By Ben Salter
Pokemon is easily one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, if not their biggest. Despite releasing extremely similar games (Pokemon Pearl isn’t all that different to Pokemon Red), up to three times each (Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald are the same game) and then remaking them (Pokemon HeartGold, SoulSilver) Nintendo ships millions of units every year, and that trend doesn’t look set to change. Despite all their dominance with first party titles, Nintendo is still dreadfully behind the times in a critical aspect of modern gaming: online. They’ve half-heartedly tried to improve their service several times and failed dismally. It’s time to get serious, Nintendo; put your head down, develop a decent online service and give us a Pokemon MMO to mark the beginning of a new era.
The idea of a Pokemon MMORPG has been floated before. I’m not the first person to suggest it and I certainly won’t be the last. If I remember correctly, gamers themselves developed a Pokemon MMO in the not too distant past which was quickly shut down by Nintendo; they’re well aware of the idea, but for reasons unknown to us continue to ignore it.
Let’s look at the facts. The Pokemon formula is getting old, really old. In fact, you could argue that it hasn’t changed at all in 15 years and that there’s really only one Pokemon game. It’s in dire need of a reboot, even though sales are unlikely to slow with the upcoming Pokemon Black & White. Nintendo also needs a smash hit online title to mark their arrival on the scene. Yes, they’ve tried with the likes of Super Smash Bros Brawl and Mario Kart, but honesty their online offerings are dismal in comparison to the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Nintendo pretends that they’re not in direct competition, but with the impending releases of PS Move and Kinect on the 360, the three consoles are becoming more and more alike all the time. Nintendo can’t afford to be left behind when it comes to online.
The Pokemon games are all about catching the creatures as a nobody, training them and working your way towards becoming a Pokemon Master. Along the way you encounter wild Pokemon, battle strangers and take-on Gym Leaders. It’s the perfect scenario for a MMO, damn it! Pokemon battles would be so much more enjoyable against real people on the same quest. Nintendo’s stranger danger policies aside, when not battling you could meet up with other trainers to discuss tips and trade Pokemon. In fact, you could almost relive the original TV show as Ash, Brock and Misty and travel the (virtual) world raising Pokemon, meeting real trainers and collecting gym badges. It’s the perfect way to reboot the tiring Pokemon series.
A decent Pokemon game on Wii? Get real!
Nintendo is yet to make a Pokemon RPG for the Wii, or any console, let alone an MMORPG. Suggesting that the Wii is the perfect platform for such a game would be betting against the odds. Monster Hunter Tri showed that gamers are willing to spend hours playing MMOs on the console, so there’s certainly enough demand, but I doubt it’d be enough to sway Nintendo. The Wii’s technology was out of date long before the console was even released, so there’s no telling how long Nintendo holds out until they announce a new console. Furthermore, despite the success of Monster Hunter Tri, the Wii isn’t really set-up to handle online games, let alone what would be one of the most popular MMOs of all time. We hold on to a little hope that it could happen (largely due to MH3), but a Pokemon MMORPG on a home console seems far more likely next generation.
But the 3DS has no excuses!
I’m not sure what the 3DS has in-store for us in regards to its online service, but we have to assume it’s superior to the Wii until we hear otherwise. If not, Nintendo hasn’t just taken a step backwards, they’ve ran in the wrong direction. We’ve heard tidbits about Nintendo and other developers wanting to place an emphasis on online games on the 3DS, but I’ll believe that when I see it. If Nintendo’s serious about online multiplayer and the 3DS, they need to consider developing a Pokemon MMORPG. The Pokemon games have dominated Nintendo’s handhelds since the GameBoy Pocket and played a large role in the Big N dominating the portable gaming market. Now that they have the technology, the 3DS, the next generation of handheld, is the perfect console to launch a Pokemon MMO.
We don’t really know how powerful the 3DS is. From early E3 images, I’d wager that it’s about as powerful as the PS2. Early games are never even close to pushing the limits of a new console and we won’t really know how powerful it is until we hold one in our hands, as that’s the only way we can truly experience the 3D effects. However, I think we can safely assume it’ll be powerful enough to support the first fully 3D Pokemon handheld game. The recent titles on the DS have been 2.5D at best and nowhere near the console’s potential.
Next (handheld) generation, Nintendo is aiming to push third party support. In the past they’ve heavily relied on first party software to sell units, at least a launch, but that’s far from the case with the 3DS. However, that isn’t to say they shouldn’t develop a Pokemon game to put the nail in the coffin of any competitors. In fact, Pokemon was about the only thing missing from the 3DS games in development list.
There’s only so long the Pokemon games will continue to fly off the shelf in their current format. The franchise has potential to dominate the market for years, even decades, to come, but only if Nintendo shows a little initiative and doesn’t continue to play it safe until they’ve exhausted everything the series has to offer. Talk of a Pokemon MMO has been around for years, but now is the perfect time to go ahead with it. After the success of Monster Hunter Tri and with more direct competition from Sony and Microsoft in the future, it’d be the perfect last push for the Wii online. If it’s too late for that, the 3DS needs a strong online presence and Pokemon is the perfect series to provide that.