2nd Gen Will Game Freak/Nintendo do more for Pok?mon's 20th anniversary?

[Raburesu]

Will Game Freak/Nintendo do more for Pokémon's 20th anniversary?

Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow will be re-released on the 3DS Virtual Console on February 27, 2016, to commemorate the series' 20th anniversary. But you knew that already.

While I am personally excited, as this will maybe make the column I've been working on forever actually somewhat relevant, a sizeable part of the community has been waiting for these games for quite a while, arguably since the inception of the eShop. I imagine reactions to the announcement were something like, "Finally...!"

Such a release doesn't seem befitting or grand enough to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the second most lucrative franchise is the industry, ya know? I understand some fans are genuinely hyped, but I can imagine others seeing this as an opportunity for Game Freak and Nintendo to make easy money off of an antiquated game with little effort. You just know some people will buy the games on release day to celebrate the occasion when they might not have otherwise, had the games been released earlier. Even Super Mario All-Stars on the Wii was a better celebration, if RBY is indeed all we're getting. Zelda's 25th gave us the Symphony of the Goddesses and new content in Skyward Sword (which was abysmal, but at least it was new!). They could have easily re-released Gold, Silver and Crystal alongside Red, Blue and Yellow - it's Pokémon's 20th anniversary, for Arceus' sake!

What do you guys think? Should all six retro games have been released instead? Will we get any other special announcements for Pokémon's 20th birthday?

 

[COOLTRAINER♂]

Why rush things? This is an anniversary promotion and Gold and Silver are the successors released several years after the original games, there's more money to be made in releasing titles piecemeal rather than throwing everything up at once, just like everything else Nintendo puts up on the Virtual Console.

I'm sure they have an extensive merchandising plan ready for throughout 2016, are you forgetting Pokemon GO, the Wii U release of Pokken Tournament and whatever new games they could announce for next year?

 

[Raburesu]

For an event like this, it shouldn't be about money. But, these humans...

I considered the fact that GSC being released as well doesn't really make sense, but come on. Re-releasing a glitchy outdated game for the anniversary is a tad disappointing, no?

I care nothing for Pokémon GO, and March comes after February... We're talking about the actual day here, and right now, it doesn't look very promising.

 

[COOLTRAINER♂]

It's also the actual anniversary product in question (at least for Red/Green).
G/S/C would probably follow a while later judging by how previous franchises have ended up on the Virtual Console.

In the end, we're talking about a lineup of products from at least three companies that stand to profit from the Pokemon brand. It's silly to ignore the importance of marketing Pokemon products right of all things.

I don't think it really matters that everything comes out exactly on February 27th 2016 and not scattered across the year as part of a celebration of the franchise. Aside from being a challenge to effectively promote and manage releasing everything if you try it all at once, you're dealing with several projects with very varying scope. For some of them it's easier to predict when you can get the final product ready for release, while others may require more time than expected to get a product ready at sufficient quality.

 

[Hiidoran]

I think it's more than fitting to just release the RBY ports on the eShop, but I feel like they have more up their sleeve. Franchises as big as Pokémon love to do a "then and now," kind of presentation at big anniversaries like this. I can't imagine them reminding their audience of how far we've come from the days of RBY without at least making hints about their upcoming plans.

If nothing else, I predict more information about Pokémon Z or the like will come out of the anniversary. I'm not too sure about any other ports or actual releases, as I feel we would probably know about them by now... or at least here soon.

 

[GiovanniViridian]

Personally like I posted before I prefer a 3DS sequel to the events of R/B/Y (more towards years after the events of G/S/C), and plus even if G/S/C are released for the eShop good luck trying to get Mew and/or Celebi unless there are events for them.

 

[COOLTRAINER♂]

you can glitch both of those in

 

[pokesonicfanthomas]

I feel they should at least remake RBY at some point during the year. That'd be nice. Buy the originals on the eshop and then the remakes.

 

[Raburesu]

I agree with what you guys are saying from a marketing perspective; companies exist to make money, so pandering to us is secondary, if even that. I was just thinking that the event is larger than the celebration, if that makes sense. Sure, we may get more in the future, but if not, they've failed to market the games well, at least to me, because without more backing them up, this isn't the best time to release 'em, in my opinion. I'd be much more excited for GSC, as I'm sure others would be, too. HGSS was phenomenal, but the originals still have something in their simplicity that makes them compelling. Who doesn't like maxing out DVs? And the unlimited availability of the elemental punches make many Pokémon much more viable very early on, and for not much money when you consider what you're getting.

They've already remade RBY. That's FireRed and LeafGreen. Now they're re-releasing the originals. You want a 3DS remake, too?! :)

 

[ShinyUmbreon189]

As much as I want to play Kanto on a 3ds with updated content I'd rather it be a different plot. Maybe a plot after Blue/Gary goes to Johto so there would be a new rival as well as playable character. Also completely different evil team and completely different plot than the originals, I'm sure we're getting tired of playing the same plot over and over. I just bought Yellow because it's the original.
But I honestly don't believe they're going to release anything special like GSC just yet. Tho it would be nice because my first was Crystal then Blue and Yellow.

 

[BettyNewbie]

As much as I want to play Kanto on a 3ds with updated content I'd rather it be a different plot. Maybe a plot after Blue/Gary goes to Johto so there would be a new rival as well as playable character. Also completely different evil team and completely different plot than the originals, I'm sure we're getting tired of playing the same plot over and over. I just bought Yellow because it's the original..

Outside of the new Evil Team and Blue going to Johto, all of those things can already be found in GSC. ;) Hopefully, they'll eventually get a re-release, too.

 

[ShinyUmbreon189]

Outside of the new Evil Team and Blue going to Johto, all of those things can already be found in GSC. ;) Hopefully, they'll eventually get a re-release, too.

Yes but the Kanto plot in GSC is fairly short, but I still liked the way they did that. After you get the Expn Card for Snorlax you just gotta beat the rest of the Gym leaders and Kanto is basically over. I was talking about starting in Kanto with the starters but a completely different plot than RBY and even GSC. That would allow us to relive Kanto but with a refreshing touch to it.

 

[BettyNewbie]

Yes but the Kanto plot in GSC is fairly short, but I still liked the way they did that. After you get the Expn Card for Snorlax you just gotta beat the rest of the Gym leaders and Kanto is basically over. I was talking about starting in Kanto with the starters but a completely different plot than RBY and even GSC. That would allow us to relive Kanto but with a refreshing touch to it.

Obviously, hardware limitations hindered a lot of what could be done with Kanto in GSC. (See Viridian Forest, Cerulean Cave, Cinnabar Island, and the Seafoam Islands all getting cut from the game.) HGSS addressed these issues somewhat, although even those games still had to be faithful to the originals to an extent.

Maybe a second, more Kanto-centric, sequel will happen someday, but I wouldn't bet on it anytime soon, especially when we have other regions in more desperate need of a follow-up (*cough*Kalos*cough*).