Well, looks like I'm not buying Pokemon Legends Z-A

[Jeff]

Iwata's been gone a decade, and that was a lifetime ago in gaming terms. I respect his approach as much as anyone else, but I'm sure Furukawa is glad to be in a period where he doesn't have to cut his salary due to sagging profits. They're a business, they exist to make money. Hearts and minds only gets you so far.

Yeah, and before Iwata, Nintendo had some hits and misses, but they never give up. They just make awkward decisions.

 

[NOTthatHARD]

So it sold similarly to a regular console launch anywhere. Got it.

At least the PS5 pro sold relatively well for a few months but the switch 2 didn't even get a month.

 

[bjork]

At least the PS5 pro sold relatively well for a few months but the switch 2 didn't even get a month.

Ok

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 12:24 AM

Yeah, and before Iwata, Nintendo had some hits and misses, but they never give up. They just make awkward decisions.

Before Iwata they got in trouble for unfair competition. It isn't like a switch flipped at some point and they suddenly started twirling a mustache and going, "how can we squeeze the most money out of anywhere because we're evil?" They've always been a company first and foremost. Yamauchi didn't even care for games or game players, it was just the path to the most success at the time. So this notion that seems pretty prevalent around here that they used to be better... man, no they weren't. You were just 11 so you didn't know or care.

 

[Don Patch]

So, I don't actually care that much about pkmn but I feel compelled to weigh in and say that since the series as a whole is primarily marketed towards children (it's cool if you like it and you're not a kid, btw) something like this seems rather predatory and unfair by Big N. Almost Uncharacteristically smarmy, actually.

Dunno what's gotten into them as of late, but they're kinda leaving a bad taste in my mouth at nearly every turn.

 

[bjork]

So, I don't actually care that much about pkmn but I feel compelled to weigh in and say that since the series as a whole is primarily marketed towards children (it's cool if you like it and you're not a kid, btw) something like this seems rather predatory and unfair by Big N. Almost Uncharacteristically smarmy, actually.

Dunno what's gotten into them as of late, but they're kinda leaving a bad taste in my mouth at nearly every turn.

No less smarmy or predatory than "gotta catch em all" as a tagline from the get-go, or 30 years of neverending merchandise, though. The entire franchise is an exercise in exploiting fomo, regardless of age.

 

[Yousef]

No less smarmy or predatory than "gotta catch em all" as a tagline from the get-go, or 30 years of neverending merchandise, though. The entire franchise is an exercise in exploiting fomo, regardless of age.

Smarmy is as accurate as it gets of a description, specially considering the hyper sanitization.

So, I don't actually care that much about pkmn but I feel compelled to weigh in and say that since the series as a whole is primarily marketed towards children (it's cool if you like it and you're not a kid, btw) something like this seems rather predatory and unfair by Big N. Almost Uncharacteristically smarmy, actually.

Dunno what's gotten into them as of late, but they're kinda leaving a bad taste in my mouth at nearly every turn.

As one of the poor saps who never grew up with pkmn and experienced it strictly through emulation recently, I still strictly feel like an outsider and definitely can’t fully get behind someone making their lives revolve around the IP, like you wouldn’t believe the stuff I found just by casually browsing shiny tips; there’s entire websites dedicated to actually hiring people who’d shiny hunt which is mega nuts.

It leads me to presume N/GF/TPC no longer want this as a game series, it’s practically a social sim. They *want* Pokémon to be your life which I must say is frankly unthinkable for a chap like me who’s trying to blast through 20 rpgs per year. Can’t effort to be laser focused on one ip my whole life Gaga.

 

[Snorlaxbelly]

Smarmy is as accurate as it gets of a description, specially considering the hyper sanitization.

As one of the poor saps who never grew up with pkmn and experienced it strictly through emulation recently, I still strictly feel like an outsider and definitely can’t fully get behind someone making their lives revolve around the IP, like you wouldn’t believe the stuff I found just by casually browsing shiny tips; there’s entire websites dedicated to actually hiring people who’d shiny hunt which is mega nuts.

It leads me to presume N/GF/TPC no longer want this as a game series, it’s practically a social sim. They *want* Pokémon to be your life which I must say is frankly unthinkable for a chap like me who’s trying to blast through 20 rpgs per year. Can’t effort to be laser focused on one ip my whole life Gaga.

I feel personally attacked, Pokémon is my life

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

I did grow up with Pokemon, but getting older has also made me realize how lame most shiny Pokemon are.
They're palette swaps, but most aren't even interesting palettes. They're usually just a different shade of the same colour, although some are an exception.
They make them easier to get every few games as well, so they don't feel as special when you do get them.

 

[Yousef]

I feel personally attacked, Pokémon is my life

Haha, nothing against you ol chap. You seem chill.

 

[Sunnyside]

I like a lot of Nintendo franchises but they absolutely have always been an exploitative company. As bjork pointed out, they exist to make money. The big difference between then and now is simply that there are far more predatory avenues available to exploit. DLC, microtransactions, battle passes, etc. There was no online infrastructure to support this a few decades ago. It's just the nature of technology. New advancements lead to more ways for corporate to psychologically manipulate their userbase.

All I can suggest is to educate yourself. Learn to recognize when games employ those tactics and dump them. Brand loyalty be damned. And you're in luck, because it's never been easier to discover new games. That's the biggest upside to this whole deal. There's an endless supply of worthwhile games out there. This is the reason why I still have a positive outlook on gaming, despite not having any titles to be hyped for. We've reached the point where I no longer NEED new games to release. It's a beautiful thing.

 

[Yousef]

I did grow up with Pokemon, but getting older has also made me realize how lame most shiny Pokemon are.
They're palette swaps, but most aren't even interesting palettes. They're usually just a different shade of the same colour, although some are an exception.
They make them easier to get every few games as well, so they don't feel as special when you do get them.

I’ve caught 20 shinys because of dumb luck. Nothing to it. Didn’t even feel attached.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

I used to be a big Pokemon fan, that's why seeing it go downhill all these years is so disheartening. Just have to move on and accept that the series has left me behind.

 

[Sunnyside]

I used to be a big Pokemon fan, that's why seeing it go downhill all these years is so disheartening. Just have to move on and accept that the series has left me behind.

I feel you. I went through the same thing sometime around Gen 7. If it's any comfort, everything dies eventually. And that's ok. We find new things to enjoy.

 

[YoshifreakZX]

Modern Pokémon never ceases to disappoint. Wish I didn't have to say that, but that's how I've been feeling for a long time at this point.

 

[Zerpina]

"What? Nintendo is being an evil, greedy, money-hording company and isn't everyone's friend?"

I don't know why stuff like this surprises anyone anymore. Honestly, no company is your friend.

If they could lock their content behind cloud-based walled gardens, they absolutely would. This is pretty much how everything is going to happen. Want your favorite Pokémon? Nineteen ninety-nine.

Want the evolution? That's another ten dollars. Oh, you want a shiny? Fork over fifty more dollars.

Did you let your Nintendo subscription lapse? Well, that's a thirty-dollar reactivation fee plus resubscribing, and you'll have to wait a week to use your DLC-paid Pokémon. Or fork over another fifteen dollars and unlock it now.

Honestly, it’s not just Nintendo. All game companies are heading this way. Give it another five or so years, and they’ll be as bad as mobile games.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

Pokemon when it comes to making disappointing decisions:

 

[Sleepstate]

So it would appear that Nintendo are locking off certain Mega Evolutions behind BOTH a paid NSO subscription and online ranked competitive play:

Pokémon Legends Z-A Kalos Starters' Mega Evolutions Are Locked Behind Nintendo Online Subscription

Pokémon Legends Z-A players will not be able to unlock the Kalos Starters Mega Evolutions without a Nintendo Online subscription.

www.vice.com

Pokemon Legends Arceus from 2022 was such a breath of fresh air for the franchise, because it was entirely single-player focused. You could complete the Pokedex entirely on your own. There wasn't a 2nd or 3rd version of the game you needed access to to get every Pokemon. You could trade with other people, but you didn't have to. Legends Z-A seems like it'll be a far cry from anything that felt special about Legends Arceus, and as though it'll be a sequel in name only.

Oh, and if you use Pokemon Home to transfer Pokemon to Z-A, you apparently won't be allowed to transfer them back.

Looks like i won't be either then that is so scummy Nintendo just loves to not make money

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Pokémon should go back to 2D.

 

[Qquil716]

The greedy company wants you to pay extra for something that was in previous games out the box? No! Color me surprised!

 

[ThirteeTooBeets]

They only had to do this ONE thing and they ruined it

 

[NOTthatHARD]

Gamers will have to start boycotting nintendo products, it's the only way, once ninendo start losing money it will start to make changes as a company and as a game developer or it will Go bankrupt.

 

[bjork]

Gamers will have to start boycotting nintendo products, it's the only way, once ninendo start losing money it will start to make changes as a company and as a game developer or it will Go bankrupt.

They had consecutive years of losses under Iwata and the end result is today's Nintendo.

 

[NOTthatHARD]

They had consecutive years of losses under Iwata and the end result is today's Nintendo.

I know that, but sadly there is nothing else the consumers/gamers can do to try to stop nintendo from becoming even worse than EA or ubisoft; if the gamers continue to reward nintendo's greed by giving them more money then that company will only get more and more predatory.

 

[bjork]

I know that, but sadly there is nothing else the consumers/gamers can do to try to stop nintendo from becoming even worse than EA or ubisoft; if the gamers continue to reward nintendo's greed by giving them more money then that company will only get more and more predatory.

It isn't greed, that's the point. It's a company, if you even could successfully boycott their products at this point to where it made any financial difference, they'd find new avenues for making that same money elsewhere. They exist solely to turn a profit no matter what. This mythical benevolent Nintendo that wasn't predatory and wasn't out to maximize returns, never existed. It just didn't.

 

[NOTthatHARD]

Forcing people to pay extra money for some mega evolutions in a pokemon game IS greed, forcing people to pay extra money for a tutorial/demo "game" for the switch2
IS greed.

They exist solely to turn a profit no matter what.

That's why there are laws to prevent company's from doing "anything" to make a profit; there are limits to what should be acceptablefor a company to do.