Is Pokemon losing Popularity in the West?

Every time I wonder trade I am trading with people from Korea, Japan, and China. I'm not seeing too many Euro, North, or South American trainers these days. Also I've been watching a lot of YT videos lately that suggest a greatly diminished popularity in Pokemon. Is this the case? And if so why? 2 of my friends also stopped playing after ORAS. They wont even pick up S/M and give it a shot.

Pokemon are not popular here in Poland, now sadly. They were a major hit when the anime was aired in late 90's/early 00's, then it started to die out slowly. In general Nintendo is pretty much dead here.

Aether? said:

Pokemon are not popular here in Poland, now sadly. They were a major hit when the anime was aired in late 90's/early 00's, then it started to die out slowly. In general Nintendo is pretty much dead here.

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That's very disheartening coming from a nation that loves and births good video games (I'm looking at you Witcher I, II, & III).

Tom2 said:

That's very disheartening coming from a nation that loves and births good video games (I'm looking at you Witcher I, II, & III).

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We're are a country that is mostly focused on PC gaming and competitive overpopular games.

Coming back to topic, here it's very hard to obtain Pokemon games as physical copies and a Nintendo console itself, unless you go to a very big city or order one yourself. Pokemon GO seemed to make an effect on this country for a bit... But only for a short bit...

Aether? said:

We're are a country that is mostly focused on PC gaming and competitive overpopular games.

Coming back to topic, here it's very hard to obtain Pokemon games as physical copies and a Nintendo console itself, unless you go to a very big city or order one yourself. Pokemon GO seemed to make an effect on this country for a bit... But only for a short bit...

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Do you have any guess as to the reason other than Poland being more PC focused?

Tom2 said:

Do you have any guess as to the reason other than Poland being more PC focused?

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The one, they're just cheaper, either to buy as laptops or to build ones.

We're here to talk about Pokemon though mate, let's stick to it.

Well, here it's pretty much the same though I sometimes see people still playing the actual games. I have a friend in class that is replaying Diamond on his phone with an emulator and I know my friend's little sister that actually likes Pok?mon so it's still a tiny bit alive.

As for Pok?mon GO it had a huge impact here, last year in July everyone was playing it; even people that you weren't expecting to play Pok?mon in the first place and that would probably now mock you if they found out you're still playing Pok?mon. {XD} But of course it died after a short period of time and only people who actually liked the game kept playing it.

I don't know, people that I know are preferring the classic/retro Pokemon games than the modern/3DS games. They are overwhelmed with so many details that were added to Pokemon such as abilities, natures, genders, IV/EVs, etc. Pokemon gaming in general pretty much exploded and it was hard to keep up for most people anymore.

At least that's what I think.

Meganium said:

I don't know, people that I know are preferring the classic/retro Pokemon games than the modern/3DS games. They are overwhelmed with so many details that were added to Pokemon such as abilities, natures, genders, IV/EVs, etc. Pokemon gaming in general pretty much exploded and it was hard to keep up for most people anymore.

At least that's what I think.

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You do have a point. While Pokemon is still fairly popular in my native Australia, to the point I sometimes even encountered people playing Pokemon GO when I had my daily bus rides, it isn't as popular as say, the US which I feel is the most popular English-speaking nation as far as Pokemon around the world is concerned.

Aether's point is also one to agree with, since Pokemon's popularity has been dying off in some European countries, and it's been dying off even faster in Latin America, to the point Nintendo shut down their Brazilian operations, meaning Nintendo games aren't sold there anymore. Apparently it's also blamed on the fact video gaming is more expensive in Latin American nations compared to other areas.

I feel like it is. Most of the events are in Japan. They hardly try to maintain the hype in the West and the effects show.

The sales figures of Sun and Moon laugh at this idea. 4.5 million units in the U.S. alone, making it Nintendo's fastest selling game in history. Nintendo has a very extensive history and some incredibly popular titles, with that irritating "Best Game Of All Time" label attached to some of them. So that is more than a little impressive.

Now, I realise that sales do not necessarily indicate popularity in the strictest sense, nor that the West is just comprised of the U.S. (and god do I wish Atlus and other companies would get this through their thick skulls) but nonetheless, just because people aren't shouting about how much they love Pokemon in the streets any more, and you're not seeing merchandise in every shop window, doesn't mean that the series' popularity is falling in the West. Far from it.

Phenomenon like Pokemon was in the late 90s/early 00s doesn't come around very often. It's rare for something to be popular enough to affect practically the entire world. Obviously that's going to change as time goes by, and Pokemon has been around for 20 years now, so obviously it's not going to be as popular as it once was. New things are coming out, the original target audience is significantly older and the games have in no way changed to reflect changing tastes, and all sorts of other things. I suppose in this sense you could say it was losing popularity. But I'm pretty sure that is not how the question was being asked.

Part of the reason why I don't think Pokemon seems as popular as it used to be is that as we grow up, we're no longer the primary target audience, so we may not notice it as much. But when you go into any toy store, there are still sections dedicated to it, and the TCG remains popular, too. And if I'm being perfectly honest, I think I see more Pokemon merch out there right now than I did 10 years ago.

And like Meyneth pointed out, Sun and Moon were extremely successful, and I'd expect future installments to be the same. When you've got the old school fans continuing to show their support, alongside newer generation players picking up games, Pokemon will continue to thrive in the west, even if it isn't as mainstream as it used to be.

Meyneth's point about Sun & Moon being the fastest selling Pokemon games to date, along with Brendan's post mentioning that Pokemon is not only still be supported by new fans, but older fans also getting back in after years of falling out with the franchise.

2016 was a year that not only celebrated the 20th anniversary, but set off everyone's nostalgia bomb with two things - release of Pokemon GO starting with only 1st Gen Pokemon and Pokemon Sun & Moon introducing Alola Forms for Kanto Pokemon, along with fan fave characters like Red, Blue, Wally, Colress, Anabel and Cynthia making appearances. These factors alone led to many people getting back into Pokemon and explains why both GO and Sun & Moon experienced huge success.

Well I'm happy that they remain in the top titles for sales and I am glad that people still support one of the best series of games of all time. Sometimes I pop my Blue and Red version in and recently bought them on Eshop so I dont have to wear out the cartridges anymore. Ahhhh nostalgia, how I love you. :3

I think Pokemon is doing pretty alright for itself in the west. Pokemon Go did bring back Pokemon to the mainstream and it's pretty accepted that the mainline games can be enjoy by anyone.

The truth is that Sun and Moon's reputation is somewhat mixed in Japan(at least from what I've seen). Their overall rating in Japanese Amazon is lower than all of the mainline games. Although I have seen some criticism for Sun and Moon among western gamers, I think it's reputation is mostly positive.

I still love Pokemon so I guess to me that's all that matters.