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[Magicpaint]

Pokemon has been on decline or something, I guess Ive been under the wrong impression that each one sells better than the previous...

The latest remake Heart Gold and Soul Silver outsold Fire Red and Leaf Green. Platinum is the best selling third version since Yellow, and the last main entry Diamond/Pearl outsold Ruby/Sapphire. Of course the first one was a sales beast, but there is no alarming decline here, sorry.

 

[Jokeropia]

50 million downloads (supposedly) although I think the iOS number is around 8-10. Many have been from the free/ad-supported version on Android.

At 42 million downloads, 30 were free and 12 were paid. So even at 99¢, they only reach about half of what the best selling DS games do.

 

[Hsieh]

Mario and.. Final Fantasy?

After Final Fantasy XIV, Final Fantasy is a not a franchise guaranteed to print money.

 

[Merovin]

For those interested, here is a summary of the sales for the main line of games (from Wikipedia so it is 110% reliable):

Pokemon Red/Blue/Green: 23.6 Million (Blue outsells Red)
Pokemon Yellow: 8.86 Million
Pokemon Gold/Silver: 15.2 Million (Silver outsells Gold)
Pokemon Crystal: 3.5 Million
Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire: 13 Million
Pokemon Emerald: 6.32 Million
Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen: 11.82 Million
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl: 17.39 Million
Pokemon Platinum: 7.06 Million
Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver: 11.72 Million

The sales of the third games, I wonder what the split is between those of us that are fanatics and buy it again for the extras, and those of us that are smart and wait for it all in one? I know which one I fall under.

Spoiler

You know I'm not smart.

 

[apana]

I think even last console Zelda (TP) sold more than the last Final Fantasy game. So Final Fantasy is not what it once was.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Nothing will ever top RBY, that thing was fucking massive, but how the hell do you get "decline" from that sales data?

Ignoring the third versions...each successive one had lower sales based on what was posted. D/P seemed to spike, but still less than the first three. B/W seems off to a great start, though will the 3DS coming out curtail lasting interest in the games (would new people choose a DS game over a 3DS one?) (of course >250K seems like amazing sales at the end of the day )

 

[borghe]

Pokemon has been on decline or something, I guess Ive been under the wrong impression that each one sells better than the previous...

those numbers are very misleading. First, Red/Blue/Green had the whole build up thing of the franchise getting going, not to mention were on a 7-9 year old platform. Gold/Silver were on the GBC which had a smaller install base by it's launch, and Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire were at the time on an even smaller install base thank to being less than two years after the GBA launch.

Diamond and Pearl is probably the most telling so far because like R/B/G they launched on a very mature platform. Almost three years after the DS launched, and two years after the DS exploded. So still an overall decline, but hardly a constant downward spiral.

And you have to remove the Leaf/Fire/Soul/Heart/Ye/Cr/Em/Pt/etc games from the factor because they are all essentially remakes or director cuts basically.

Long and short of it is that the game is incredibly healthy, and I have a feeling Black and White will benefit from two things. First, the previous generation launching 4 years earlier, and second, much the same way Red and Blue ended up being GBC system sellers back in 1998, I really think Black and White will turn out to be THE system sellers for 3DS in America (despite gaining nothing from the system). Outside of price there is absolutely no reason to buy a system for Pokemon B&W and it not be a 3DS in a couple of weeks.

Ignoring the third versions...each successive one had lower sales based on what was posted. D/P seemed to spike, but still less than the first three. B/W seems off to a great start, though will the 3DS coming out curtail lasting interest in the games (would new people choose a DS game over a 3DS one?) (of course >250K seems like amazing sales at the end of the day )

like I said, the next two generations came at relatively early points in that hardware cycle (less than two years later for both gens). I honestly feel that Diamond/Pearl is much more representative of releasing a new PKMN game on an established handheld. And with 4 years between Gen4 and Gen5, B&W will be an excellent metric on where the series is.

As for "will they pick up a DS game over a 3DS game".... the launch lineup for 3DS is somewhat slim.. and a fun game is a fun game. While the Gen5 games don't hold up to most 3DS games graphically, they are still IMHO not ugly games by any stretch (understanding the visual style they're going for)

 

[Gravijah]

those numbers are very misleading. First, Red/Blue/Green had the whole build up thing of the franchise getting going, not to mention were on a 7-9 year old platform. Gold/Silver were on the GBC which had a smaller install base by it's launch, and Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire were at the time on an even smaller install base thank to being less than two years after the GBA launch.

Diamond and Pearl is probably the most telling so far because like R/B/G they launched on a very mature platform. Almost three years after the DS launched, and two years after the DS exploded. So still an overall decline, but hardly a constant downward spiral.

And you have to remove the Leaf/Fire/Soul/Heart/Ye/Cr/Em/Pt/etc games from the factor because they are all essentially remakes or director cuts basically.

Long and short of it is that the game is incredibly healthy, and I have a feeling Black and White will benefit from two things. First, the previous generation launching 4 years earlier, and second, much the same way Red and Blue ended up being GBC system sellers back in 1998, I really think Black and White will turn out to be THE system sellers for 3DS in America (despite gaining nothing from the system). Outside of price there is absolutely no reason to buy a system for Pokemon B&W and it not be a 3DS in a couple of weeks.

GS could be played on the Game Boy, Crystal however was Color exclusive which explains it's relatively low sales.

Ignoring the third versions...each successive one had lower sales based on what was posted. D/P seemed to spike, but still less than the first three. B/W seems off to a great start, though will the 3DS coming out curtail lasting interest in the games (would new people choose a DS game over a 3DS one?) (of course >250K seems like amazing sales at the end of the day )

No Pokemon game will ever sell as many as RBY. That does not mean the series is in a decline. Hell, DPPt and BW show the series is increasing in sales.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Which one sold better? Your answer might make gamers sound racists.

 

[manueldelalas]

I think even last console Zelda (TP) sold more than the last Final Fantasy game. So Final Fantasy is not what it once was.

Yes, but Zelda haven't got the same franchise power; just count the number of FF games released this generation and compare it to the number of Zelda games released. It's a ridiculous difference.

Just on the DS, a Nintendo handheld, you have FFXII RW, FF 4 Heroes, FF 3 and 4 remakes, FFCC RoF and EoT, FF Tactics A2 and even a Chocobo game (which was not bad). That compared to the 2 Zelda games released on the DS and 3 Tingle games....

 

[borghe]

GS could be played on the Game Boy, Crystal however was Color exclusive which explains it's relatively low sales.

Guess I don't remember that (as my first GB was a GBC for Red). I just remember they had the Color boxes.

No Pokemon game will ever sell as many as RBY. That does not mean the series is in a decline. Hell, DPPt and BW show the series is increasing in sales.

Exactly. It would be like saying Mario is in decline because nothing will ever match sales on SMB. There are amazing sales, and then there is lightning in a bottle. IIRC, at the time, 1 in every 5 Gameboy owners EVER bought Pokemon. The games basically sold one copy with almost every new GB(C) there for a year or so.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Ignoring the third versions...each successive one had lower sales based on what was posted. D/P seemed to spike, but still less than the first three. B/W seems off to a great start, though will the 3DS coming out curtail lasting interest in the games (would new people choose a DS game over a 3DS one?) (of course >250K seems like amazing sales at the end of the day )

The only brand-new generation releases are:

Red/Blue: 23.6

Gold/Silver: 15.2

Ruby/Silver: 13

Diamond/Pearl: 17.39

Tough to beat the phenomenon that started it all; other than that the franchise looks endlessly popular.

 

[Cyborg]

For those interested, here is a summary of the sales for the main line of games (from Wikipedia so it is 110% reliable):

Pokemon Red/Blue/Green: 23.6 Million (Blue outsells Red)
Pokemon Yellow: 8.86 Million
Pokemon Gold/Silver: 15.2 Million (Silver outsells Gold)
Pokemon Crystal: 3.5 Million
Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire: 13 Million
Pokemon Emerald: 6.32 Million
Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen: 11.82 Million
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl: 17.39 Million
Pokemon Platinum: 7.06 Million
Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver: 11.72 Million

Not trying to start a war... but I dont know what people like about a pokemon game. But maybe I dont have taste.

 

[borghe]

fwiw, White really is the more "complete" game for those not wanting to trade as much as possible. Kind of BS on Nintendo's part IMHO. A one for one swap of a small number of Pokemon is one thing. But isn't it like basically 30ish pokemon that are in white that effectively can't be caught in black (because of the forest)?

Not trying to start a war... but I dont know what people like about a pokemon game. But maybe I dont have taste.

if you enjoy turn-based jrpgs that are more designed around gameplay and multiplayer than they are story and characters, this game is pretty much the blueprint. insanely deep game engine and strategy and a global arena, all wrapped in in a virtual kiddie candy coating. The aesthetics definitely seem to turn of plenty off gamers, but to most of us they're endearing, and at the end of the day the game as a multiplayer jrpg is probably deeper than almost every other one out there, ESPECIALLY on handhelds.

 

[HolyCheck]

Not trying to start a war... but I dont know what people like about a pokemon game. But maybe I dont have taste.

Honey, with that avatar I wouldnt talk about taste.

Oh no he didn't!

 

[Hot Coldman]

Not trying to start a war... but I dont know what people like about a pokemon game. But maybe I dont have taste.

Or maybe your opinion is different from others? Calm down, it's OK not to like things

 

[FoneBone]

aaaaaaaaaaand no wonder NoA hasn't been pushing 3DS yet

 

[Dedication Through Light]

GS could be played on the Game Boy, Crystal however was Color exclusive which explains it's relatively low sales.



No Pokemon game will ever sell as many as RBY. That does not mean the series is in a decline. Hell, DPPt and BW show the series is increasing in sales.

I guess it depends on how one chooses to look at it 23mln to 17mln is still a decline, though in this parabola, its been increasing since the series rockbottom of RubySapphire.

With 47mln systems available...I cant see why D/P didnt exceed Red/Blue. Were 5 mln PKMN fans just "lost" through the years? Other series have exceeded the sales of their first entries.

 

[Sadist]

Not trying to start a war... but I dont know what people like about a pokemon game. But maybe I dont have taste.

You hate feeling like a kid who's going on a big adventure with a bunch monsters who beat eachother into a bloody pulp?

It's okay cyborg, you're logic systems can't comprehend the awesome.

 

[faridmon]

I still haven't bought a Pokemon game since Yellow.

Actually yoou know what, I will try my best to get Pokemon Black or White. I have been ignoring the franchise for gods know how long.

 

[Dave Long]

Pokemon is the journey of growing up combined with the basic building blocks of RPGs. It's still one of the most brilliant kids games ever designed and this iteration may be the best yet.

We bought four on Sunday. One for each of my sons and one for myself.

 

[Lord_Byron28]

those numbers are very misleading. First, Red/Blue/Green had the whole build up thing of the franchise getting going, not to mention were on a 7-9 year old platform. Gold/Silver were on the GBC which had a smaller install base by it's launch, and Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire were at the time on an even smaller install base thank to being less than two years after the GBA launch.

Diamond and Pearl is probably the most telling so far because like R/B/G they launched on a very mature platform. Almost three years after the DS launched, and two years after the DS exploded. So still an overall decline, but hardly a constant downward spiral.

And you have to remove the Leaf/Fire/Soul/Heart/Ye/Cr/Em/Pt/etc games from the factor because they are all essentially remakes or director cuts basically.

Long and short of it is that the game is incredibly healthy, and I have a feeling Black and White will benefit from two things. First, the previous generation launching 4 years earlier, and second, much the same way Red and Blue ended up being GBC system sellers back in 1998, I really think Black and White will turn out to be THE system sellers for 3DS in America (despite gaining nothing from the system). Outside of price there is absolutely no reason to buy a system for Pokemon B&W and it not be a 3DS in a couple of weeks.


like I said, the next two generations came at relatively early points in that hardware cycle (less than two years later for both gens). I honestly feel that Diamond/Pearl is much more representative of releasing a new PKMN game on an established handheld. And with 4 years between Gen4 and Gen5, B&W will be an excellent metric on where the series is.

As for "will they pick up a DS game over a 3DS game".... the launch lineup for 3DS is somewhat slim.. and a fun game is a fun game. While the Gen5 games don't hold up to most 3DS games graphically, they are still IMHO not ugly games by any stretch (understanding the visual style they're going for)

It's not a decline at all. The series has stabilized. If each pokemon game saw significant drops than yes it would be decline but after the original games sales have all been in the same ball park of numbers and some entries sell more, some sell less. We don't say Mario is in a decline because it can't beat other mainline Mario entries.

Pokemon r/g/b/y had many contributing factors. The first and foremost reason as you mentioned it started the franchise and saw a huge explosion of popularity. The second is that unlike the other games in the series there were four versions of the game released in Japan. In Japan there was r/g/b then they also released yellow. Also the gameboy had been on sale for years(much longer than Color, GBA, or DS) and had a big install base.

 

[HolyCheck]

I still haven't bought a Pokemon game since Yellow.

Actually yoou know what, I will try my best to get Pokemon Black or White. I have been ignoring the franchise for gods know how long.

I'm the same but with pokemon red! I mean i've played the others for a bit (played a friends for an hour or so) but I'm diving in tomorrow and buying pokemon white! I've even borrowed a DS off a friend to do so!

 

[Red]

This gen made me hop back in, and I'm glad I did.

 

[borghe]

With 47mln systems available...I cant see why D/P didnt exceed Red/Blue. Were 5 mln PKMN fans just "lost" through the years? Other series have exceeded the sales of their first entries.

it could just be argued that those titles saw a 25% increase (or whatever) from the newness. Not as in new players coming in, but the obligatory "check out the fad".

Also remember that at that time there were no other pokemon games to buy. You either bought Red or Blue or you didn't play pokemon. Just for gen 4 you had 5 games on the shelf at one time, not to mention an entire generation right before (Ru/Sa/Em/FR/LG). Going back to that "check out the fad" people had many other (and possibly cheaper) opportunities, not to mention more titles in a single generation to "spread the wealth" amongst.

edit - I was just pointing out that you might be able to consider it as a general decline overall. However for the most part I agree with those saying that Pokemon has probably never been more popular in the realm of video games than it is now. My guess is B&W will be the best selling generation since the first.

 

[Hot Coldman]

I'm the same but with pokemon red! I mean i've played the others for a bit (played a friends for an hour or so) but I'm diving in tomorrow and buying pokemon white! I've even borrowed a DS off a friend to do so!

You have a friend daft enough to lend you a DS for Pokemon? He may never see it again :lol

 

[FoneBone]

I guess it depends on how one chooses to look at it 23mln to 17mln is still a decline, though in this parabola, its been increasing since the series rockbottom of RubySapphire.

Well, that era was the peak of Pokemon as a multimedia phenomenon (TV series, movies, games, toys). It's likely never going to reach quite that high again.

 

[HolyCheck]

You have a friend daft enough to lend you a DS for Pokemon? He may never see it again :lol

He has two! Lent me his Pink one

 

[Cyborg]

Honey, with that avatar I wouldnt talk about taste.

Oh no he didn't!

Cant change it, I made one mistake and they punish me.

Take this m8!

 

[Salaadin]

Howd B/W do in Japan? Id imagine its pretty high by now.

 

[Gravijah]

Cant change it, I made one mistake and they punish me.

Take this m8!

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m628/Azzwanker/charlie-sheen-20110302015505908-000.jpg[/MG][/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386047&page=32[/url]

 

[Magicpaint]

I guess it depends on how one chooses to look at it 23mln to 17mln is still a decline, though in this parabola, its been increasing since the series rockbottom of RubySapphire.

With 47mln systems available...I cant see why D/P didnt exceed Red/Blue. Were 5 mln PKMN fans just "lost" through the years? Other series have exceeded the sales of their first entries.

Yeah but how many series sell 20+ million from the get go? There is really no way for Pokemon to go from there but down really. This kind of "decline" is nothing like you're making it out to be. The series still sells boatloads.

 

[HolyCheck]

Howd B/W do in Japan? Id imagine its pretty high by now.

Just had a quick poke about, it seems to be around 5.1mill 2 weeks ago

 

[MisterHero]

bah I can play black and white Pokemon on my original Gameboy

big whoop

Retro Reggie is pleased

omg where's this from

 

[Cyborg]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386047&page=32

Thank you Ill try that

 

[NEO0MJ]

Yeah but how many series sell 20+ million from the get go? There is really no way for Pokemon to go from there but down really. This kind of "decline" is nothing like you're making it out to be. The series still sells boatloads.

What you says is very true, if it wasn't Mario should be through.

After all didn't the original Mario bros. on Nes sell 42 million or so?

Edit: By comparison New Super Mario Bros only sold 22 million, a 50% drop in sales!

 

[Salaadin]

Just had a quick poke about, it seems to be around 5.1mill 2 weeks ago

Wow not bad. I wonder how it did in Europe so far.


Im curious to see how/if Pokemon Grey will be. Will it be a rehash of the DS games with added features or will they make it 3DS only...or add in 3DS features? Or will they skip one and go straight for a new version.

I love the additions to B/W but kinda wish they waited for the 3DS launch and gave us nicer graphics for the cities and 3d pokemon battles.

 

[Lone_Prodigy]

I think White is outselling Black; it's higher on Amazon's bestseller list (in Canada, at least) and one store I went to had no copies of White.

 

[NEO0MJ]

I think White is outselling Black; it's higher on Amazon's bestseller list (in Canada, at least) and one store I went to had no copies of White.

Awesome black dragon is much more awesome that weird fox with an exposed penis.

 

[ZZMitch]

Deserving. In the 2 hours I have played this game has improved dramatically over Platinum

 

[Sadist]

omg where's this from

http://au.gamespot.com/users/pikaby/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25890567

 

[AgentChris]

I bought Black day 1 and will buy White in a few months.

 

[DragonKnight]

Decline? Really? I guess I have been lurking long enough to realize one thing: this is GAF we're talking about.

 

[Kusagari]

Pokemon has been on decline or something, I guess Ive been under the wrong impression that each one sells better than the previous...

How is that a decline when D/P was the best selling gen after R/B and B/W might sell even more than D/P?

 

[Lord_Byron28]

Well, that era was the peak of Pokemon as a multimedia phenomenon (TV series, movies, games, toys). It's likely never going to reach quite that high again.

While it more than likely won't get back to those original days. Back in the SMB3-SMW era Mario sold 18-20 million, had TV shows, key chains, merchandising everywhere all based on Mario. Then we go to the N64/GCN days and no one thought Mario would ever be that popular again but then NSMB drops and it sells 22 million beating out SMB3 and SMW.

What you says is very true, if it wasn't Mario should be through.

After all didn't the original Mario bros. on Nes sell 42 million or so?

Edit: By comparison New Super Mario Bros only sold 22 million, a 50% drop in sales!

Mario's sales have somewhat stablized though most of the 2d platformers have sold around 20 million. Also the original Super Mario Bros. came packed in with the NES so that's a somewhat unfair comparison.

Pokemon has also stabilized between the 15-20 million range. There has not been an overall decline between G/S-B/W(so far).

 

[Banjoman]

http://au.gamespot.com/users/pikaby/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25890567

I love this man even more.

 

[DonMigs85]

Now I wonder if they'll still use sprites for the next game on 3DS, or actual polygon models? That will be the biggest upgrade yet for the main series. They can probably recycle the Gen 1-4 models from Battle Revolution or something.

 

[Lonely1]

But I thought that Angry Birds killed Nintendo handhelds.

 

[Gravijah]

Now I wonder if they'll still use sprites for the next game on 3DS, or actual polygon models? That will be the biggest upgrade yet for the main series. They can probably recycle the Gen 1-4 models from Battle Revolution or something.

Screw the graphics, I'm interested in how the music is going to sound!

 

[Bit-Bit]

Will head out to best buy later today and make my contributions.