Why do people buy Pokemon games?

[IamSofaKingRaw]

I've played Sapphire and Fire Red and seen footage of the rest. THEY ARE ALL THE SAME DAMN THING! Start in a small town, mom tells you to see professor, someone tells you professor is on trouble, ave professor ten you get your pokemon. After that their nephew/niece becomes your rival. Get all badges rinse and repeat. To add to the milking why do they release tow versions of the game on the same platform with the only difference being ONE damn pokemon?

People talk about COD, Halo etc. but THIS is the most milked franchise EVER

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Because they still fucking rock, and have some of the best competitive play and endgame content in the business on top of that.

People who think it all went downhill after R/B/Y or G/S/C are just fooling themselves.

The improvements made with each game in the series are mostly seen in the battle system and endgame content.

The Battle Tower was the best thing to happen to the series, imo. And not the shitty Crystal version one.

The Physical/Special split between individual attacks, rather than just types, introduced in Gen 4 was brilliant, too. It made elemental punch Alakazam less utterly broken, and made Hitmonchan...Well, he still sucks, actually. Just much less. He's now viable, at least.

Don't get me started on the epicness of the Battle Frontier...

 

[The Human Torch]

Because they want to, stop asking such silly questions. Your opinion does not apply to all other gamers, apparently there is still enough variation in each part to warrant purchase from by a lot of gamers.

 

[TheAceTheOne]

Don't know why they buy them. I find repetition to wear *very* thin, *very* fast. Honestly, there's no reason for them to re-release. Rock Band/Guitar Hero games do something very similar, if you ask me.

 

[seraphy]

Why not, people buy call of duty games, and different year sport games as well and they are all the same too.

 

[TriggerHappyAngel]

Don't know, I stopped liking the Pokemon games after Ruby/Saphire.

 

[Madara XIII]

I've played Sapphire and Fire Red and seen footage of the rest. THEY ARE ALL THE SAME DAMN THING! Start in a small town, mom tells you to see professor, someone tells you professor is on trouble, ave professor ten you get your pokemon. After that their nephew/niece becomes your rival. Get all badges rinse and repeat. To add to the milking why do they release tow versions of the game on the same platform with the only difference being ONE damn pokemon?

People talk about COD, Halo etc. but THIS is the most milked franchise EVER

I think it's mainly because of Childhood memories and at times the games can be a persons first introduction to an RPG style game that is simple and user friendly. Nostalgia and simplicity are what makes these games so addicting and easy to sell.

1. Introduce the first versions of Pokemon games
2. Introduce the kids who played it to the show, manga etc
3. Keep on selling as it passes from generation to generation.

Shoot back in my days all we had were 151 Pokemon and only 4 Legendary ones (counting mew)
and by God we were grateful for them!

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[TerranReaper]

Because people still have fun playing? Because a storyline is not what the series is about? I don't know, there are a variety of reasons, I personally play it competitive sometimes(Wifi and all). When you strip it down to the gameplay, you can see there is a surprising amount of change in its mechanics from each "Generation".

 

[Arkvoodle]

Because Nintendo has developed technology that beams a subliminal signal to the addiction centers in your brain.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well apparently people like them, and that could be the reason they buy the games...

I honestly don't know much about these games, watched the anime series as a kid until I found some good cartoons and then watched those instead, so I never felt the need to play this.

 

[Telekinesis]

Oh no, a game follows a formula, alert the press!

Let's not play Zelda anymore, you are always some low class blond kid destined for greatness who meets the princess, solves puzzles and defeats Ganondorf!

Also I find this complaint about the formula completely moot. Wanna try something else? Play the billion spin-offs. They include being a ranger, being a Pokemon yourself, etc etc.

The fact is that the games are superb. They're fun, they're very different from each other in aspects that you're probably too dense to get, and well, they're FUN bro.

For that matter, IGN recently published a very interesting piece regarding this topic, read it and maybe you'll be able to form a better argument. Not gonna waste my time finding it for you though.

Edit: Actually you lucked out, I happened to still have my /vp/ tab open
http://ds.ign.com/articles/114/1143427p1.html

 

[Bobic]

Because they are so rockingly awesome.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Why do people buy Pokemon games?

Strangely enough, people like the Pokemon series.

Even more odd, people... enjoy Pokemon!

 

[IamSofaKingRaw]

Why not, people buy call of duty games, and different year sport games as well and they are all the same too.

Yeah but the sports games actually change from year to year. Look at the improvement from NBA 2k10 to NBA 2k11. 2k Sports fixed almost all problems with their previous game, added more game modes, updated roster (as usual), and a revamped online competitive mode.

What does each version of Pokemon add? Like 5 more pokemon?

 

[sudokucrazedman]

It's essentially the same as asking why do people keep buying Halo or COD or even Rock Band games. There are slight variations between them and people still enjoy playing them. Besides, out of all the games on my PS3, my 4th gen pokemon games are the ones I have the most DLC for, mostly because the DLC for pokemon games are free.

 

[IamSofaKingRaw]

Oh no, a game follows a formula, alert the press!

Let's not play Zelda anymore, you are always some low class blond kid destined for greatness who meets the princess, solves puzzles and defeats Ganondorf!

Also I find this complaint about the formula completely moot. Wanna try something else? Play the billion spin-offs. They include being a ranger, being a Pokemon yourself, etc etc.

The fact is that the games are superb. They're fun, they're very different from each other in aspects that you're probably too dense to get, and well, they're FUN bro.

For that matter, IGN recently published a very interesting piece regarding this topic, read it and maybe you'll be able to form a better argument. Not gonna waste my time finding it for you though.

Each Zelda game is different. Same story but lets not try to compare the change from Zelda to Zelda to the changes from Pokemon games to Pokemon games. Zelda games ultimately have the same story but are very different from each other. Can you say that the DS Zelda games are the same as the gameboy ones? Or the Wii ones?

 

[Doctor Glocktor]

Why not, people buy call of duty games, and different year sport games as well and they are all the same too.

Yeah but the sports games actually change from year to year. Look at the improvement from NBA 2k10 to NBA 2k11. 2k Sports fixed almost all problems with their previous game, added more game modes, updated roster (as usual), and a revamped online competitive mode.

What does each version of Pokemon add? Like 5 more pokemon?

So do the Pokemon games. You played 2 GBA games. The DS ones are changed, quite a bit, just like your beloved Madden, from generation to generation.

Each new gen also adds at least 100 new Pokemon. The games are more enjoyable than shit like Madden or CoD, though.

 

[NeedAUserName]

Shoot back in my days all we had were 151 Pokemon and only 4 Legendary ones (counting mew)
and by God we were grateful for them!

Surely 5, Mew, MewTwo, Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos.

Anyway, I would have thought the reason for people buying them is a simple combination, nostalgia, and the drive to Catch 'Em All!

 

[Berserker119]

Because they have a need to sell their soul to Japan. Or maybe it's fun. Take your pick.