Adaptation of the games to suit an older fanbase

[Eszett]

As everyone and that person's brother knows very well about the franchise, it has this annoying image of being a childish game which seemingly you must abandon at a certain age as a figment of the past.

With that being said, and the ages of members at this board as well as high sales figures for all the Pokemon games as testament to my words, do you believe it is high time these games be geared to appeal to an older audience of players? I certainly think that would be in order; however, I feel it must be orchestrated very well in order for it to work. This shouldn't of course take a more adult-oriented aspect and do everything short of being bumped up to a T rating since that would alienate the younger fanbase, but it's not as simple as merely composing new, older protagonists for the game.

What we need here is not to increase the age of the target audience, but rather bring in that audience within a range of ages. While the games certainly aren't going to be show excessive bodily harm any time soon, it'd be best to generate some sense of jeopardy to the protagonist at hand. As of now, you receive no repercussions for losing a battle besides the easily amendable issue of your wallet thinning. By creating more real issues, such as your Pokemon being stolen and needing to be recovered and returned, and a less hesistant group of bandits out to seek harm on you (but nothing like floggings, of course) would add a much-appreciated aspect to the game that will suit the fancies of the older fans while still not losing the classic charm on the younger fans.

 

[hIrAm]

Hm .. interesting view on things Eszett. I don't really know if Nintendo has either thought of this, or just merely put it aside, but, alas, it's true that there are a lot of 'older', for lack of a better term, people playing these games, and I think you're right in saying so.

As for your idea, I personally would like it, as long as would have a guaranteed chance of getting your Pokémon back, depending who you lost to. Otherwise, I would hate it if there were only a slight chance of retrieving the beast, because you've trained sop hard for it to learn moves, and gain experience.

I'm not a man of big summaries such as this, and I don't know how to represent myself in this post, but, I have to say, that I agree.

 

[Wolf Goddess]

Aye, I can't agree more. First and foremost, we need better AI. I'm not saying make everything brutally difficult from the start, but the AI actually getting better as you go on rather than merely having Pokemon of higher levels would certainly be welcome at this point.

 

[-Koumori-]

While I don't particularly mind about the age of the character, since I mainly play the games for entertainment value, it would be nice for the games to widen the target age range. Having an older trainer wouldn't make the games more 'adult', as you said, but it would at least give us a bit of variety instead of using 10-12 year-olds all the time. Wes from Colosseum was a step in the right direction, if you ask me. It wasn't the greatest game, and I much preferred the Gameboy variants; but having the older character and more threatening situations (At least, more dangerous then things we faced in other games as far as I'm concerned.) certainly made me enjoy the game as a whole.

The example you provided for a way to widen the temptation/age range is plausible, though I don't know if that alone would attract new fans in their teens and higher to Pokemon. It always has been, and always will be viewed as a 'Kiddie game'.

 

[Eszett]

Aye, I can't agree more. First and foremost, we need better AI. I'm not saying make everything brutally difficult from the start, but the AI actually getting better as you go on rather than merely having Pokemon of higher levels would certainly be welcome at this point.

Bah, why didn't I think of that? You're amazing, Sierra. In addition to that, some decent movesets against which we are pitted would be welcomed as well.

While I don't particularly mind about the age of the character, since I mainly play the games for entertainment value, it would be nice for the games to widen the target age range. Having an older trainer wouldn't make the games more 'adult', as you said, but it would at least give us a bit of variety instead of using 10-12 year-olds all the time. Wes from Colosseum was a step in the right direction, if you ask me. It wasn't the greatest game, and I much preferred the Gameboy variants; but having the older character and more threatening situations (At least, more dangerous then things we faced in other games as far as I'm concerned.) certainly made me enjoy the game as a whole.

I would certainly love to see older protagonists as well, but what I'm saying is that mere cosmetic changes such as this aren't enough to satisfy the upheaval for which I am seeking. Wes was a step in the right direction, but so far we have yet to see Gamefreak produce a game with such a character from its studios. With the advent of Pokemon Ranger, I say it's high time we get one.

The example you provided for a way to widen the temptation/age range is plausible, though I don't know if that alone would attract new fans in their teens and higher to Pokemon. It always has been, and always will be viewed as a 'Kiddie game'.

Aye, 'tis true for the most part. At the very least it would help to rouse more interest in this game by taking some focus away from the childish aspects of the game and thus generalizing the game to have no real target age group. I personally hope for the day when Pokemon is at least recognized by the gaming community and the public at large as a noteworthy franchise rather than some 'kiddie game'.

 

[Cacophony]

I'll agree with anything to add more challenge, like upping the AI and including harsher consequences for failure, but as a whole I can't say I see much wrong with the image of the core games themselves. If anything is hurting Pokemon's image with the general public, I'd say it's the extraneous stuff like the anime and previous spin-off games like Dash.

Here's one thing I guess they could change: from a marketing perspective, I feel like simply showcasing a wider variety of Pokemon could do the trick. Cutesy things like Pikachu and the base forms of the starters are what get the most face time, but I'm sure that there are several fully-evolved Pokemon which would appeal to older people.

Aye, 'tis true for the most part. At the very least it would help to rouse more interest in this game by taking some focus away from the childish aspects of the game and thus generalizing the game to have no real target age group. I personally hope for the day when Pokemon is at least recognized by the gaming community and the public at large as a noteworthy franchise rather than some 'kiddie game'.

I'll concede that I can only speak for myself, but most of the knowledgable gamers I talk with on a regular basis (generally Xbox/PC fans and the like) do respect Pokemon as a noteworthy series, even if they didn't care for the game itself.

 

[Akerin]

It would be fun if your Pokemon would get stolen, and you'd have to recover them somehow... It doesn't have to be through battling, but maybe some other task. I remember when I played Pokemon Yellow and the guy in the Pewter City Museum wanted my Pikachu, I thought he was really going to take it, and immediately thought of what I'd have to do to get it back. Then a second later found he wasn't actually going to steal my Peeky, and I was kinda disappointed to be honest. XD

Adding stuff like sex, swearing, extreme violence, etc. is going overboard though. I've heard people saying they want to see a Pokemon game with an 'M' rating on it... it's just sad. I'll never in my wildest dreams expect Pokemon to be rated anything other than 'E.' The way it is now leaves a ton of stuff open to your own imagination, and that's just perfect. Want your character to fall madly in love with his or her rival? Write a fic, or draw pictures about it, because I think most of us would rather get on with the journey instead of falling asleep with the Professor's kid.... o_o;;

 

[AJ Flibble]

A bigger, deeper, more mature (as in plot, not necessarily violence etc.) storyline is needed, and some sort of character development as the game goes along, trule evil teams, decent AI and Elite 4, real issues, I think more general interaction between characters could be necessary. Even though the plot's not everything about Pokemon. it could help.

 

[JuicyPaperclip]

I absolutely agree! You are so right. Thy try to appeal to all the younger audiences, but they dont seem to have the same "classic" knowledge. Such as playing red version on your game boy chunky. Making it seem more childish is letting it loose the older fanbase such as myself. I am not as interested as I was in it 4 years ago, but I still find it a pleasant now and then game to pick up and play for a bit. I feel that this is the reason pokemon isnt as popular as it was when there was the "pokemon craze"

In other words, right on! Here here!

 

[Metal Force]

Well higher aged trainers in games & someone that steals your pokemon is more than welcomed, also I agree with Wolf Goddess about the AI.

 

[PDL]

I think more background information on the pokemon themselves and the world they inhabit would be great to make the series a bit more mature without having to resort to needless violence. Just look at how in-depth the world of Harry Potter is, it's designed for children, but people of all ages enjoy the books because the world they inhabit has been thought out so throughly.

the world where pokemon live is usually seen as a happy-go-lucky place where everyone gets along and live together in peace. With the only "evil" coming from humans who use pokemon to achcive their nefarious ends. The real world couldn't be further from that, so I would prefer some new sorts of conflicts that the human and pokemon must solve together.

 

[Jomei]

A bigger, deeper, more mature (as in plot, not necessarily violence etc.) storyline is needed, and some sort of character development as the game goes along, trule evil teams, decent AI and Elite 4, real issues, I think more general interaction between characters could be necessary. Even though the plot's not everything about Pokemon. it could help.

I agree with this. Instead of the silly dialogue we get most of the time, make the tone of the story, at least during certain points, more serious. I'd really like to see a personality and dialogue from the player character as well as some supporting characters who could accompany the player throughout the game.

 

[-Koumori-]

Bah, why didn't I think of that? You're amazing, Sierra. In addition to that, some decent movesets against which we are pitted would be welcomed as well.

She's magical like that. Decent movesets are a definite must, something that only Gym Leaders and the Elite Four seem to have, though improvement is needed in them as well to make it more challenging.

I would certainly love to see older protagonists as well, but what I'm saying is that mere cosmetic changes such as this aren't enough to satisfy the upheaval for which I am seeking. Wes was a step in the right direction, but so far we have yet to see Gamefreak produce a game with such a character from its studios. With the advent of Pokemon Ranger, I say it's high time we get one.

No no, I understood that and I was agreeing with it - I guess I should have worded it better. Pokemon Ranger seems to be a game of many firsts, and hopefully it inspires 'seconds' to follow in the mainstream games.

Aye, 'tis true for the most part. At the very least it would help to rouse more interest in this game by taking some focus away from the childish aspects of the game and thus generalizing the game to have no real target age group. I personally hope for the day when Pokemon is at least recognized by the gaming community and the public at large as a noteworthy franchise rather than some 'kiddie game'.

That's true. I still believe that it will take a lot more then a few changes like the ones mentioned to accomplish that task, though. While there are many people who aren't fans of the series that think it's still a decent group of games, too many people won't even give it a second glance because of it's 'reputation'. Reggie said it pretty good in an E3 Interview "We're blessed with the 'curse' of Pokemon, which many people don't consider as games that they would play." or something to that effect. I do hope that day comes when people will pull their heads out of their rears and stop following what other morons do.

 

[Atoyont]

Personality, stronger AI, more in-depth story line- all of these would make the games appeal to an even wider audience. The stronger AI is what I'm truely hoping for. It would allow trainers to hone their skills even if they can't battle with others. The Battle Frontier goes a long way to eradicate this problem, but not so completely, as you don't get experience points.

 

[Miltank Lover]

i would find it cool ive you (in the story mode) need to split ur team or something like that or that ur pokemon are kidnapped like it was mentioned before or that you are able to use only one pokemon stuff like that

 

[clockjii]

Making the games harder and giving them a more developed storyline doesn't change the basic concept of the game: catching little cartoon monsters. The fact is, most older people think that's silly. Unless you take away the whole catching monsters and battling them for badges concept, most older people aren't going to want to play the games. And the history of the franchise makes the change almost impossible anyways.

I really like the idea of making it challenging and require more strategy, but most 6 year olds don't. Most little kids don't want to EV train their pokemon and breed strategic movesets. They want to one hit KO their opponents with a super-sized legendary that they caught with their 100% guaranteed master ball. If an older person wants a challenging game with a good storyline they have plenty of franchises they can turn to.

I hope this post doesn't sound really uh... stupid...

 

[Tropical Spirit]

I agree with everything you said. I actually think that wsa the route they tried to take with Colo, but it failed. However, it didn't fail because of that. It failed because it had so much wasted potetial it wasn't even funny.

They should really focus more on the older audience. Not just make lazy spin-offs and then whine when they get bad rating and blame the fact pokemon isn't for older fans instead. (Like you can notice with XD becoming a lot more childish and GBA-ish)

Seriously, we really need a more colo-ish game for the 'main' franchise. Colosseum really had everything we need, with more brutal characters, more adult humor and a HARDER AI. I mean, when you were going to get pokemon with a higher level than yours and/or egg moves and such in the GBA games? Never. That's what made Colosseum harder than the main franchise.

I'm not asking for snagging or any of that; I'm just asking for a game more like Colosseum. Seriously, Ninty, it didn't fail because of the older theme. It failed because YOU made it fail.