The Pokemon Franchise.

Production of the Games

History of the Games and what each game introduced

• Pokemon Red and Blue in 1997 (US release):

– in a 3rd person, overhead perspective.

– consists of three basic screens; overworld, side-view battle and a menu interface.

– Location of in game events based on a region of mainland Japan.

– Set story line, have to complete tasks in order to progress and unlock further parts of the games.

• Pokemon Silver and Gold, 2000:

– Introduced a new region, based on a landmass in Japan, for gamers to explore.

– Now had a time system, that dictated when certain things in the game happened.

– Additional Pokemon and items.

– Improved graphics.

• Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, 2003:

– Another region, based on a location in Japan.

– New battling mechanics, most prominent being ‘double battles’

– Improved graphics, including full colour game play; previous games were in black and white/ simple colours.

– Full connectivity with spin off games of the series on other Nintendo consoles (GameCube)

– Additional side quests to go alongside main story.

• Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, 2007:

– A new Japan influenced-region

– New battling mechanics

– New Pokemon and items.

– Capitalised DS game play

– Expanded connectivity – global; for trading and battling with Wi-fi

– 3D graphics.

– First time to have backward compatibility with a previous console version of the franchise.

– A game for the Nintendo Wii was made for the use of these games.

Development

• The Pokemon games are developed by the company Game Freak and are published by Nintendo; making the franchise a 2nd party game.

• The original games were designed to use the Gameboy console to its fullest extent, especially the linking-up to other Gameboys to trade and battle.

• Two versions of the game were made, to increase difficulty and interest for players..

• As the handheld consoles have improved, so has the graphics and game play of the Pokemon games.

• The original Japanese versions of the games took 6 years to make, due to the game mechanics not being designed. The sequels took shorter time, despite graphical and game play improvement, as the two games lay the foundations for the rest of the series.

• The original Gameboy’s specifications that the original games worked with:

• CPU: Custom 8-bit Sharp core at 4.19 MHz RAM: 8 KB internal S-RAM

• Video RAM: 8 KB internal

• ROM: On-CPU-Die 256-byte bootstrap; 256 KB, 512 kb, 1 Mb, 2 Mb, 4 Mb and 8 Mb cartridges

• Sound: 2 square waves, 1 programmable 32-sample 4-bit PCM wave, 1 white noise, and one audio input from the cartridge.

• Display: Reflective LCD 160 × 144 pixels

• Frame Rate: Approx. 59.7 frames per second on a regular Game Boy, 61.1 on a Super Game Boy

• Vertical Blank Rate: Approx 1.1ms

• Screen size: 66 mm (2.6 in) diagonal

• Colour Palette: 2-bit, 4 shades of ‘grey’; light to very dark olive green.

• After the two original Japanese versions Pokemon Red and Green were made, in order to make it available to the rest of the world, the game had to be made again as the programming would not work with the translation software into English and other languages. Making a third game, Pokemon Blue.

• After development is complete, the games are published by Nintendo.

Marketing of the Games

• After the initial launch of the Pokemon games in 1996, it was an ‘over-night’ success in Japan. This lead to making the games be sold globally. Nintendo spent over $50 million to promote the games in the US.

• As well as promoting the games first hand, there was a spin off TV series, a trading card game, plush toys, themed vehicles; most notably the Pikachu aeroplane.

• Nintendo’s Gameboy already had a huge fan base, because of its initial cheap price and durability in comparison to other rival company consoles.

• For the more recent games, the marketing has now moved to internet, with “leaks” of game details appearing on the official site and fan-based sites.

• There are also TV adverts with far superior graphics, showing off the characters from the games, emphasising the vast improvement in the game graphics.

• There is a Japanese channel called ‘Pokemon Sunday’ that has guest appearances from the developers who reveal new details of up coming games.

• For the US and Europe, there is a Nintendo funded magazine that is all about Pokemon, as well as the Official Nintendo Magazine which promotes the games.

• There are also special offers to people who pre-order the games such as limited edition statues of infamous Pokemon characters.

• When revealing new characters, the initial unveiling is of silhouettes. They then wait another week before showing the new characters properly. This unveiling is also only of specific characters, such as the box art Pokemon and the Starter Pokemon. The rest of the Pokemon of the game are revealed closer to the release date.

Distribution-

-All the games listed above were all distributed around the UK and USA however there was also Pokemon Green which was only distributed in japan, this was the same as the origional red and blue versions. The distribution of the Red and Blue series began in 1997 and are still going today with the newest versions SoulSilver and HeartGold.

-The games were sold in store, however they are still available on internet sites such as Amazon for up to £64 from new!

Consumption-

- The main platform for the pokemon games is the Nintendo GameBoy Advance, this is because many of the first games (up to third generation (up to ruby and saphire)) were playable on Nintendo GameBoys and all of the old cartridges could be played on the GameBoy Advance.

-Another platform is the Nintendo DS which is one of the newer hand consoles made by Nintendo, the fourth generation games (Diamond and Pearl) because of the newer software this gave the consumers better graphics and better gameplay.