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[butman]

It's simple, why on earth there are two version of a some games like Pokemon, Megaman Battle Network, Inazuma Eleven and why developers just don't make only one game.

Is just because the collectable thing so some consumers buy one version and others the the another one so they can trade?
Why they just don't make only one?
Was Nintendo that started with this model?
Isn't it somehow ridiculous and annoying from the point of view of the consumer? Are you OK with this?

Imagine if Ni No Kuni would have a Day and Night version? (i say this because the monsters system)

Please don't tell me "because business"

 

[Mediking]

Gimme all the money!!!!

...

Thats... it.

 

[Zalman]

With Pokémon it was done to promote the social aspect of the game. It encouraged people to trade with each other.

 

[Thud]

It's marketed for kids. They get all up in it.

 

[*Splinter]

To encourage people to buy the same game multiple times. It's scummy shit that for some reason never gets called out.

 

[adamsapple]

It's simple, why on earth there are two version of a some games like Pokemon, Megaman Battle Network, Inazuma Eleven and why developers just don't make only one game.

Because this way they can sell twice the copies.

 

[Sciz]

With Pokémon it was done to promote the social aspect of the game. It encouraged people to trade with each other.

ding ding ding

Everybody else does it because it worked out well for Pokemon.

 

[mullet2000]

It was to promote trading in the original Pokemon games.

Honestly though, for the other games you point it's "because business." Pokemon was successful at doing it and other GB/GBA games copied it. Few other games justified it well.

 

[Devilgunman]

So people double dip.

 

[luulubuu]

Because they are fun

 

[jotun?]

Why have

when you could have

 

[DrArchon]

Because money.

That's literally it. You can't get everything in one version, so you (or you and a friend/sibling) have to buy both to get everything by trading.

It's less of a thing now in stuff like Pokemon thanks to Online trading, but that's why it started.

 

[KarmaCow]

As a kid, I would coordinate with my friends to buy certain games. They bought DKC2, I bought DKC3. The idea here is that you buy one version and then pressure your friends into buying the other version.

 

[Mediking]

With Pokémon it was done to promote the social aspect of the game. It encouraged people to trade with each other.

Pls stop.

Anybody who thinks that trading to evovle a Pokemon is more cool and fun than it actually being annoying and frustrating needs to open their eyes.

 

[KojiKnight]

To encourage people to buy the same game multiple times. It's scummy shit that always gets called out but people buy them anyways.

ftfy. The market knows this is the reason, the market doesn't care. Hell, even on GAF people bring it up in the same sentence as they talk about buying both copies.

 

[Kyzer]

So that they can have differences between versions encouraging you to have a reason to interact with people. If there was only one version of pokemon there would be no point in trading

Not very many people actually buy both versions of a game

 

[giancarlo123x]

With Pokémon it was done to promote the social aspect of the game. It encouraged people to trade with each other.

That's a long way of saying it was for

 

[Nitpicker_Red]

For Pokémon, it's clearly that if all games had the same Pokémons, there would be little benefit to trade (except for legendaries and one-choice Pokémons).
Trading and fighting between two people as a mean of socialisation was included in the design philosophies of the game since it's conception, so the two versions having different Pokémon available was just an extension of that (third version though, that's for money).

For games that don't feature trading as a core gameplay mechanic, I don't know.

 

[L Thammy]

Originally, to sell the link cable.

Also to encourage trading by making it impossible to get all the content without it.

 

[TripleBee]

$10 for DLC that adds 10 new pokemon and swaps a few story beats - OUTRAGEOUS !

$40 for the same game but swapping out 10 pokemon - Hmmmm, this seems fine.


Basically, it's secret DLC.

 

[Zalman]

Pls stop.

Anybody who thinks that trading to evovle a Pokemon is more cool and fun than it actually being annoying and frustrating needs to open their eyes.

Like it or not, the social element of Pokémon is the main reason why it became so successful.

 

[ASaiyan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgUe8FlHWTs&t=0m48s

You answered your own question in the OP, lol.

 

[*Splinter]

With Pokémon it was done to promote the social aspect of the game. It encouraged people to trade with each other.

There's nothing done in Pokémon that couldn't have been done with a single version. Especially in the originals that only allowed a single save file.

I know this is the obvious justification, but it falls apart under any scrutiny.

 

[L Thammy]

Do you think that "to encourage player interaction" and "to make money" are mutually exclusive? Some of you seem like you're deliberately trying to be obtuse here.

This may shock you, but a lot of games are sold with the intention to make money.

 

[Kyzer]

$10 for DLC that adds 10 new pokemon and swaps a few story beats - OUTRAGEOUS !

$40 for the same game but swapping out 10 pokemon - Hmmmm, this seems fine.


Basically, it's secret DLC.

Youre not supposed to buy the other version youre supposed to interact with other human beings to get the others

 

[Atheerios]

Is just because the collectable thing so some consumers buy one version and others the the another one so they can trade?

Yes. Exactly that. It's just to encourage trading.

As an interesting fact, for Pokémon the dual version was proposed by Miyamoto, not Game Freak.

 

[Mellahan]

Allow me to explain MMBN3.

White is the original version. In Japan it was known as Rockman EXE 3.

Some time later, BLUE (known as Black in Japan) launched with a number of bug fixes and additional content.

When it came time to launc BN3 in the US, Capcom USA opted to localize both versions. The original version became WHITE, Black became BLUE.

 

[UpUpDownDown]

I thought this was asking why there's a $50 and $150 version of the same game.

Guess the answer is the same though.

 

[WestEgg]

Pls stop.

Anybody who thinks that trading to evovle a Pokemon is more cool and fun than it actually being annoying and frustrating needs to open their eyes.

It is from an adult's perspective but as a kid, that link cable was magic. The animation on screen really sold the idea of your Pokemon going through the cable and into each other's systems.

 

[ColtraineGF]

I think it was Pokemon that started it, and other companies emulated the practice (because Pokemon money is best money)

In Pokemon's case, it was to encourage trading: this version has these mons, and that version has other mons, so you have to interact with others to "get 'em all". Otherwise, they were pretty similar.

I think you see the "two or more versions simultaneously" model with games that have an audience of primarily kids/teens, so stuff like Battle Network, Dragon Quest Monsters, Yokai Watch, Inazuma Eleven, Medabots, Digimon, and more recently Fire Emblem, among many others.

 

[Shil Pencer]

You really need the answer to be told to you?

 

[Korigama]

Money, simple as that. Encouraging socialization certainly was not the idea behind selling more than one version of Fire Emblem Fates.

 

[Kyzer]

Allow me to explain MMBN3.

White is the original version. In Japan it was known as Rockman EXE 3.

Some time later, BLUE (known as Black in Japan) launched with a number of bug fixes and additional content.

When it came time to launc BN3 in the US, Capcom USA opted to localize both versions. The original version became WHITE, Black became BLUE.

So for the usa they split up the forms?

 

[PSqueak]

To play the trading card nature of the games (in case of pokemon, battle network and CFC), they're not expecting you to buy both versions (but they hope it) the idea is making the experience vary.

That said, i find extremely weird when people buy both versions of such games.

 

[Finky Spunky]

Well there's also Game of the Year editions, greatest hits etc. why?

 

[silva1991]

They know alot of fans will buy both versions. Way more profits for minimal efforts.

 

[AuthenticM]

Please don't tell me "because business"

I'm sorry to have to tell you, TC. But it's because of business.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

It's really just to sell two different versions of the product, most consumers will not double dip, but a few will and that gets you a nice bit of extra money. Most games that do this don't have collector's editions though, and the few that do (fire emblem fates) are just the price of both versions combined so it's not that bad. But yeah it's ultimately used to make more money off of the diehards.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

With Pokémon it was done to promote the social aspect of the game. It encouraged people to trade with each other.

You mean that's the line they fed us when it was to sell multiple copies to the same buyer.

 

[Mellahan]

So for the usa they split up the forms?

The forms were split natively. Shadow Style was always limited to Black, for example.

 

[Nanashrew]

You mean that's the line they fed us when it was to sell multiple copies to the same buyer.

Never once in my entire life bought both versions. Dunno what you're doing.

 

[butman]

Then you wouldn't mind if there was an Street Fighter VI - Hadouken Version and Shoryuken Version? So you can trade fighters, because is fun!

 

[brinstar]

You mean that's the line they fed us when it was to sell multiple copies to the same buyer.

an interesting question would be to ask how many of you guys buy both versions of pokemon

Then you wouldn't mind if there was an Street Fighter VI - Hadouken Version and Shoryuken Version? So you can trade fighters, because is fun!

you don't collect fighters in street fighter, so this kind of falls apart

 

[Gai Murakumo]

In the end it is all about squeezing as much cash out of kids (or their parents) as much as possible. There is no other reason for multiple versions.

 

[Rygar 8 Bit]

Pls stop.

Anybody who thinks that trading to evovle a Pokemon is more cool and fun than it actually being annoying and frustrating needs to open their eyes.

was a cool gimmick when i was in middle school playing red and blue with everyone else now a days not so much i even wanted to go back and play red again until i remembered i would have to trade to get machamp and gengar that killed it for me then i said screw that and ended up not playing through it again
although the online trading in the new games is fine

 

[L Thammy]

You mean that's the line they fed us when it was to sell multiple copies to the same buyer.

My friends and I just told each other which versions we were getting and got different ones.

 

[KojiKnight]

an interesting question would be to ask how many of you guys buy both versions of pokemon



you don't collect fighters in street fighter, so this kind of falls apart

This wouldn't be a bad thread idea. Pass it by a mod so they can punch in a poll.

 

[L Thammy]

Then you wouldn't mind if there was an Street Fighter VI - Hadouken Version and Shoryuken Version? So you can trade fighters, because is fun!

This kind of is a real thing already. Dragonball Extreme Butouden can link play with One Piece something something, both by Arc System Works.

 

[Aaronrules380]

You mean that's the line they fed us when it was to sell multiple copies to the same buyer.

Honestly, while money is probably the primary motivator, I imagine it's less about people buying both versions themselves (because I can't imagine the percent of the user base doing this is anything but tiny) and more to get kids motivated to get their friends to get the game in the other version. When a kid knows they can't get everything with just one copy, they're more likely to be able to convince a friend to buy the game then their parent to buy a second version in most cases

 

[*Splinter]

Oh lots of people buying the trading excuse huh