1st Gen Is nostalgia enough?

Is nostalgia enough to make the return of RBY profitable to Nintendo and Gamefreak? Or do you think they are scraping the bowl?

I don't know how much the development of wireless trading will cost, but aside from that, releasing a game for VC has to cost significantly less than developing a new game for a console. Thus, I can't see any way this move won't be profitable. That being said, I don't know to what extent it will catch on, or what Nintendo's expectations are. I think nostalgia will draw in a decent audience, and curiosity about the "games that started it all" may draw in others, but I doubt it will save Nintendo from its financial difficulties entirely. I would be surprised if RBY sold better than a new, current-gen Pokemon game for 3DS, but if it does sell that well, that may say something about the power of nostalgia.

Banking on our nostalgia is, let's admit it, a sure thing to make the re-release profitable, but there's also a bigger picture: thanks to the additional work done on the wrapper/emulator, Virtual Console titles now can have link cable emulation.

Even if the re-release is a bomb, the door to releasing titles with link cable support is now wide open. Even if Pokémon RBY don't sell enough to recuperate the costs of working on the wrapper/emulator, some other re-release will help fill the gap.

Personally for me I don't think it's mostly due to nostalgia due to how well Earthbound Beginnings managed to top the eShop charts at some points even though it didn't have a release outside Japan when it was sold for the Famicom at the time.

I am pretty sure Pokemon Gen I will break the eshop once it is released. It's an epic game.
I am even hoping that it makes so much money they will eventually release GSC too.

RBY are the best games to release on VC because they're the most casual in the series. Handhelds are all about gaming on the fly, they're more flexible than consoles because of that.

RBY mechanics are simple: just hit it until it's dead. There's little else to it. That's its charm. :P

Honestly no. Nostalgia can be powerful, but the bulk of the fans of RBY are 18> and most adults wouldn't even buy a 3DS to begin with. Only reason i did (like a month ago) is because, i gave up on it becoming emulatable within the next year or so and i really wanted to try XY lol. and it was really hard shelling out that $$ for a handheld i'll probably otherwise hardly ever use.

Nintendo's target audience has pretty much always been children, and that's become increasingly true probably since playstation and xbox took over as console juggernauts. I don't think most adults have the time, energy, money or general interest to even invest in a 3ds. Especially if you can get these games for free online. If nostalgia is hitting hard, just download the emulation.

So while fans of RBY will greatly appreciate it coming back, the few of us that have the handheld won't be enough to make waves or make this re-release much of a big deal.

I think nostalgia is definitely enough. Nostalgia is a massively powerful force and these games are two of the most popular that have ever been released in the industry's (not only this franchise / Nintendo's) history.

Players love to reminisce even if the "old days" weren't as good as they specifically remember. This happened in the text game I play - Avalon - in 1999 where the players basically begged Genesis the creator for a 'First Age' game which he then released as the 'original product' before any game system updates and it was originally more popular than the main game. The same thing is kind of happening now as a lot of old players come back to a majorly evolved game - the "Second Age" requests are common. Just an example of nostalgia being strong - I'd definitely get RBY again.

For me, it's not nostalgia. No, it's just the sheer interest of that it's something that i'd like to get to play again. But it'll be nice to see if they do change anything.

I certainly think it's going to be profitable for them. Granted, I see it mostly just being hype and dying down just as quickly as it came. People go nuts for old games of their childhood being back on the market; even if it's been playable by emulator for years, there's just something fresh about it being re-released.

I don't see why they don't recreate the games like they did for Gold & Silver.. i so badly want to play red with bonus material. i know there's already fire red/leaf green but an extended game with maybe more anime basis would be great

DonDimello said:

I don't see why they don't recreate the games like they did for Gold & Silver.. i so badly want to play red with bonus material. i know there's already fire red/leaf green but an extended game with maybe more anime basis would be great

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Pokemon Yellow is based off of the anime.

yeah i know, and i haven't played Yellow in ages but i mean more straightforward almost like Ash Grey

i reckon the inclusion of RBY on 3DS is just a gift to the older fans not scraping the bowl.

There's either VC, which could make just a bit extra, which might mean quite a bump in profit in the already-mighty treasury of Game Freak, or re-releases, which has a good chance at attracting new up-and-comers who are picking up 3DS's. I'm sure HG/SS have made quite a bit of profit, nostalgia sells.

Honestly, nostalgia works really well. Too well.

A link between worlds was too successful despite ruining the canon of the Zelda timeline, and also banking on the exact same world, and story.

The biggest difference with Pokemon and Zelda is that each title is extremely different from the last. There is not one title that fully takes from the last.

For Pokemon, it has the same formula because thats what makes Pokemon "Pokemon". Adding some side games, or expanding the world and story, but at its core its the same. With that said, if Gamefreak remade a Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow with the new designs and specks of XY/ORAS, then it would be a great game. I dont doubt it will be incredibly successful.

We get to experience Kanto for the first time in the current graphics. Some areas will feel completely new, and amazing. There's plenty of room to bank on nostalgia, just as much for new players and old. But like before, i think it shouldn't just be red/blue/yellow alone.

I genuinely believe that Red/Blue remake would be more successful if their merged with Gold/Silver. I call it RedGold, BlueSilver. And there can even be an interquel similar to Final Fantasy: The Complete Collection.

I think Hiidoran is onto something here, about the nostalgic value of these games making them profitable. Plus, we have been getting a couple of classic games getting re-released on the new consoles and they help introduce a new generation of gamers to what they missed back in the day. I could imagine the 1st Gen re-release definitely drawing in a new generation of people experiencing Kanto who may or may not have played the games back in the day.

i will say that Pokemon Red/Blue have not aged so well compared to the rest of the series, and that also seems like a worthy candidate for a remake. Some people may be instantly turned off by the sprites, 8-bit music and other things.

I know when i play red/blue, sometimes the music gets a little irritating. Unlike Gold/silver, where the music isn't irritating, but some tracks are designed to be heard a minute in.

I've never played any games before FR, but I am definatly buying this, and I know a couple others who will be :D

I just wish more people played pokemon :(