect since you could just whip it out whenever you had a few minutes to kill.

[Stratos]

Tetris is what saved the GB.

Remember when games actually came with systems and more than one controller at launch? Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt, SMB 3 (the NES bundle I got), Mario World, Tetris...Good times.
WiiSports was huge for coming with a system at launch.

[KDR_11k]

Cough, it's 2D.  You're not even talking about a 3d game.  So there's really no excuse for the animation especially considering the format. 

It's plain lazyiness on the developers part considering the millions they make per game.  Like I said "cash cow".

You make it sound like 3d animation is harder than 2d animation. Depending on what you're doing it can be significantly easier.

[Stratos]

Cough, it's 2D.  You're not even talking about a 3d game.  So there's really no excuse for the animation especially considering the format. 

It's plain lazyiness on the developers part considering the millions they make per game.  Like I said "cash cow".

You make it sound like 3d animation is harder than 2d animation. Depending on what you're doing it can be significantly easier.

Like in the DS Fire Emblem with the rendered models as opposed to hand drawn sprites animated frame by frame. It takes a lot more effort and time to do the sprite route with animations. Times that by over 500, especially if they want to keep adding new Pokemon to supplement the old ones..

[Chozo Ghost]

Tetris is what saved the GB.

Tetris launched the Game Boy.
[/quote]

And how successful would it have been if it DIDN'T? Tetris was what put the GB ahead of early rivals like the Lynx and Gamegear. The GB had the disadvantage of lacking a color display, but it made up for that with its long battery life... but long battery alone wouldn't have made the difference. Tetris was that killer app that made the difference up until Pokemon.

[KDR_11k]

Obviously software sells hardware but usually "saving" means something is in peril before the intervention and no longer is afterwards. The Game Boy didn't really exist prior to the Tetris "intervention" so talking about saving isn't really the right word.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Tetris made the Game Boy

[Mop it up]

It was definitely a smart move to include Tetris with the Game Boy. I still think that Super Mario Land helped sell systems as well though, so the Game Boy's initial success wasn't solely because of Tetris.

[Chozo Ghost]

The GB's pack in of Tetris trumped the Gamegear's pack in of Sonic 2. Tetris appeals to all audiences, regardless of age or gender. It was definitely the Brain age of its day.

[SalesBot]

Famitsu Sales: 03/30 - 04/05

01. [PSP] Kidou Senshi Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable (Bandai Namco Games) - 30,000 / 115,000
02. [NDS] Pro Yakyuu Famista DS 2009 (Bandai Namco Games) - 29,000 / NEW
03. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, PSP the Best (Capcom) - 28,000 / 583,000
04. [NDS] Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! (Nintendo) - 27,000 / 495,000
05. [PS2] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2009 (Konami) - 21,000 / 94,000
06. [PS3] Musou Orochi Z (Koei) - 16,000 / 177,000
07. [NDS] Super Robot Taisen K (Bandai Namco Games) - 15,000 / 185,000
08. [PSP] Makai Senki Disgaea 2 Portable (Nippon Ichi Software) - 14,000 / 50,000
09. [WII] Taiko no Tatsujin Wii (Bandai Namco Games) - 13,000 / 485,000
10. [PS3] Winning Post World (Koei) - 12,000 / NEW

11. [NDS] Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator: World Championship 2009 (Konami) - 12,000 / 48,000
12. [NDS] Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo) - 12,000 / 1,663,000
13. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 12,000 / 3,281,000
14.
15. [PS3] Resident Evil 5 (Capcom) - 11,000 / 439,000
16. [360] 11eyes CrossOver (5pb.) - 10,000 / NEW
17. [NDS] Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times (Konami) - 9,700 / 345,000
18. [NDS] Power Pro Kun Pocket 11 (Konami) - 8,500 / 212,000
19. [WII] Wii de Asobu: Pikmin 2 (Nintendo) - 8,400 / 62,000
20. [PS2] Winning Post World (Koei) - 7,700 / NEW
21. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion: Girl's Mode (Nintendo) - 7,700 / 800,000
22. [PSP] Shin Sangoku Musou: Multi Raid (Koei) - 7,600 / 363,000
23.
24. [WII] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Next (Konami) - 7,000 / 36,000
25. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 6,600 / 2,210,000
26. [NDS] Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo) - 6,600 / 4,971,000
27. [PS3] Ryu ga Gotoku 3 (Sega) - 6,400 / 466,000
28.
29. [NDS] Meccha! Taiko no Tatsujin DS: 7-tsu no Shima no Daibouken (Bandai Namco Games) - 6,300 / 543,000
30.

__. [NDS] Tinker Bell (Disney Interactive Studios) - 1,500 / NEW
__. [WII] Winning Post World (Koei) - 1,300 / NEW
__. [WII] Doala de Wii (Tera Box) - 1,200 / NEW
__. [NDS] Pachi & Slot Hisshoubon DS (Dorasu) - 970 / NEW

DSL　8000
DSi　58000
PSP　47000
PS3　18000
Wii　17000
PS2　6300
360　5700

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Goodbye RE5.

[TJ Spyke]

Go Animal Crossing: Wild World! In a month or two it should crack the 5 million mark in Japan.

[vudu]

Where's Muramasa?

[Chozo Ghost]

What the hell is Nintendo doing? Where are the new A+ games???

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

They never announced any.

Go back to your Mii Wusic and Auiwal Crossing Mii.