Poll of the Day > I think the biggest problem of the last Pokemon games is the merch.

(+) Yeah! (+)

The Merch brings in so much revenue that the games took the backseat and don't get the attention they should.

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Been a problem for way longer than just the last games

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hypnox posted...

The Merch brings in so much revenue that the games took the backseat and don't get the attention they should.

You say that, but I can't even think what merch was out there for the last game that wasn't out there for previous ones. If anything, they seem to make less merch now. I don't see anywhere near as much as they once had.

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Plush Pikachus and Charmanders are Gen 8's fault! Before that they were Gen 7's fault!

I'm with Zeus here, where are you seeing merchandise that's selling better than the games?

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I am very confident that they get more from tee shirts, plushes, and everything else that has a pokemon on them than the video games.

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I just searched Pokemon on Amazon, the first game was Sword at number SIXTEEN.

Continued and the next game was Lets go Eevee on PAGE five.

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I mean, kinda. They have this like 2-3 year development cycle, with releases planned 5-6+ years in advance. So they design and make all the merch in advance because they know what their release date is. Then because they HAVE to sell the merch they just release the game in whatever state it's in. That's why Sword is like 58% of a game because that's all they got done before they had to release it.

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papercup posted...

I mean, kinda. They have this like 2-3 year development cycle, with releases planned 5-6+ years in advance. So they design and make all the merch in advance because they know what their release date is. Then because they HAVE to sell the merch they just release the game in whatever state it's in. That's why Sword is like 58% of a game because that's all they got done before they had to release it.

yeah this, besides plushes and shit its mainly the TCG and anime which want new content every year so they throw out games on tight schedule so they can constantly have new pokemon and characters to milk

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The game dev team has nothing to do with the merch though. Any shortfalls in game quality is down to them, not whoever is responsible for marketing

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FatalAccident posted...

The game dev team has nothing to do with the merch though. Any shortfalls in game quality is down to them, not whoever is responsible for marketing

the problem is that the dev team isnt in charge of the timing of the releases, and the people up top would rather die than not have a new game every year so the shortfalls in qualiity are most likely due to a lack of time (as is in most yearly release games)

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TheSlinja posted...

the problem is that the dev team isnt in charge of the timing of the releases, and the people up top would rather die than not have a new game every year so the shortfalls in qualiity are most likely due to a lack of time (as is in most yearly release games)

Yeah fuck me I just realised that Pokemon has become a yearly release. Thats definitely part of the problem right there

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TheSlinja posted...

the problem is that the dev team isnt in charge of the timing of the releases, and the people up top would rather die than not have a new game every year so the shortfalls in qualiity are most likely due to a lack of time (as is in most yearly release games)

They were doing fine up until S/M, so they have shown that yearly releases aren't the problem, I think they just got lazy because they can

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It's more along the lines that the Pokemon franchise is more of a corporate product than anything else in general and the games are designed around this as a priority over anything else.

Not that I personally believe Game Freak could make the AAA game by 2020 standards people expect of them anyway even if they had complete creative freedom.
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Muscles posted...

They were doing fine up until S/M, so they have shown that yearly releases aren't the problem, I think they just got lazy because they can

there wasnt a game the year before S/M actually, the yearly release started in 2016 with S/M lol

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I haven't purchased Pokemon merchandise since like the 90s.

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hypnox posted...

I am very confident that they get more from tee shirts, plushes, and everything else that has a pokemon on them than the video games.

That's not really my point of contention. Whether or not the merch does generate more overall is kinda academic. My question was how is this generation different from previous ones when it comes to merchandise? Especially when the merchandise offered now pales in comparison to some of those previous gens.

Also the topic's entire premise is stupid because Pokemon isn't solely a game series anyway and a lot of the mentioned merch is tied to the anime, movies, etc.


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FatalAccident posted...

Yeah fuck me I just realised that Pokemon has become a yearly release.

it pretty much has been for, uh, ever.

1996: red/green/blue
1998: yellow/red/blue/ stadium/ hey you pikachu
1999: gold/silver/stadium/pinball/ snap
2000: crystal/ stadium 2/ hey you pikachu/ puzzle challenge/ puzzle league
2002: ruby/sapphire
2003: colosseum/ ruby sapphire pinball/ channel
2004: firered/leafgreen/emerald/colosseum/ dash
2005: gale of darkness/ mystery dungeon blue red/ trozei/ dash
2006: diamond/pearl/battle revolution/mystery dungeon blue red/ ranger/ trozei
2007: battle revolution/ mystery dungeon time darkness
2008: platinum/ mystery dungeon time darkness/ ranger almia
2009: heartgold/soulsilver/ mystery dungeon sky/ rumble
2010: black/white/ ranger quardian signs
2011: rumble blast
2012: black2/white2/mystery dungeon infinity/ conquest
2013: x/y/ mystery dungeon infinity/ rumble u
2014: omegaruby/alphasapphire/ battle trozei
2015: super mystery dungeon/ rumble world/ shuffle/ pokken/ picross
2016: sun/moon/ pokken/ detective pikachu
2017: ultrasun/ultramoon/ pokken dx
2018: lets go pikachu/ lets go eevee/ detective pikachu/ quest
2019: sword/shield/ rumble rush
2020: mystery dungeon rescue team/ cafe mix

there's more, i guarantee it

TheSlinja posted...

there wasnt a game the year before S/M actually, the yearly release started in 2016 with S/M lol

hahahahahahahahahahaha

@TheSlinja

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im not counting spinoffs, since gamfreak had nothing to do with any of the games released in 2015 and we are talking about them
its like saying mario is a yearly rrlease franchise, you know thats not what we are talking about.

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Metalsonic66 posted...

Been a problem for way longer than just the last games

if it's a pokemon game, it fully counts

if it's a mario game, it fully counts

why? because it's a pokemon or mario game, like simple as that

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helIy posted...

if it's a pokemon game, it fully counts

if it's a mario game, it fully counts

why? because it's a pokemon or mario game, like simple as that

sorry buddy I dont think you are gonna get anyone to agree with you that pokemon has been yearly since 1996 because pokemon rumble blast came out in 2011 lmao

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TheSlinja posted...

im not counting spinoffs, since gamfreak had nothing to do with any of the games released in 2015 and we are talking about them
its like saying mario is a yearly rrlease franchise, you know thats not what we are talking about.

Even if you just count the core franchise, there have only been four or five years in Pokemon's almost 25-year history when nothing came out. The idea that "now" it' s a yearly release based on the trend of the past 4 years when it's pretty much always been a yearly thing is silly especially since the "gap years" were home to other major releases related to the core franchise (like Pokemon Stadium 2 in 2001) rather than completely unrelated spinoffs (like Dash or the TCG game)

And keep in mind that the production schedule has likely been toned down at times *because* some of the spinoffs were released.

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Zeus posted...

Even if you just count the core franchise, there have only been *four* years in Pokemon's almost 25-year history when nothing came out. The idea that "now" it' s a yearly release based on the trend of the past 4 years when it's pretty much always been a yearly thing is silly

This I can agree with, and when you look at when the gap years happen and the games at the end of yearly streaks I think you can see some similarities in quality problems

Zeus posted...

especially since the "gap years" were home to other major releases related to the core franchise (like Pokemon Stadium 2 in 2001) rather than completely unrelated spinoffs (like Dash or the TCG game)

the stadium games were again not made by gamefreak so I dont see why they would have a significant effect on their workload

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you can literally see the entire timeline up there yourself

and i did omit the smaller pretty unknown titles

i can include them if you want

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TheSlinja posted...

This I can agree with, and when you look at when the gap years happen and the games at the end of yearly streaks I think you can see some similarities in quality problems

the stadium games were again not made by gamefreak so I dont see why they would have a significant effect on their workload

It's not a matter of Game Freak's workload, it's a matter of the content being provided to fans as well as likely pushes by the rest of "The Pokemon Company" to not flood the market with releases. More importantly, it's not like Game Freak was spending those gap years producing better-quality versions of Pokemon games anyway since they had other projects that kept them busy year-to-year. Pokemon isn't the the only thing the company does. Even now, the company is producing other games. As such, the "workload" excuse is a weak claim.


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