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Last Topic: 10:03:45am, 10/01/2025
Last Post: 12:56:56pm, 10/21/2025
faramir77 posted...
I don't have a reference point for how much developing a game should cost, but the quality of Pokemon games in the last 10+ years has been abysmal so either they aren't spending enough, or they just don't care.
Most AAAs these days are 50 - 100 million + USD.
That said, Game Freak doesn't have the talent or skill to actually make a modern AAA, and they also refuse to expand and hire people (apparently because they are "happy" being a small company) who do know how to make a modern AAAs. And because Pokemon is profitable regardless, and continues to be the most profitable media IP, Nintendo nor the Pokemon Company makes them change. Why would they rock the boat when it's working so well, profitability wise.
A lot can be done with just talent and passion.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7d202527.jpg
Where as Game Freak has neither. The passion they had for Pokemon dried up a long time ago. And as for their skill level, take a look at Home Town Hero, Game Freak's personal passion project they had most of their main staff working on simultaneously with a main line Pokemon game, that had no restrictions of budget or time that many people use as excuses for Game Freak making poor quality Pokemon games (not that they have no effect but they don't matter when the development team is Game Freak), and Game Freak were marketing and asking people to buy (Home Town Hero) during marketing segments for Pokemon.
faramir77 posted...
If they made a more classic styled HD 2D game with 16 bit sprites like the GBA games but realistic backgrounds and shadowing along with animated sprites like in B/W, a lot of older fans would be well on board with it, plus development costs surely wouldn't be too high. They could even limit the Pokemon in it to just be from the first few generations, but make it so that ALL of the Pokemon from those generations are available to catch.
I'm not sure this is true. That's basically appealing to people who like retro games. Given, many Pokemon fans would buy anything labeled a "main series" Pokemon game
And let's not pretend here that Nintendo and the Pokemon Company are strapped for cash and can't afford better games. That has never been the issue. Pokemon is the most profitable media IP in human history.
But the key is how it's he most profitable media IP in human history. It's not from the games themselves, but the merchandise. So in essence, the games need to keep coming out at a steady pace to fuel the merchandise sales, which is what they really care about. And it's been definitively proven that the quality of the games don't matter in regards to the merchandise sales, as along as they keep coming out.
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Mwahahahaha.