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Jim Sterling - Pokémon's Business Model Has Always Been Trash

mcjmetroid

Member
Isn’t Pokémon the most profitable franchise in the world? Like even more than Star Wars and Marvel?

But LOL some rando youtube gonna call them out on their business model sure
You could said the same thing for EA's battlefront II 2 years ago. It's gonna make them some money so why complain?
 

Omali

Member
How can you even call trash a business model who make BILLIONS with cheap as fuck copypaste games??

It's the smartest model of business possible in this planet ffs...

The video is a response to people complaining that Pokemon selling expansion packs for Sword & Shield is double dipping when Pokemon has always been about double and triple dipping.

But if you'd watched the video you'd know that.
 

Fake

Member
c8e.gif
 

Nickolaidas

Banned
I just hate the sound of his voice.

Oh God, this so much. I mean, it's like he purposefully sounds whiny and annoying. At least Angry Joe most of the time manages to convey sincere disappointment in videos like Ride to Hell, Mindjack or Fallout 76. But Sterling's persona reeks of pretense and falsehood. It's annoying to listen and watch.

If he talked like an actual human being and not like a high-pitched snotty bitch of a man, I'd have respected his work a whole lot more.
 
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Heinrich

Banned
All this guy does is to provoke and make bullshit statements.
Can we PLEASE stop giving this attention whore what he wants - the attention?
 

KingT731

Member
He's speaking strictly on the games then...100% I agree. Releasing 2 (sometimes 3)versions of a game that are 98% the same and now with Sword/Shield they're having an expansion pass that adds the stuff they gave BS reasons for not including.
 

Fbh

Member
Guys he isn't saying the business model is shit as in "it's bad for business", he is saying he thinks the business model is shit for consumers with the whole 2 versions thing, arguing that if Activision or EA tried to pull the same stunt with one of their modern games they'd probably get a lot of shit for it.
The whole rant starts because he is surprised about people being upset about the season pass since it's still better than their old tactic of locking content to a third full priced release which was 90% the same game again.


Why do we keep acknowledging this guy? His entire schtick is just bitching about anything and everything. It got old years ago.

You are bitching about a video being posted on a gaming forum where like 80% of what we do is bitch about everything, in a thread that's mostly full of people bitching about a video they didn't even watch.
I think he fits.
 
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Saber

Gold Member
Guys he isn't saying the business model is shit as in "it's bad for business", he is saying he thinks the business model is shit for consumers with the whole 2 versions thing, arguing that if Activision or EA tried to pull the same stunt with one of their modern games they'd probably get a lot of shit for it.

Totally agree. They all try to pretend, hide or feels like its no big deal, but Pokemon gets a free pass on basically everything.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
Gen 1 and 2 and 3? Nah no internet. Forced people to trade.

After that? Sure bullshit
 

mcjmetroid

Member
Oh God, this so much. I mean, it's like he purposefully sounds whiny and annoying. At least Angry Joe most of the time manages to convey sincere disappointment in videos like Ride to Hell, Mindjack or Fallout 76. But Sterling's persona reeks of pretense and falsehood. It's annoying to listen and watch.

If he talked like an actual human being and not like a high-pitched snotty bitch of a man, I'd have respected his work a whole lot more.
I actually feel that way about Angry Joe in fairness. At least I don't have to adjust the volume every 5 minutes for Jim. Joe ROARS into the mic every change he gets.
 

Jubenhimer

Member
I think people don't really get the entire point of why Pokemon releases in two versions. It's a deliberate tactic to facilitate the main selling point of the series. Catching and Trading Pokemon. Having two versions with slightly altered Dexes, on paper, requires the user to utilize the trading aspect to Get the full Dex. You don't have to buy both versions if you don't want to, just buy the version you like, and get all the Pokemon by trading with others. It's how the series has always worked. I like many, have had their grievances with Pokemon and Game Freak's handling of the franchise over the years. This isn't one of them. It's not some master plan to milk money from you, it's a plan to encourage you to utilize the main feature and interact with other players.

I can understand the concerns about Sword & Shield now that DLC is a factor, But I see no reason to change something very essential to Pokemon's core mechanic.
 

Aion002

Member
I won't watch it because lately Sterling got too much repetitive for me..... But... Nintendo do sell the same game twice with small differences....

However, this is not new and everybody accepted that... Like 30 years ago or something... Life goes on.... I don't understand most of his complaints... That Death Stranding video he did was so weird. Yes he didn't like the game. Now to call it shit because of that? How old is he? 10?Same thing now. Don't like a old practice by Nintendo? Don't buy it. It's not the end of the world.

Same as EA selling player cards on sports games, no matter how much he complains, if people keep buying, it doesn't matter and it's not a problem. I hope he never gets near a gacha like Grand Order or Dragon Ball Dokkan... He might freak out.
 

Aion002

Member
I don't think it's ever too late to stand up for consumer interests.
Not really in this case.

The consumers like that.... even if it's not the ideal, it's just the way it is, they enjoy it. I think it's a little too pretentious of Sterling to come out and say: Hey people! You guys are getting scammed! Nintendo(or EA) is shit!!! How you didn't noticed that!

Most people can understand that those things are silly, but they enjoy buying packs or playing two versions of the same game... if they didn't they would not buy them. People are not that dumb....

In this case, about the DLC.... if consumers think it's not worth it, they will not buy it and Nintendo won't do the same thing again. No need for an youtuber telling people to be outraged or not.... I think.
 
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Zog

Banned
Not really in this case.

The consumers like that.... even if it's not the ideal, it's just the way it is, they enjoy it. I think it's a little too pretentious of Sterling to come out and say: Hey people! You guys are getting scammed! Nintendo(or EA) is shit!!! How you didn't noticed that!

Most people can understand that those things are silly, but they enjoy buying packs or playing two versions of the same game... if they didn't they would not buy them. People are not that dumb....

In this case, about the DLC.... if consumers think it's not worth it, they will not buy it and Nintendo won't do the same thing again. No need for an youtuber telling people to be outraged or not.... I think.

Don't speak out against the status quo and/or your only voice should be your wallet? Am I misreading you?
 

Shin

Banned
Isn’t Pokémon the most profitable franchise in the world? Like even more than Star Wars and Marvel?

But LOL some rando youtube gonna call them out on their business model sure
It's a thing at the moment to trash Pokemon, garbage from all over the world is joining the bandwagon.
They get traffic, which equals money in most cases. Smart yet it makes them pathetic human beings in my eyes.
 

Aion002

Member
Don't speak out against the status quo and/or your only voice should be your wallet? Am I misreading you?
Yes you are. More like: "Youtuber doesn't have interestings to say, so he makes videos about outrages and call consumers dumb because they were not smart as he to notice those evil thingies". That's Sterling gimmick. That's all I am saying.... I don't even play Pokemon so I don't have a horse in this race... I don't even know why I posted on this thread... too tired... Good night (or day).:messenger_sleeping:
 
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Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
Jim talk about money and business, when he himself posts where he gets more clicks and ad revenue.
 
D

Deleted member 740922

Unconfirmed Member
Imagine paying money to support that buffoon :pie_thinking:
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
Guys he isn't saying the business model is shit as in "it's bad for business", he is saying he thinks the business model is shit for consumers with the whole 2 versions thing, arguing that if Activision or EA tried to pull the same stunt with one of their modern games they'd probably get a lot of shit for it.
The whole rant starts because he is surprised about people being upset about the season pass since it's still better than their old tactic of locking content to a third full priced release which was 90% the same game again.
People being upset about the season pass were bitching about SW/SH long before the games even came out, likely.
DLC is leagues better than a third version and you can experience it with whichever version you chose, for half the price of a new version. Third versions have been great to me only because I missed a lot of Pokémon gens and experiencing them through the third version, with no interest in anything else than get through the campaign, was probably the best way to play them. But in Gen 1 and 2 I was deep into Pokémon and the third version meant more money for much of the same.

Then again, if Pokémon fans supported that shit business model for 20 years, the shit's on their hands.
I wouldn't make comparisons with EA or Activion because they have their share of shitty business practices though. Let's not make this a race to the bottom. People support shit business models with their money, nothing is new here. Pokémon rakes in tons of dough so I don't exactly blame Nintendo/GF if fans are eager to be exploited.
 

Omali

Member
Pokemon was the first game to deliberately lock content away in order to force more game purchases, and they did it over a decade before anyone else. You're going to buy a link cable and like it, and you or someone you know is going to buy a second Gameboy and copy of the game to trade the Pokemon otherwise you personally will never be able to even evolve all of the Pokemon you can catch let alone fulfill the game's catchphrase and "catch em all."

The fact that the greedy practice has been going on since the start doesn't make it any less greedy, Nintendo just figured that they could bullshit children into believing it's a fundamental design choice.
 

Saruhashi

Banned
To properly criticize this sales model you need to first establish how many people are actually buying both copies of the game.
A lot of kids who get these games will trade Pokemon with their buddies who own other versions, I assume?

Without data like that it's difficult to make a call here.

I would say that if a product is released for kids that preys on the ignorance of parents to force them to needlessly pay double then I'd want to know what percentage of those parents are basically tricked here. It's not like anyone NEEDS both games but also it could be the case that parents think their kid needs both games.

For grown ass adults in 2020 if they are buying 2 versions of a Pokemon game then that's on them. Maybe just accept that you can't have all of the Pokemons and save your 60 bucks or find people online you can trade with.

Videogames is not the only industry where you have similar kinds of situations. Used to be that English football teams would have a new home jersey every 2 seasons and a new away jersey every season. These days every team is selling a new home, away and 3rd jersey every single season plus sometimes the odd special edition jersey. Adults with kids moan because every year their kid is moaning that they want the new jerseys. Collectors moan because now you are paying 3 times a year where perviously you were paying 3 times over 2 years.

DLC is unfortunately here to stay. Some games I have played have had great DLC but in general I miss the more simplistic situation where you buy your game and that's it. I don't think it's any surprise that Pokemon of all things now has DLC and I'm not sure why they would be singled out.

I'd like so see a lot more solid data on these subjects.
How many people who buy a game will buy DLC?
How many players will pay for in game content?
Etc.

As it stands all people can really do is vote with their wallets.
I don't think developers and publishers can be above criticism here but also I think players have to take responsibility if they have no self restraint and absolutely must buy 2 versions of the Pokemon game just to have all of the Pokemon.

Maybe this is a hobby that attracts completionist types and then takes advantage of them though.
Many hobbies are like that, I think.
 
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