Should Pokemon ever end?

[Nanusmightyena]

Do you think Pokémon will ever end? Or do they make too much money off the toys/games/cards/etc? Should it end before it gets bad? I'm curious to hear people's thoughts on this.

 

[colours]

i don't like how the thread title is worded, mostly because i know it'll draw out the super cynical crowd that's going to be like "well yeah, pokemon's a dumpster fire right now and Game Freak should sell their rights off and have someone else dev the Pokemon games and blah blah have Pokemon undergo huge management changes before it tanks completely."

and like, i see where there's merit in that train of thought. for those that are jaded with pokemon, it's easy to get lost in the thinking that there's nothing that exciting out there anymore ever since (insert your childhood generation here). with each new game that Game Freak releases, or with each new release of the anime, it's usually mostly the same people moaning and groaning about how pokemon will never be how it used to be. clinging onto the good ol' days is a good way to make yourself detest pretty much everything new ever that's about to release before you even give it a proper chance, which i think is the mental pitfall that people are digging themselves, whether intentionally or not.

that said though, it's hard to say definitively when it should end. personally, if pokemon had to end, then i'd want pokemon to end on a high note and not swimming in controversy like dexit. i want Game Freak to make their last swan song of a pokemon game a more immersive experience than anything they've ever produced before. for the TCG, i want to see the coolest pokemon cards being sold as collectibles. it'll be hella expensive, but worth it. merchandise would probably be the one area of the pokemon franchise that will always consistently resonate with people in a mostly positive way so i don't see that ending. but if it had to, a life-size venusaur/charizard/blastoise/pikachu/eevee would be nice (assuming those don't exist already).

but i dont think it should. not yet, and not anytime soon. however unlikely it is, i want to see if there's at least a shakeup to revitalize interest and see if TPC/Game Freak would pursue a different approach/angle to keep Pokemon interesting and engaging before it gets too stale.

 

[Nanusmightyena]

I agree. I don't think it should end yet either. I think it's lucrative enough to push atleast another decade out of. As far as the Genwunners go, I don't understand the point of them still playing the games if they hate them so much. I honestly don't see the point of them complaining, if you hate it so much stop buying it.

 

[Brendino]

Sometimes I think that people forget how astronomically successful the Pokemon franchise is. Pokemon is the highest grossing media brand in the world. It makes more than any Disney brand (including Star Wars, the MCU, Mickey Mouse, etc.), more than any other video game franchise, and more than any other global icons like Hello Kitty.

As much as I am a fan of Pokemon, I don't always agree with a lot of the things that Game Freak/TPCi do, but I know that no matter what I or others think, the Pokemon franchise is going to keep chugging along, since it's basically a license to print money at this point. And while I'm not saying I want the franchise to come to and end, it would be nice to see it slowly wrap up on a high note rather than jumping the shark and keep going until it's no longer worth it.

With all that said, I think I'd be less surprised seeing new Pokemon still showing up 50 years from now than I would be if the franchise folded in the next 10.

 

[pkmin3033]

I don't think Pokemon as a franchise should end yet, but the main series games are in dire need of a change of hands. Game Freak aren't capable of doing the franchise justice, and they haven't been capable for a long time now. They're farther behind the times than Nintendo are, and they're throttling the franchise with their wilful ignorance to the changes in the gaming industry. They've been releasing basically the same game since the first generation now and, whilst there is merit to be found in that in some respects, their stubborn refusal to build on improvements to gameplay that they make with each generation and then take out for the following generation has kept the series at what is now a painfully low standard for a modern JRPG. It's become much bigger than they are and it deserves to be in the hands of someone who actually knows what to do with it. Because they don't. They're one of the most inept studios out there, and if it wasn't for the brand name recognition Pokemon carries, I guarantee you that their games would barely sell. Game Freak are a HUGE problem. Their games aren't getting worse, they're staying the same, which makes them appear to be worse in a comparative sense. They didn't used to have the kind of competition back then that they have now, and their failure to acknowledge that they need to change is what is ruining the games. That needs to stop.

There seems to be this odd blind spot in criticism where Pokemon is concerned. All too often remakes are criticised for having the worst elements of the original titles in them, and yet Pokemon, which basically remakes Red and Blue every single generation, is excluded from this. People pine for the days of their favourite generation, yet fail to realise that the current generation is basically identical to their favourite generation. Pokemon never changes, which is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. There is a difference between changing and adapting, and Pokemon could definitely stand to adapt to the current times - the games especially, but also the franchise as a whole. There has been some effort to adapt with the release of smartphone titles, but this has come at the expense of spinoff titles, so I'm not sure I'd say it really counts.

I think it'd be better to say that Pokemon needs to slow the fuck down really. New generations are coming out too quickly, putting pressure on the already obsolete Game Freak to make new games, resulting in sub-par quality games, and an extremely cynical corporate attitude to what was previously a franchise that had a lot more care and attention given to it. Generations are getting smaller, and I don't think the "quality over quantity" argument holds when there is nothing but corporate greed stopping them from taking their time. What needs to end with the Pokemon franchise isn't the franchise itself, but the attitude and approach TPC as a whole take to it. Just because it has a reputation now and prints money doesn't mean that they should just put absolutely no effort into the quality of the products. Because there IS a decline in quality. There is no real effort made to adapt to the changing times, and this is a problem. There is definitely scope for the franchise to improve, but it won't, because TPC don't feel the need to improve it. The bare minimum effort will suffice, so that is what we get. That is what needs to end, because this uncaring corporate attitude is what will ultimately destroy the franchise, and has for several people already. They will bleed it dry and then unceremoniously discard it, which would not be necessary if they put the kind of love and attention into it that they did at the start.

Pokemon shouldn't end on the sole basis that it is still appealing to its target audience, though. In a lot of franchises there is this sense that it needs to evolve to suit its original target audience as they get older, but very few actually do that, and I think that's absolutely fine. There is merit in keeping some things the same: you appeal to the younger generation, and provide nostalgia for the older generation who grew up with the franchise. Pokemon still does this, and just because the older generation are tired of it doesn't mean they should stop - that just means they've outgrown the franchise. It's an incredibly selfish attitude to think an entire franchise should come to an end just because YOU are tired of it. So no, I don't think that is a valid line of reasoning...and this is coming from someone who is more disgusted with Pokemon than not these days.