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Nintendo’s been bowling a near-perfect game lately, but even so, we can’t help but scratch our heads at a recent proclamation from one of its biggest moneymakers. In an interview with What They Play, Pokémon series director Junichi Masuda was asked whether or not Pikachu and his 492-mon posse might be making their way into an MMO in the near future. He responded:
“At this point, we’re not thinking of going in that direction. Trading is a core concept of Pokémon. So when you’re trading, you meet with a friend and decide which one you want and which one they want.
“I would like to emphasize real-world communication. You don’t see each other online.”
Recent Pokémon games have allowed players to trade their critters or pit them against each other in shirtless, weapon-free man-fights through the Internet’s reality-warping wizardry, so an MMO seems like a logical next step.
But then, we’re not entirely sure if designing a series about adorable cockfighting animals screams “logic” anyway. So yeah.
Viewing 4 responses
hitnrun said:
Pokemon is probably the only one of the hundreds of franchises linked to MMOs that makes any natural sense.
I haven’t played it since the original Gameboy, but it’s literally an imaginary MMO played in the minds of players in the real world with the game serving as an instance.
Hunam said:
Prety much.
That and a proper console game, but that never seems to happen either.
The Benny said:
The portable Pokémon games are so lucrative (or were, at least) that I guess they don’t want to risk branching out in risky directions, especially if there’s no ‘need’. Considering the console situation in Japan, a full console version or an MMO would likely be a lot of effort that still wouldn’t necessarily bring in the cash.
A proper open-world Pokémon game would be pretty great though.
Blerk said:
“Also, there’s no “Pokemon game which isn’t just a cynical rehash of the original Gameboy title” coming any time soon either.”, they almost added.