Pokemon MMORPG.

My friend and I were discussing how Nintendo could keep their code of honour per se and somehow still dominate the gaming market.

The obvious thing, is that Nintendo's biggest sellers are the likes of Zelda, Mario etc and one of the arguably biggest exclusives they have is Pokemon.

If we consider where Nintendo lacks, even if you are a casual gamer, you would certainly say the online capabilities of Nintendo Games and Consoles is probably the biggest stumbling blocks and by far their weakest point.

So whilst in discussion, we came up with another popular theory which I've heard several times before, and that is the idea of an MMORPG for Pokemon.

Pokemon at its most basic is a Roleplay Game, and the individuality of each persons team, items etc with a few changes for appearance and the like could make an incredible third-person style free-roaming world.

Here are a few ideas we had:
-Character customising (Clothing, speech, hair etc)
-Open world battles - Encounter wild pokemon randomly in areas. Make Legendaries extremely hard to catch - say a 1% encounter chance and a 1% Catch rate or something equally as low.
-Online trades - Trade pokemon in real time like in the handhelds
-Pick a starter: Pick one starter from any generation
-Become a gym leader: Become the leader of a Gym after meeting certain criteria, or be a trainer in a gym, earn pokemon cash for each battle.
-Trade Points: Can't find that Pokemon on your time zone? Put it in open trade, specifying what pokemon you'd accept at what level.

These are just a few ideas we had. I'd like to hear the positives, negatives and ideas you would come up with if you were in charge, or even why you think it would Not work as a game concept.

Hi, I'm totally new to the forums but it seems you've been hiding under a rock ;)
Such thing already exists (partially, not exactly how you wish for it) it just hasn't been released by Nintendo itself and disregard that, you can still play it and it's awesome. I certainly doubt Nintendo itself would develop and release an MMORPG, they have little to no experience with MMORPGS and MMORPGS are a really hit or miss business, many of them are released and not many of them ever become popular enough to win back the invested money.

Google PokeMMO or Pokemonium and another project you might want to look at: Pokemon Generations.

I wasn't aware of the existing games, but are any officially Nintendo?

This is the big difference - Legitimacy of the game usually carries many benefits.

And yeah, I've been under a rock, the only internet access I've had for the last year is by Blackberry -_-

Hahaha, it's okay, I meant it as a joke, and no they are not from Nintendo, but just like I said, I doubt nintendo will risk it with such a project. MMORPGS are a shot in the dark, you never know what's going to happen.

I think Pokemon X and Y are as close as they come to an official online pokemon game with the new features, maybe it'll change with time and will adopt a more multiplayer base, but pokemon is mostly a console game and so is nintendo, they are console people. If they do release a MMORPG (or anything close to it) it's definitely going to be on a console or a handheld, so, you can drop the idea about an official nintendo pokemon mmorpg for pc.

Yeah, I hear you. But then I think they NEED to branch out. Just a matter of personal opinion. Sure, they get paid good money to know what they're doing, but it would be a surprise if their market share hasn't dropped significantly between circa 95-now.

As you say, absolutely, its risky, but as they're responsible (or GameFreak) for the series we love so much now, I think it would be a great success.

The problem I personally have with the current online structure is the requirement for WEP for wireless connectivity between the DS and a router (which if you don't know, WEP is the easiest common wireless type to crack). This usually means the untrained are changing wireless types on their router and creating vulnerable spots.

Not ranting, mind. I hate putting 'Lol' and the like. I feel it ruins my typing ;)

I am completely aware of the differences between WEP, WPA and WPA2 haha, I know it's kind of lame they only allow WEP encryption on the DS's, but that's not really GameFreak's fault, it's Nintendo's if I'm not wrong (?).

I really don't see Pokemon's RPG style compatible with what the current MMORPG system works right now, it would definitely be something new and maybe even great because it'd be so different from what normal MMORPGs are, but the Pokemon story is always kind of one sided, predictable and monotone, let's be honest, at the very end all games are kind of the same, so that's why I find it hard to actually make a real MMORPG.

Other than that, I'm totally okay with the idea, that'd be really cool, maybe with time we will see something like that. Who knows! Just called it a joke to make sure it wasn't been seen as a mean comment.

Yeah, I also don't use lol very often, I think the only thing of those sorts I use often is "xd".

Oh God, that "xd" would just confuse me! ;)

I suppose the logical thing might be to wait and see how Generations goes.

I think a lot of the fandom would appreciate the release of a Pokemon MMORPG or, better yet, the inclusion of more MMO elements within the standard series of games. That said, despite my obvious love of the work Game Freak do, it may be difficult for them to develop some parts of the game as their team will have solely worked on the Pokemon series and might struggle to develop a more expansive game.

There's also the threat of it being absolutely terrible and tarnishing the series' name such as with the two Final Fantasy MMOs.

I think eventually we will get some sort of Pokemon MMORPG, but it will come gradually through added elements in the main series rather than a game being intentionally developed to be a MMO.

Yeah, I think that's the best way to go with it xd

I can see why you might say that. It makes sense. That for me however doesn't make it impossible. I think it would be a hit. They have tried other game styles that have failed, and I don't think those have affected the sales of the normal Pokemon series (see Pokemon Snap and Mystery Dungeons).

I think they could pull it off, but of course, its something they aren't familiar with so it may be a struggle.

I know for sure, I'd pay to see it happen, though! :P

I believe that before Nintendo releases a handheld MMORPG, they'd most likely start by making a Pokemon Stadium for WiiU with internet options.

Remember Pokemon Stadium for 64? Well, like that, but online. I think that'd be awesome, I'd buy a Wii for that matter alone.

Damnit, pokemon is making me buy stuff T-T

There's a wii game like that. I have it. Not sure if online though. Di/Pe/pl gen. You can connect your DS to it and copy pokemon onto the game for use. Shinies even keep their colours! ;)

I could see that working. Even a handheld MMORPG. Could you imagine how people would take to that?

There are many unofficial MMORPGs for Pokemon games. I wish there was an official Pokemon MMORPG, that would be awesome!

Doubt this happening anytime soon and it would probably keep us waiting like the dragon ball online mmo, instead try pokemmo.eu.