Losing Steam

[GFA]

So I know everyone's excited about the same day, international release. And it's cool, granted. But could this be because Pokemon's losing it's relevancy in the Japanese market? Xerneas and Yveltal both had their names released in English and as of now have no official Japanese name. Is this simply Nintendo getting with the times and trying to make things instantaneous, or is this perhaps a catering to Pokemon's western audience as the home market grows weak?

Thoughts?

[Suicune™]

I wouldn't say it's losing steam, as they said Pokemon is evolving and this could may well be one of the attributes. It's always been a challenge to them to deliver the games everywhere simultaneously whilst maintaining the high quality of gameplay, they said so themselves that they how now overcame this challenge so I think it's a progression more than anything and hopefully they can apply this to future releases.

[Manipulation]

I think it's less that it's dying in its home market and more that they're trying to crack the European and North American markets. Hey, the EU and NA fans love Pokémon just as much, why not deliver it to them at the same time like all other major games do.

[Deokishisu]

Judging by how many features in the Fifth Generation hinged on you walking by someone else with the game so the C-Gear can record mix and such, I doubt it's dying in the home market. When's the last time you randomly got an answer to one of the Passerby Analytics Survey from someone you didn't know? Oh, never? Me too. That feature wouldn't be there if running into another Trainer in the homeland happened as often as Halley's Comet comes around.

I see this as a way to keep it fresh for the international markets that get every little bit of info about the games in the few months it takes the localization team to get everything ready for them. I mean, if one cared to look, since R/B/Y someone outside of Japan could have basically all the info about the games before they came out in their home market.

Plus, it's probably good for business to hype up all at once and then release all at once. I wonder how many sales were lost during the international community's wait for games to be localized as the hype died down in their regions. That time differential is important.

[Livewire]

I don't know how you could say that the franchise is losing steam when the DSi/3DS sales figures are still strong and the reaction to these games has been nuts so far. And they're obviously trying to maximize the North American & European markets for maximum profits by releasing it all at the same time for one giant worldwide release.

I literally went to bed and woke up to a brand new forum, with over two pages of threads and several thousand new posts already. Over the course of a few hours. I think Pokemon's fine.

[Miss Doronjo]

The markets are fiiiine~

It was kinda inevitable - Nintendo has been trying to have simultaneous releases for years, soooo it was about time that everyone can enjoy pokemon at the same time too. In fact, a lot of different Japanese video game companies are working together with Western markets to find better ways to simultaneously release games. This is just one step out of many.

[Aerilyn]

It's less about Pokémon losing steam - which from where I see things, is far from true, especially in the home market - and more about Nintendo wanting to release the games simultaneously to its other markets around the globe. It's likely they will profit more from a international release than having it released in Japan a few months before releasing it elsewhere.

I think Pokémon dying is the least of our worries right now.

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

Originally Posted by GFA

So I know everyone's excited about the same day, international release. And it's cool, granted. But could this be because Pokemon's losing it's relevancy in the Japanese market? Xerneas and Yveltal both had their names released in English and as of now have no official Japanese name. Is this simply Nintendo getting with the times and trying to make things instantaneous, or is this perhaps a catering to Pokemon's western audience as the home market grows weak?

Thoughts?

Given sales and the continued presence of its retail operations and merchandise, I highly doubt anything's happening in Japan. They're not about to collapse any time soon, and sales for Black/White have been phenomenal. Take the commitment to localize at the same time as a commitment from The Pokémon Company International and a commitment from Nintendo, the folks responsible for localizing and distributing respectively, to even out the market.

[GFA]

Originally Posted by Deokishisu

When's the last time you randomly got an answer to one of the Passerby Analytics Survey from someone you didn't know? Oh, never? Me too.

I honestly have no idea what you're trying to get at. I never used that feature because it seemed pointless.

Originally Posted by Livewire

I don't know how you could say that the franchise is losing steam when the DSi/3DS sales figures are still strong and the reaction to these games has been nuts so far.

Still strong? What. They've been called "not bad" by Iwata. That's not strong. That's not even good.

Originally Posted by Hiroshi Sotomura

Given sales and the continued presence of its retail operations and merchandise, I highly doubt anything's happening in Japan. They're not about to collapse any time soon, and sales for Black/White have been phenomenal. Take the commitment to localize at the same time as a commitment from The Pokémon Company International and a commitment from Nintendo, the folks responsible for localizing and distributing respectively, to even out the market.

This sounds fair. I still think it's funny that South Korea's not going to be getting it when everyone else is. Why is that they have their weird lock-down anyway?

[Taro Tanaka]

Originally Posted by Deokishisu

Plus, it's probably good for business to hype up all at once and then release all at once. I wonder how many sales were lost during the international community's wait for games to be localized as the hype died down in their regions. That time differential is important.

I agree with this statement. I mean, dedicated players who have enough money usually end up importing the games from Play-Asia and other Japanese-based shops online. Some players, like me, who're very dedicated yet lack sufficient funds might end up importing the games and are left unable to purchase the localized versions. I think that, by having one huge release day, The Pokemon Company's income will have an increase from every region that isn't Japan.

Originally Posted by GFA

I honestly have no idea what you're trying to get at. I never used that feature because it seemed pointless.

That's exactly what they're getting at. They wouldn't include such a feature if it were pointless. But it's pointless to us, meanwhile, the feature might be used like crazy back In Japan and other countries.

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

Originally Posted by GFA

Still strong? What. They've been called "not bad" by Iwata. That's not strong. That's not even good.

If you're going to argue that they haven't been doing well in Japan at least, Animal Crossing would like to say otherwise, because sales there seem to be going pretty well thanks to it.

Originally Posted by GFA

This sounds fair. I still think it's funny that South Korea's not going to be getting it when everyone else is. Why is that they have their weird lock-down anyway?

It's likely Nintendo of Korea's teams will be doing the localisation there. I'm not going to suggest reasons as to why they haven't committed to doing it quickly, or why TPCi isn't doing it.

[Rivvon]

Pokemon has been doing much better in Japan than internationally. Remember when America used to have a Pokemon Center, but now it's just a general Nintendo store? There are 7 of those stores in Japan, all selling merch amazingly well. The games' sales top the charts whenever they're released in Japan.

If there's any place it's "losing steam," it's outside of Japan, and that's probably why the International names were announced first--basically TPC/TPCi's way of showing that we're still important to them.
Granted, an old interview with Masuda (I believe) showed that the legendary's names are picked so that they can stay similar in all different translations of the games, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Japanese names are nearly identical.

[vaporeon7]

Originally Posted by Hiroshi Sotomura

If you're going to argue that they haven't been doing well in Japan at least, Animal Crossing would like to say otherwise, because sales there seem to be going pretty well thanks to it.

I second this, I read somewhere that like 1 in 110 people in Japan bought the new Animal Crossing. That should mean more than that would own a 3DS.

[Gary0ak]

Perhaps the names are the same in Japanese like Reshiram and Zekrom were in English

[GFA]

Originally Posted by Taro Tanaka

That's exactly what they're getting at. They wouldn't include such a feature if it were pointless. But it's pointless to us, meanwhile, the feature might be used like crazy back In Japan and other countries.

Ah. Yes. I see. That make sense. I remember being in Tokyo right before HG/SS got released. Pokemon hype everywhere.

Originally Posted by Hiroshi Sotomura

If you're going to argue that they haven't been doing well in Japan at least, Animal Crossing would like to say otherwise, because sales there seem to be going pretty well thanks to it.

I don't think the 3DS is doing "not bad" in Japan, I think the the 3DS is doing "not bad" in the west, which is why Nintendo's forcing X & Y onto the 3DS. To boost sales in much the say way Animal Crossing did. Previously new generations have been on systems where the graphics were better and there were more options. Gen IV DS Graphics > Gen III GBA Graphics, etc., etc. The 3Ds is, apparently, viewed as being far too gimmicky in the US and such. Lots of fans don't want to upgrade, or that's how it seems to be from where I'm at.

Originally Posted by Rivvon

Pokemon has been doing much better in Japan than internationally. Remember when America used to have a Pokemon Center, but now it's just a general Nintendo store? There are 7 of those stores in Japan, all selling merch amazingly well. The games' sales top the charts whenever they're released in Japan.

Well that's good to know.

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

Originally Posted by GFA

I don't think the 3DS is doing "not bad" in Japan, I think the the 3DS is doing "not bad" in the west, which is why Nintendo's forcing X & Y onto the 3DS. To boost sales in much the say way Animal Crossing did. Previously new generations have been on systems where the graphics were better and there were more options. Gen IV DS Graphics > Gen III GBA Graphics, etc., etc. The 3Ds is, apparently, viewed as being far too gimmicky in the US and such. Lots of fans don't want to upgrade, or that's how it seems to be from where I'm at.

Really depends from where you're at. So if you're now going to veer into the discussion that it's the international market slipping, you'd be closer to being right. Even so, the console is selling. I don't see putting the games on the 3DS as a move to "force" it - I see it as obsoleting the DS platform entirely. I mean see, The Pokémon Company was the only Nintendo-publishing company in Japan releasing Pokémon games in Japan in 2012. Writing? On the wall.

[Deokishisu]

I miss our Pokemon Center. I don't remember when it closed down, but I have fond memories of visiting it when I was in NYC.

But yeah, I definitely think in the west Pokemon is losing steam, but Pokemon must be everywhere in Japan or those close-range walk-by features wouldn't be in Gen 5. And for that matter, Streetpass wouldn't be in the 3DS if walking by another person with one was super rare in Japan. I never get any Streetpass hits, and I go everywhere with my 3DS on my person.

[Rivvon]

Originally Posted by Deokishisu

I miss our Pokemon Center. I don't remember when it closed down, but I have fond memories of visiting it when I was in NYC.

But yeah, I definitely think in the west Pokemon is losing steam, but Pokemon must be everywhere in Japan or those close-range walk-by features wouldn't be in Gen 5. And for that matter, Streetpass wouldn't be in the 3DS if walking by another person with one was super rare in Japan. I never get any Streetpass hits, and I go everywhere with my 3DS on my person.

From all my friends who've visited Japan, they all claim that if you owned a handheld system you always brought it with you everywhere--those walk-by features were put to great use in Japan (just look at the medals in B2W2--pass by 1000 people? Not in America!). The west is definitely where Pokemon is faltering. We finally got those cute McDonald's toys twice in North America, but Japanese McDonald's have been distributing Pokemon toys and calendars for years. And these are just small examples.
Pokemon is just really big back home.

[Deokishisu]

Originally Posted by Rivvon

From all my friends who've visited Japan, they all claim that if you owned a handheld system you always brought it with you everywhere--those walk-by features were put to great use in Japan (just look at the medals in B2W2--pass by 1000 people? Not in America!). The west is definitely where Pokemon is faltering. We finally got those cute McDonald's toys twice in North America, but Japanese McDonald's have been distributing Pokemon toys and calendars for years. And these are just small examples.
Pokemon is just really big back home.

I wonder why that is. Could it have been an early marketing mishap in the west? Or merely a cultural thing that made Pokemon decline here and stay strong in Japan? I remember Red and Blue being huge, but my memory of that time period is admittedly quite fuzzy. I think that maybe culturally Japan doesn't make the distinction of "oh, that's for kids, lol" that we do in the west, which led to the effective audience being generally smaller here than across the Pacific.

[PokémonShinySilver]

Nah, I don't think Pokémon is losing anything. I think it's gaining more steam than ever before. After all, so many people were amazed by the games, I know every one of my friends were amazed by the announcement of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, it brought so much excitement to them and that's how I can tell that Generation VI is going to gain so much more attention than ever before in the history of Nintendo. It could become even more so popular than the Mario franchise. xD

[Livewire]

Originally Posted by GFA

Is this simply Nintendo getting with the times and trying to make things instantaneous, or is this perhaps a catering to Pokemon's western audience as the home market grows weak?

Originally Posted by GFA

Still strong? What. They've been called "not bad" by Iwata. That's not strong. That's not even good.

The 3DS just went over 10,000,000 units sold in Japan. The home market as mentioned in the OP is just fine.

[Magmaruby and Aquasapphire]

The names of the legends are the same in all languages such like with Reshiram and Zekrom (GF likes to have the names be the same in all languages, they've said so themselves).

It seems to be losing some steam in the US that I've noticed. Hopefully these games will turn that around.

[Rivvon]

Originally Posted by Deokishisu

I wonder why that is. Could it have been an early marketing mishap in the west? Or merely a cultural thing that made Pokemon decline here and stay strong in Japan? I remember Red and Blue being huge, but my memory of that time period is admittedly quite fuzzy. I think that maybe culturally Japan doesn't make the distinction of "oh, that's for kids, lol" that we do in the west, which led to the effective audience being generally smaller here than across the Pacific.

Red and Blue were a major cultural phenomenon in North America, but the "fad" died down at around the release of Gold and Silver. There could be a variety of reasons for this... Japan definitely has a better view overall on video games, including not thinking that game like Pokemon are only for children. They might not have lost as many consumers due to "gen1erism." And Japan definitely makes better merchandise for their video game franchises, and that certainly helps keep the interest in video games.

And more recently, looking at just the video games themselves, Japan gets countless more event Pokemon than International game owners do, which is always a downer. Having access to ROMs months before your country's release, and just having information on the plot available can also be contributors. So ignoring the merchandising and societal issues, a big factor might just be the releases being so far apart in different countries. I have high hopes that X and Y having international releases can help regain what interest the west lost in Pokemon.

[Zet]

I wouldn't say they're losing steam. The reason why for the worldwide release should be obvious: region lock. The 3DS is a region locked device, so if people wanted to buy the Japanese version before the rest of the world gets it, they would also need to buy a Japanese 3DS.


And some people would unknowingly buy the game to find out they can't play it and be upset.

[Vehks]

I dunno, if we are so important to them, how come Japan gets all the cool stuff? I mean Japan is having a pokémon event of some kind almost every day. Gen 6 is announced and Where is our Meloetta event?

If anything, I've always felt that we have been their second class fans and as was already mentioned they are doing this simultaneous release just as PR thing.

Does Gamefreak take any western fan feedback? Again as was said, if Pokémon IS losing steam it's in the wstern markets not Japan.