5th Gen Where did all the fans come from?

[Ho-Oh]

Black and White's sales are pretty high, but we don't know how high. Judging from the first day or so, where the sales exceeded DPPTs sales on the early days, you can say that the games were pretty popular. However, from looking through all these threads (like the White City/Black Forest one) you'll see that not many have people nearby playing the games locally, yet they apparently have "high sales". The only thing I can think of putting it down to is that the general age group of this forum is older and therefore people are less willing to reveal they play Pokemon in order to use certain features in the games, but what are your thoughts?

- What do you feel was the intended target audience?
- And what do you think was the ACTUAL audience - aka general age group of those that brought the games?
- Why do you think they were so popular?
- Have you been able to find people in real life that have played the games?
- Why do you think there aren't any official figures released for English countries on current sales?

You can answer any amount of those, add other thoughts that are all relevant to the sales/sales figures/etc! If you can figure out the actual sales figures by calling up all game stores in your country we'll give you an emblem!

 

[Oryx]

I think, despite how many older people play Pokemon, the intended audience and in fact the sales still come from people 8-13 years old. While they're not the type to get into it hardcore for the most part like the older fanbase does, they'll buy a new game when it comes out because it's colorful (well not the names in this case but you know what I mean) and it looks slick, and they watch the show so the parents know it's a safe bet that they'd like the games since parents often have trouble buying games for kids. That would also contribute to the fact that most people feel like no one around them plays - they do, they're just all kids that we don't talk to so we don't realize that they play the game as well.

We also have to keep the fact in mind that worldwide, the games probably sold (my guess based on 11.5 million copies in April) around 13 million, and about 3 million from the US. Over 300 million people live in the US. That means that for every hundred people you see, one of them might have the games. And that person may have just bought the game, tried it once, and didn't like it, or resold the game, or bought it as a gift for someone else, or lost their copy. I think people are just underestimating the population of their respective regions tbh.

And I know at least half a dozen people irl with the games, for reference. Obviously I'm skewing your statistics so some people have to ask 600 people before they find someone with it, sorry!

 

[bobandbill]

I think, despite how many older people play Pokemon, the intended audience and in fact the sales still come from people 8-13 years old.

Despite how lazy a statement it can be at times... [/thread] It's basically the answer right there, Toujours' post. I'd say it's not at all surprising to say that the average age of forum goers is quite possibly higher than the average age of all Pokemon players (after all young kids are not often seen on the internet forums yet either, let alone active on them to discuss games rather than ask for trades).

- Why do you think there aren't any official figures released for English countries on current sales?

Not english countries specifically, but... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#Nintendo_DS

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (17.39 million)
...
Pokémon Black and White (12.87 million)[75]
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver (11.90 million)
...
Pokémon Platinum (7.06 million)[76]

Also googling leads you to announcements like this.

 

[Cordelia]

- What do you feel was the intended target audience? I feel the intended audience is between the ages of eight and fourteen.
- And what do you think was the ACTUAL audience - aka general age group of those that brought the games? The actual audience is between six and who knows... I am sure there are people out there 40+ that enjoy and play Pokemon.
- Why do you think they were so popular? Because there are so many different things you can do. I for one, like to RNG abuse, something an eight year old wouldn't like to do. There are random battles, battle subway, and so much more to do and the third game hasn't even been announced yet!
- Have you been able to find people in real life that have played the games? No. Of course, that's because I'm outside the target audience, being 25 and all.
- Why do you think there aren't any official figures released for English countries on current sales? Intelligent marketing.

 

[Oryx]

- Why do you think they were so popular? Because there are so many different things you can do. I for one, like to RNG abuse, something an eight year old wouldn't like to do. There are random battles, battle subway, and so much more to do and the third game hasn't even been announced yet!
- Why do you think there aren't any official figures released for English countries on current sales? Intelligent marketing.

I'd like some expansion on these two topics, if you don't mind? What makes those different things you can do better than HeartGold and SoulSilver, who haven't reached the same sales, and other games since a lot of those are really similar to what you can do in previous games?

The second one interests me because to the best of my knowledge they haven't done this with other game series, just this. Can you expand on the intelligent marketing aspect of this and why you think it's that way?

Also man I'm good at estimating

 

[Cordelia]

I'd like some expansion on these two topics, if you don't mind? What makes those different things you can do better than HeartGold and SoulSilver, who haven't reached the same sales, and other games since a lot of those are really similar to what you can do in previous games?

The second one interests me because to the best of my knowledge they haven't done this with other game series, just this. Can you expand on the intelligent marketing aspect of this and why you think it's that way?

Also man I'm good at estimating

HeartGold and SoulSilver are great games by themselves and people who didn't purchase them are really missing out, but they were rehashes of previous games (being remakes) and a lot of the same old formula. B&W tried to deviate from the formula a bit and they hit this with the marketing saying things like like no Pokemon game you've played before, etc etc. Deep down, B&W is the same with a few minor differences, but it's how they marketed it.

And when I said intelligent marketing, I kind of hit a few points in my first paragraph, but what I meant was by not saying how many sales they've made, people will always wonder, therefore creating interest themselves without the company having to do extra marketing to boost sales.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I think the intended target audience was supposed to be teens because Hilbert and Hilda look older than their previous counterparts. I think the actual audience was younger kids in addition to the teen audience.

The games were popular because of the new Pokemon and the interesting storyline.

I know some people my age in real life who actually play the game.

 

[~*!*~Tatsujin Gosuto~*!*~]

- What do you feel was the intended target audience?
Since they made the protagonist look a lot older as well as the rivals, it was probably attended for people that are in their mid teens (like 15-16 years old)

- And what do you think was the ACTUAL audience - aka general age group of those that brought the games?
The same as usual

- Why do you think they were so popular?
New graphics and new Pokemon

- Have you been able to find people in real life that have played the games?
Yep, just like the other main series Pokemon games

- Why do you think there aren't any official figures released for English countries on current sales?
I'm confused as well


:t354:TG

 

[Ashley182]

I honestly think the new graphics brought more sales in, because of the '3D' effect and the moving battle sprites, they sounded & are really good!

And I don't think there is an age limit on pokemon, it varies to all ages. My dad plays it and he's 40 :]

 

[Dopefish7590]

Alright here is my input.

- What do you feel was the intended target audience?

I am certain that the target audience is less of a small age group, and more all-encompassing than anything. The truth about Pokemon though is that it had a reputation, a stereotype for being "kiddy". (Because, really, it is) But that stereotype faded considerably with the release of HeartGold/SoulSilver. Nintendo Power even tried to sway this by addressing this reputation directly and claimed that it was not a game "just for kids", but was primarily trying to be something that could be "enjoyed by all". Game Freak even changed the age of the protagonists to reflect this.

And actually, right now, I know very few people that think the target age group is as young as it was before. I know at least 10 people that got back into Pokemon since HG/SS.

- And what do you think was the ACTUAL audience - aka general age group of those that brought the games?

Most of the sales I imagine were from the age group of 17-25.
At least that is the age of the people that usually browse Reddit... And one of the largest subreddits, /r/gaming, has highly upvoted Pokemon references, pictures, and comics pretty frequently.

- Why do you think they were so popular?

The games were as popular as they were because a TON of people got curious about Pokemon again, and decided to buy the next installment.

- Have you been able to find people in real life that have played the games?

Yes... I can't even say how many.

In my group of friends alone, there is only one of us that doesn't play Pokemon, be it Rumble Blast, or the main series games. When I walk around campus (I am in a Polytechnic currently) I see a fair amount of Pokemon stuff, not all the time, but it certainly isn't absent. Today I was sitting around at a table and then recognized that someone about 6 feet from me was playing StepMania with HeartGold/SoulSilver music.

Some other things that I see:

1. I happen to own a 3DS, and the 3DS Streetpass feature tells me that Rumble Blast and Black/White are being played commonly.
2. I walk by computers with Pokemon wallpapers all the time.
3. I wear a black shirt with a gruffy Pikachu on it sometimes. A lot of people ask me where I got it from.
4. I commonly hear the music during idle time, there was even a time when a classmate put on the Pokemon theme for ambient music for the rest of the people in the room, most of which I don't even associate with.

- Why do you think there aren't any official figures released for English countries on current sales?

Do they usually release sales figures for their revenue? If they have in the past, I really don't know.