Random: The Pokémon Company Re-Uploads Its Pokémon Unite Videos, And Fans Aren't Happy

They’ll happily take some dislikes on YouTube from Westerners if it means raking in the big bucks from the MOBA fans. I expect this to make them an absolute racket even if it looks painfully bad.

How can people be this upset when New Pokemon Snap exists.

I gave it a thumbs up. I appreciate experimentation. After going back to play Let's Go Pikachu again I remembered why I stopped playing. I half my party is under-leveled and I hate the method of grinding Pokemon. I'd be fine if traditional battling was a thing, but having to catch 100 of something just to level is tedious.

Maybe fans are just toxic and will whine at anything, case and point paper mario.

Honestly Pokémon unite doesn’t look bad but they have to realize how they marketed it. Most Pokémon fans are way more interested in mainline games thin spinoffs, that was such a let down. That being said I hope the next gen doesn’t come out for a few years they need to put time in the next or they are gonna lose a lot of the fan base

Thumbs Down Forever. 👎👎👎
#boycottmobagames 🤟

I’m starting to think that the pandemic was a product of Cthulhu and he’s about to rise from the ocean. The sheer insanity of this stuff is just mind boggling.

@nessisonett - I was hearing that even Chinese fans aren't entirely too pleased with this announcement.

Grant it, reality is most who are complaining will probably try it regardless of their disdain.

Pokémon Company: re-uploads video to reset dislikes
Also Pokémon Company: does not disable like/dislike counter

Dear God, their incompetence is almost poetic.

@PLATINUM7 Because A) Tencent bad (very bad), and B) more importantly, NO ONE WANTED THIS.

Why can't people just decide something is not for them without being so butthurt about every little thing Nintendo does?

@Rika_Yoshitake @PLATINUM7 You don't have to like everything about a franchise to be a fan of it. You don't have to like E.T. on the Atari to be a fan of the E.T. franchise and the original movie. Don't think in binary/be tribalist.

@Alpha-2002 Tencent is bad and I probably won't support this game because of their involvement. Which is unfortunate because holy crap there is SO MUCH POTENTIAL in a Pokemon Moba. Like it's all just right there screaming in our faces about how good it could possibly be.

And then Tencent.

@Rika_Yoshitake actually, case in point being pretty much every single major fandom out there except maybe Kirby? But give it time.

Gamers are such babies

This is what they get and deserve for siding with Tencent, a really shady, suspicious company that sells peoples' info+data to he who I won't name here and his evil cronies in the CCP.

They made their bed, now they can lie in it.

Why even bother complaining? Publishers cater to whatever will earn them the most money in the end and whenever they do happen to listen to the vocal minority it's pure coincidence and probably something they were planning to do anyways because it would actually affect their bottom line.

All these things, the death threats...the review bombings...the tantrums on message boards...they do nothing. Crying didn't stop Pokemon SW & Sh from selling incredibly well and it won't stop this game if the casual audience likes it. That's just how these things go. These hardcore gamers just need to get over themselves and realize nobody cares how hard you kick and scream.

I don’t consider the game itself to be a bad idea (partner company notwithstanding) but the way it was teased and announced practically cursed the game in the eyes of many and implies that the Pokemon Company don’t know their current audience.

I’m very excited for this game and happy to have a Pokémon game that’s trying something new.
MOBA’s work, and the familiar cast of characters will draw people in.
The art style looks great and as long as it plays well this is gonna do good numbers, mobile alone, let alone switch.

I also don’t get the issue with in-app purchases. Ninjala, Warface, Pokemon Cafe, etc all have this... but none require a single cent to be competitive or dominate games...IF you have skill. Purchases are normally cosmetic or just speed up level grinding.
And when the game is FREE, if you like it then $10-20 isn’t gonna kill you and is your way of saying to the developers you appreciate the work!

A lot of anger I feel is because it’s cool to complain.

I don’t see it with this move. I’m in. It’s free to try for goodness sake...

@FX102A it doesn’t have to BE for their current audience... that’s what the staple games are for... this can very well be seen as a game for a NEW audience.

Pokemon fans: Boo, we want something original, we're tired of the same RPG format. We want something different.

Also Pokémon fans: What is with this? This isn't Diamond/Pearl remakes. This is something different that I don't want.

Next on TPCI's To Do list; jingle keys.

@eaglebob345 @DarkTron @PLATINUM7
That's because this game is an actual problem. The company they teamed up to work on this game with is Tencent, and Tencent has a very, very extensive history of censorship, data selling, chinese propaganda, among other scummy activities. If they teamed up with someone else than there wouldn't be as much hate

I know this is not the exact article to discuss but,

Has it really been 5 years since Iwata died!? It always feels like yesterday

"We don't like what The Pokemon Company has become, how would you understand? Doing this, deleting the old videos and reuploading them only demonstrates that you don't care about fans, you just care about image. It's sad."
That guy's comment is perfect copypasta material.

Pokemon is straight up bad, and so is the tpc. But also, gamers are trash. Why does anyone expect them to deliver something good when they have so rarely ever done that?

The Pokémon Company has been tone deaf for quite a while now... I wonder what’s going on in their minds right now, thinking any of this rubbish Is okay...

@Alpha008 remember that Kirby FTP from yesteryear? Even Kirby fans...

The Pokémon Company is the Japanese equivalent of Electronic Arts at this point...

@TimboSlice a lot of people are upset because tencent is involved. It's a google like company which has a chatting app that is huge in china. Data from that app is given to the chinese government and police to spy on people, leading to actual arrests. It's a company that helps oppression of people and it's now making a pokemon game. If you spend money on this game, you are funding this company, and therewith the oppression of people. That's the problem people have with this game.

@eaglebob345 This is not Nintendo. This is "The Pokémon Company" and "Tencent". Enough to be upset about it.

@Wilforce exactly! I've been wanting to get into MOBA and a lightweight Pokémon seems perfect for that. Experimentation gave us Snap, so even if all can't be winners some of them will be.

@PLATINUM7 yeah... made by Namco!! Not GameFreak... that's why it looks amazing.

The video did have an error though, I remember it being reported that the switch was mirrored in the original version or something.

And I know that at least Nintendo is extremely strict about those kinds of errors in promotional material.

Not saying they didn't want to reset the counter, but the fact they didn't disable them, tells me it probably wasn't their main intention.

The ones who are defending this game are pretty oblivious to who Tencent is and why it means problems to the franchise.

It's not about the game itself... as someone already stated, its because of who they teamed up with. THAT's why people are upset.

We want good Pokemon games, hence the applause for Pokemon Snap made by Namco after all the disgust with SW/SH and Gamefreak... it's new blood for the franchise.

But this new blood is a company with good reputation... NOT TENCENT.

You guys should google Tencent and inform yourselves at least for 15 minutes. I mean, its your hobby. Its not that hard to access information in this day and age.

@Rika_Yoshitake What's your definition of toxicity, exactly? I generally think it to mean harmful to oneself and others, (i.e., a toxic relationship), but I fail to see how being upset over the new Paper Mario game constitutes this behavior. It's one thing if people are being put down for liking the game, as everyone is entitled to like what they like. No one should feel shamed for looking forward to Origami King. But I haven't been seeing that, I've only seen those who defend the game belittle and degrade the ones who don't like it with labels such as entitled, spoiled, ungrateful, psycho, and (ironically) toxic. Which, as far as I can see, fits the bill for toxic behavior.

It's okay to not like a game, and you should be able to voice that opinion without fear of being shut down; Nintendo can't make better games without getting both positive and negative feedback. But hating on the gamer is a very different thing.

@RebeccaEdv I stand corrected, whilst also proving my point. The world is just extremely toxic right now. If it has a fan base of any size, you’ll find either toxicity in it or aimed at it.

Aren’t humans just the best?

Didn't they fix the "reversed Switch" footage? That explains the reupload.

I didn’t leave a dislike last time, but if they are trying to do this kinda s^*t, I am heading to YouTube right now

@fafonio Considering what is going on in China lately, the only way to get a good game past all the ***** censors is by going through the conglomerate that is Tencent. Don't blame Nintendo for trying to bring joy to those less fortunate.

Hmm yeah going with what the company said. As like the webmaster of serebii said if they wanted to hide the dislikes then they would have disabled them.

So far nobody is getting strikes on YouTube, and have not heard that their removing comments from the clip yet.

Besides last I checked it was free to play, and so long as it not an buy to win game I could care less how many mircotransactions are in the game if it just for stuff like skins.

Where do people get this rose tinted image of the pokemon company from. Every game in the series has had multiple versions with pokemon locked behind each one and the point of the game and cartoon is just to act as a toy commercial,150 pokemon plushies, per generation, to kids.

The mainline games have barely changed since they stumbled onto a winning formula over 20 years ago They've always been a "minimum effort maximum profit" company.

They dont care if people like their videos, they will release this game, kids will want it, parents will pay for it, and said kids will be horrified in 20 years when some new low effort pokemon game is announced to make money.

Wtf is wrong with people? Pokemon are making games for all different genre and fan bases.
Are they not allowed ???

Yeeeeah, that's a pretty sketchy move, but not surprising because they're a business. So this gets an overwhelming "meh" from me. I AM, however, mildly annoyed at the Pokemon apologists that are rearing their heads for this like Joe.

Really? They took down a whole video just because a single image in it is reversed? And no, they wouldn't just disable their comments if they didn't like the dislikes. Everyone who's ever been on youtube knows that disabling the like/dislike bar means that the video's trash, and they know it, but they don't want to take the video down so they can continue to monetize. It's, oddly enough, a worse look than a ton of dislikes.

@Rika_Yoshitake That is pretty sad, if you think people who express their dislike over a game they care about are toxic. Instead of seeking understanding, which takes effort, it’s easier to misjudge them just dump them in the toxic group.

@VanishStampede LOL... who is blaming Nintendo? This is what I mean with getting informed.... Nintendo has nothing to do with this ... The Pokemon Company and Nintendo are two completely separate entities.

Also, you're saying you hate censors and then you support Tencent in the same sentence? Ummmmmmm................................................................................

@Alpha008 It’s easy to forget about all the good in the world, when our only focus is something negative.

Not sure how making different games for different people is not thinking about it's fans.

Internet helps compagnies ..in some way.

@Barbara001 They are probably making a Pokémon game to hide their bad intentions. The more I learn about tencent, the less there is to like about them.

Lets not bring religion into this discussion, please. -Eel

@PLATINUM7,

You would be surprised, some are determined to moan no matter what.

@Zach Then I guess we are all babies, ‘cause last I checked this is a gaming site for people who game...otherwise known as gamers. Are you sure you want to lump a whole lot of people you have never met, into a group because you disagree with how they express their frustration?

@TG16_IS_BAE,

Totally agree with you on this, however some people's concerns are never really expressed on a basis of what's wrong, which would of course give people understanding and invite a healthy debate on the subject, there are a lot of comments that are just simply exist to get a reaction, then of course people who like the games will react and get labelled dismissive.

@Erviper,

I don't think this game is aimed at the core Pokemon fans, and as for losing their mass market audience I would say this is impossible at this point.

The thing that makes me laugh about all this is the fact people often complain about the amount of Nintendo's first party titles, then you get the Pokemon company/ gamefreak who in a pretty short space of time have released the let's go games, admittedly not full on releases but pretty good none the less, then a mainline title with sword and shield with extra DLC, they then announce Pokemon snap which fans have been asking about for ages, as well as the Pokemon unite idea, which does not interest me all that much, but I am not losing any sleep over it either.

You would think that Pokemon fans would be jumping for joy, and of course in reality most are, the main issue is the core fans that have grown up with the series and now realize the games are not aimed at them specifically anymore, and they are not happy about it, the main reason for the backlash against Pokemon units is the core fans were unrealistically expecting the Pokemon company to announce a remake of a past title or their next mainline game, this was never going to happen when the latest titles are selling well and their is still a second wave of DLC coming.

The Pokemon Company - and the rest of Nintendo - should drop Tencent like the rancid hot potato they always were. Sadly, that was never going to happen to begin with: too much money to be made.

Side note: I could be completely wrong - and please correct me if I am - but I was under the impression that channels could only turn off comments, not likes/dislikes.

"Not caring about fans" is one of the most commendable things a company dealing with commercial fiction can do. Don't like what they and the franchise has become? Time to move on to greener pastures, and if that can only happen over the death of the franchise fan and its perverse feverish "loyalty" inside you, then cheers for everything in the franchise that helps eradicate it. No amount of positive resonance and pleasure Fiction gave you in the past can excuse morally crippling obsessions with it in the present. As long as your inner fan is trying to enslave the franchise, it mostly just succeeds in keeping YOU enslaved. This aesthetic drug milking is to pity at most, not to "care for".

And that Serebii guy at least has a point - TPC had other reasons to scratch and reupload the stuff than just fearing the allegedly scary "dislikes" boogeyman, and far simpler means to deal with the latter if they wished to.

If you like fruit club biscuits but don't like the orange ones, do you send Jacob's angry tweets demanding they stop making orange clubs and call them out for deleting you self entitled ramblings about "orange clubs being an abomination and you don't feel loved" that people are unlikely to read? Why would need to have such a strong opinion on something you haven't wasted your hard earned cash on?

"Fans aren't happy".

I've been a fan since I first played Pokémon Blue, back in high school. I'm genuinely excited to give this game a go.

People just need to take a step back and try to enjoy life a bit more.

I can’t believe that something so simple as an editing error has gotten people so riled up.

On the plus side; if this is SO bad that it gets people that annoyed, their lives must be pretty great if simple things like this cause upset.

Although people can get really toxic over not liking games, I understand why people arent happy with what they're getting. Tpc have completely embraced quantity over quality it seems with the recent swsh, the dlc of swsh, those mobile games, unite and snap. Of which only one hasnt split the fanbase in two. Im not supporting unite, because of tencent and because I dont like what tpc is doing.
People will complain about people complaining, with their only argument being "people just cant be happy with stuff" or "theyre being ungrateful/toxic" while not understanding WHY people are upset. People will play this game and they should if they want to, I wont play it however and I will voice my opinion about this game.

Ya'll gotta calm down lol

Nobody canceled New Pokemon Snap or Detective Pikachu 2, and more Pokemon RPG content (Sword/Shield Crown Tundra DLC, Diamond/Pearl remake, Gen 9) are on their way.

Maybe this will finally get me off of LoL......

What is it these days, that when everybody isn't lunatic-grin happy, it's immediately "They're so toxic"?

Maybe, juuuust maybe, making a MOBA (A genre nobody asked for) with Tencent (A company that's very dubious at best), without half the gameplay intricacies of either a MOBA (Roles for the characters, apparently the worst LoL game-mode ever as base), or of Pokemon (No type advantages, one of the steries mainstays), is just a bad idea?

I reuploaded my dislikes

@PLATINUM7 Just like someone holding you down, farting into your face, then handing you a fiver.

‘How can you be so upset when I gave you five quid??’

@Ajent That editing error is indicative of a whole attitude though.

It’s The Pokemon Company—one of the richest multimedia companies in the world. Not some 13 year old editing these videos.

At this point it’s clear they don’t have any interest or passion for what they are doing. They are now your typically lazy, greedy, cynical corporation, and for that, they can go straight to hell 😘

@MrGawain That is such a strange analogy.

I’ll bet your cupboard is crammed full of Club biscuits.

@Rika_Yoshitake And with this, @Not_Soos is the winner of the comment section. Absolutely spot on. Toxicity can absolutely exist with the negatives but over time, especially with large fanbases, people have conflated constructive criticism and/or complaints with toxicity. However toxicity can absolutely exist on both sides. Yes, with people bombarding game developer employees with death threats and etc, but also the apologists. To quote Scott the Woz, "Sometimes the people who cry, 'Stop complaining about this Nintendo game!' are being far more ridiculous than the people complaining". As if that attitude won't just lead to game designers shoving whatever they want into the marketplace because they know people will just take what they're given.

I absolutely love Pokemon with all my heart... When it's at its best. But lately, I've been seeing a bunch of quantity over quality and cutting corners. So I want the series I love to grow and evolve. I want to see them make their own Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild, or Smash Ultimate, or Animal Crossing New Horizons, or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, or Fire Emblems Three Houses, or Super Mario Maker 2, where they go above and beyond with their series. But we'll never get that if we constantly just smile and take what we're given even if we don't like it.

@Brydontk,

Good points, and even though I like the latest mainline Pokemon games I admit they are not perfect, (whatever that means in video gaming terms), but on the whole I am having fun with them.

As for people just accepting stuff is a tough one, because we are not really getting the opinions of the wider mass market Pokemon fans, as they do not tend to post on internet forums, so all we are left with are the core hobby gamers on the various internet forums, which is hardly the full picture, and as it is a minority it's very difficult to judge if any future series improvements were down to them or just simple evolution.

Not sure why people are so upset about Unite, could be fun. Spin-offs have been a huge part of Pokemon since that start. I love Pokemon but sometimes I do worry about just how toxic it’s fan base can be.

The fact that they just released a mainline title completely undoes any anger.

At least with Diablo, fans paid for an event, got hyped up for a mainline game announcement, and was bait and switched with a crappy mobile title, with no sign of a mainline title coming. Were people already waiting to drop S&S and its DLC for S&S2 or something?. I see a lot of angry voices, but none that are specific in what they are actually angry about.

Like the tencent thing, yeah, be angry about that. Don't support it. Be vocally against it. But that's not how many of these comments are coming across. They come across more in the way of "this isn't something I'm interested in and therefore it's bad". And quite frankly, I don't see a difference between 'Unite' and the 'Ranger', 'Mystery Dungeon', 'Snap', or 'Detective Pikachu' games I've never played.

@HappyMaskedGuy

Nah, I only eat Garibaldis.

@Rika_Yoshitake lol toxic is such a buzzword now. PM has had actual battle system oversites that ruined the gameplay and they did it for 3 games in a row

Are they ever?

@Ogbert The problem was that they teased it as a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT a week in advance. People were excited and understandably disappointed when all they got was a phone moba

@HappyMaskedGuy like I say, your life must be pretty great.

A minor, common, mistake = Go to hell. Smh.

@johnvboy

(WOAH this turned out longer than I expected. Nintendolife hire me! xD)
I enjoy Sw/Sh too, though I'm critical. And I agree, they're in a tough position because they have a wide wide range of fans to consider. But for me, at the very least, I just want them to try and make a good game and not just try to make money, because that's what it seems like they've been doing since Gen6 to present. Right now, it just feels like instead of utilizing a majority of their resources to make the best pokemon game they can, they just sort of throw things at the wall to see what sticks while making sure they get a mainline game released every (or if they're ambitious, every other) November. And I think the reason why internet fans are complaining more than ever is because we see it and when you put it all together, Pokemon comes up wanting.

In Gen 6, the creator stated that they made the games super easy because kids wanted to play games just to get back to their smartphones. It was around then they started using their resources to make Pokemon Apps. And now we have/had Pokemon Go, Pokemon Masters, Pokemon Smile, Pokemon Cafe Mix, Pokemon Duel, Pokemon Shuffle, Pokemon Quest, Pokemon Rumble Rush, and I may be forgetting some.

They also announced that they "future-proofed" the pokemon models, so they could essentially copy-paste them into future games when the new gens come out. At first we were excited about this because we thought this meant that without worrying about Pokemon models they've already done, they could spend more time working on other aspects of the game. But then we found out in MORE interviews that whenever the developers would think of wild new ideas to put in their mainline series, they were always told to dial it back. This is why features of the mainline games are constantly removed with one new feature and each new mainline game is basically, "New Pokemon game! This time with Mega Evolution/Z-Moves/Dynamaxing!" Like, one interview they did said that they wanted the Wild Area to be even crazier and more exciting than it is now but they were told to dial it back. Not to mention, they announced they were working on DLC before Sw/Sh was even released. So Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra could've been a postgame thing but they sold it to us instead.

When you add all these, and much, much more that I won't even get into, basically, Poke fans just, at the VERY LEAST, want the same love and attention given to other Nintendo games. You don't see Zelda or Mario or Animal Crossing with a billion phone apps or (bad-to-middling) spin-off games running around because like another Nintendolife article said, the secret to their success is that Nintendo gives them all the time in the world to develop and finish their games.

Even with games outside of Nintendo, you can tell when there's love and attention given to it. The game developers of Cyberpunk 2077, also creators of Witcher III, just love what theyre doing so so much. Before Witcher III came out, they had a mini-party where they had people play the game and provided a survey to see what they could do prior to release. Even Cyberpunk 2077 they've delayed it so many times because they want to get it just right. Meanwhile, Pokemon announced a game that seems like it's specifically designed to scoop up the white whales in the MOBA crowd. Especially when you remember Pokemon Unite, is "free-to-start". It just all feels like it's for the love of money and not for the love of the franchise or the fans.

They made a mistake, deleted it, corrected it, and re-uploaded it. In that process YouTube handles it as if it was a new video, and any number of likes, dislikes and views gets deleted. Is that right?

So what's the problem now? Is this a news article about toxic Pokémongos? Or is it something to fill a slow news weekend? I guess it's because of the name Pokémon Unite when in reality it should be called Pokémon Divide?

Personally speaking, these spoiled kids can't get the throat full enough. There is a new Pokémon game coming out every other month and still they're capable of being little trolls. Guess what, not every Pokémon game is meant for you. I don't care much for most Pokémon titles either, but I don't make a theatrical piece out of that.

@Fazermint it was a big announcement though. MOBAs are a big deal and one cross platform for Switch and mobile based around Pokemon is potentially massive. If it’s not for someone that’s obviously fine, but it’s the manner in which that is expressed that is the problem and how the community is becoming toxic. I’m sure many don’t even realise how they are coming across and don’t mean it that way. But words and statements are powerful and we need to be responsible with them.

@Ajent By comparison you must be slaving in the sulphuric haze of a volcanic crater.

Poor guy.

It really doesn't matter to me anymore. A few side games like New Pokemon Snap aside, as well as the old gen 1-5 games, I'm entirely done with the Pokemon series. Sword and Shield was the last straw and this dumb mobile game certainly isn't gonna hook me back in.

@Brydontk,

Again we have to define the word "Fans", as with an older franchise like Pokemon it's a very broad term indeed, you will have older gamers that have played every single entry, although I feel these players make up a pretty small percentage of the whole, and then you have the younger mass market players, who in all reality are the target audience who the latest games are aimed at.

Pokemon Company has always made spin-offs that are usually naff but occasionally good. They do things for fans like Pokemon Snap and things to widen the series like this.

If you want to ignore them for partnering with Tencent. Have fun not playing any games that:

• Are by Ubisoft
• Or Activision
• Or Take-Two
• Or use the Unreal Engine
• Or are by PlatinumGames
• Or is PUBG or Fortnite
• Or League of Legends

The target audience for this game is China. Another case of westerners being racist and thinking the whole world turns around them.

I think it’s safe to say that Pokemon has long since passed its heyday.

@glaemay I don’t think you have the slightest clue what racism actually is.

@johnvboy Yeeeeah, I typed all that for nothing then cause I agree xDDD Someone said that as long as they're 10 year olds, there will be pokemon fans and I've ALMOST resigned myself to that. It's just a massive bummer. And as an older fan, I get it, I really do. There's a reason why pokemon is the highest grossing franchise in the world after all. But honestly, even that strategy is non-sustainable. Games are only good within the context of other games that are released. So if they continue doing this, even the younger audience will move on from the franchise because they'll be given other options in the form of other, potentially better games that are taking more risks and being more innovative. Off the top of my head, the Kindred Fates trailer

@glaemay,

I still do not see how this would be racist, even if what you are suggesting is true.

@Brydontk,

To be honest i really liked your post, and there are very valid points within it, but when you look at core game developers that have asked gamers opinions it's a far easier task in my opinion, as you are pretty much speaking to one audience and demographic.

I would like to agree with you on the diminishing Pokemon audience as time goes by, if of course the games do not evolve, but in reality they will just be replaced by other younger gamers, the brand is just too strong and kid friendly.

The Pokémon Company aren't neglecting all their fans, they're just choosing not to listen to whining adults and are focusing at the younger audience (children) who they believe will truly appreciate and love this game

(and sucker the young teens into giving them money with gacha bs)

@PLATINUM7 Yeah but the Pokemon Snap remake wasn't the big announcement that wasted everyone's time.

@eaglebob345 Well in this case, the company in question worked with the Chinese government to suppress information about the pandemic on Chinese social media. Tencent is pure evil.

@glaemay How is anyone being racist for calling out Tencent for being a bad company?

Not being sarcastic: Can someone please explain the outrage? The Pokemon community is upset because, nine months after releasing the latest entry in the series, and mere weeks after revealing Pokemon Snap, the Pokemon company revealed a game that was NOT a mainline Pokemon game? Am I getting that correct? And now they're angry again because a video with a reversed image has been corrected?

@Yosher The series was never meant to stick with you forever, if Sword and Shield made you leave the series then it's your time to retired from Pokemon for good. Just like any career or hobby, you know when your time is up and now is the time.

@PLATINUM7 @johnvboy @Burning_Spear New Pokemon Snap doesn't instantly fix the problems with this series. That's like trying to put a bandaid on a bullet wound. It's one spinoff game against a flood of cheap mobile games and half-assed main series games. The larger issue with Pokemon right now is they're taking a quantity over quality approach to the series, pumping out a flood of cheap mobile games full of microtransactions and main series games with decreasing amounts of content and polish despite being capable of more and more than systems like the Game Boy or DS. One highly requested spinoff game is a drop in the bucket here, the larger picture is showing that Game Freak and TPC are cutting corners to make more money and don't really care about making a good game that people actually enjoy. They're becoming more and more like Nintendo's EA.

And the "Pokemon appeals to a larger audience" excuse doesn't really fly here. Mario does too, and yet you don't see Nintendo making 10 mobile games a year and 1 Switch game. They make a few, yes, but Nintendo actually understands that mobile gamers are generally unwilling to spend money on games without being suckered into it with shady business tactics like microtransactions, loot boxes, and gacha mechanics, so they've realized that mobile isn't their target audience. Meanwhile with the Switch, Nintendo's shown it understands that people who buy console games are looking for deep and ambitious and engaging experiences, and they're being highly rewarded for doing so with strong sales for both Switch hardware and its games, even breaking some records. Game Freak and TPC either haven't come to this realization or don't care, so the core fanbase is unsatisfied with their Switch offerings.

And yeah, let's not call people "toxic" just for giving criticism. Criticism and toxicity are not the same thing. Toxic fans complain and hate on things either for no reason or to troll other fans. That's not what's happening here. The criticism isn't so much "people shouldn't be allowed to enjoy cheap games" as much as "Game Freak and TPC shouldn't be trying to make their money with cheap games driven by shady business tactics". They're charging way more money than they need to cover their development costs and most gamers are probably not getting their money's worth in enjoyment out of the games (and they could be getting much more of their money's worth of enjoyment if they started paying a flat cost to download the game again instead of this F2P microtransaction BS).

@PLATINUM7 @johnvboy @Burning Spear I had to split this into two comments due to length.

For Game Freak and TPC to really repair the damage they've done to their reputation, they need to do the following:

1. Invest more time and resources in the main games to provide more of a BotW/Mario Odyssey type of experience. Spend 4 or 5 years on them and MASSIVELY increase Game Freak's staff or bring in another developer to accomplish this. Add more content and features to their games so you can't just blow through them in a week and move on.
2. End the mass development of F2P mobile games. Shift towards a handful of cheaper apps and titles that are sold for say, $5-$10 up front. No in app purchases of any kind should be in these games unless they want to add DLC.
3. Develop more full scale Switch spinoff games. Shift back towards more series like Ranger, Colosseum/XD, Ranger (albeit on a future console that better supports dual screen gameplay and touch controls), Pokepark, Conquest, etc. and make new ones in a similar vein.
4. Avoid shady developers like Tencent.

That would put an end to most of the complaining.

I don’t think people care about the game so much as people were exceedingly disappointed about a big, separate Pokemon announcement just being a pay to play low quality mobile game with a format we’ve seen before. Pokemon Cafe was more interesting to me. And, of course, Pokemon Snap was the real delight. Ending with that then getting people excited over a whole second announcement just for... this... is what people are grumbly over.

It doesn’t matter how many dislikes . It doesn’t matter how many people whine like children.

You people are the vocal minority. You don’t matter. You pale in comparison to the amount of people who will download and enjoy the game. Cry on.

@HappyMaskedGuy erm... you’re kind of proving my point here... “ slaving in the sulphuric haze of a volcanic crater” is, in your opinion and by your words, comparable to seeing a picture with a minor inconsistency.

@retro_player_77 Thing is, I still love the series? If they treated the games with more care and didn't introduce stupid stuff like mega evolution, Z-moves and dynamaxing, I would still be all over the games.

A good reason why I still love the first five generations, those games were all excellent and I still enjoy going back to those.

gamers bad china good give me upvote

Previously on "Victims of Video Game Trauma," grown adults who play game collecting cute monsters brutally attacked by ordinary marketing 😂😂😂 our species is such a mistake can we all just die of covid already

@Bolt_Strike,

I don't see mobile gamers as suckered in as you put it, that's too much of a sweeping generalization for me, sure the business models are geared to make as much money as possible, but it's still a choice at the end of the day, and again can be down to perspective, for example if I tell my wife I am spending £49.00 on a video game she feels that's expensive, whereas she will have little issue buying robux, it's all just a point of view at the end of the day.

I don’t mind the MOBA concept.. but don’t do it with TENCENT! Not with a corrupt CCP Crony!

First let me say I think it’s awesome how passionate Pokemon fans are...you are the reason it’s the highest grossing property in the world. Your passion and enthusiasm is unmatched and I understand your pain when the Pokémon company doesn’t produce products that you think aren’t for you. I am a huge Mario and Legend of Zelda fan. By the time Pokemon came out I was already a teenager and playing games like ZOOT, Metal Gear, FF7 etc. So I have never really been a Pokémon fan. I tried to get into the series with Let’s Go and Sword with my daughter but it just wasn’t my thing.
I do however really enjoy MOBAS. Regardless of what you think of tencent they have produced and supported many good games, including MOBAS. I think this game looks fantastic. This is an awesome opportunity to get people into Pokémon that may not otherwise be into the franchise. I don’t see a I’ll lot of ppl flaming Nintendo for making various Mario games that arent platformers. In fact I see love and support for games like Hyrule Warriors and Mario Rabbids. (Probably bad examples cause they are both awesome)
Lastly this game in no shape, way, or form is taking away Gamefreaks resources to produce the next mainline Pokémon. Tencent and it’s devs made the game and most likely funded its production. If the game is popular it will make tons of $$$. Game freak can use that money to make better mainline games. Also this doesn’t look like you average LOL clone. As a MOBA fan I think this has been streamlined to be easier for causal players...which is GREAT! There is to many choices on upgrades and leveling in the usual MOBA. If this game can emulate what smash does for the fighting genre (casual style that is easy to pickup and be successful) it will be tons of fun. There is no way I am trying to play Smite or Arena of Valor with my Wife and Daughter, but a casual Pokémon MOBA could be a great couch co op. Hopefully some of you can understand my differing perspective and understand why this game was made and is a good thing for the Pokémon brand.

Oh well, already left my dislike again! Gotta protect those like/dislike ratios!!

@johnvboy No, it's not "just perspective". There's a concrete value to the assets and content being produced in a video game. Certain assets and content takes a concrete amount of time to develop and requires a certain amount of time to complete. You can certainly like said assets and content more or less than others, but the value and price of something is based on development costs and what you're offering relative to your competitors. And in those regards, Pokemon's offerings are very poor value.

There are many times when fans heavily dislike something and try to boycott it, sometimes justified, most of the times the boycott is stupid, but those boycotts keep failing and the product becomes a success anyway.

But I think this time, not only the boycott is justified, but it will work, because there are dozens of MOBAs that tried to cash in the success of LOL and DOTA, but failed and the servers closed, these people never learn that trying to copy popular online games is going for a piece of the pie, and don't get even crumbs, even having your MOBA themed around a popular franchise does not work, having DC Heroes didn't save Infinite Crisis, I don't think the Pokémon license is enough to save Pokémon Unite.

Wrong. Fans are happy or they don't care about this insignificant matter. Truth is, it's the NintendoLife writer of this article that isn't happy and he makes an article including the unsuspected "fans" because he has to write an article today but didn't have the time to write something truly newsworthy.

@RPGamer I think they just wanted to fix the error

@Barbara001 ohhhh! Thank you for that info!
Googling it I now see all of this... pretty crazy, but is it crazy to say that likely all these apps and smartphones are mining our data all the time?! Not sure how safe anything is really....

And in the end they are a giant company with, as I found out, significant investments in many things... one of which, as a Canadian and so it hits home, is TIM HORTONS! (Granted it’s the Chinese branch but still...)
So if you’re a Canadian and complaining about this company and not wanting to support them, you’d best start getting your caffeine fix elsewhere!

As it is, I’m still all in for this game. Looks awesome.

@DarkTron Some people just can't seem to make up their minds.

@westman98 They never said anything about Diamond/Pearl remakes.

So they allegedly did this because they care so much about fixing the mistake, oh no it's not because they wanted to hide the dislikes or anything...

But gee the thumbnail is still backwards! Really makes you think...

@johnvboy Right, the knee jerk reactions, I get that.

@Cosats Not all stories have to be big to be newsworthy. Sometimes, the smaller news will suffice.

@eaglebob345 this hate isnt directed at nintendo. Its at the Pokemon company who is separate from nintendo. Common mistake but Pokemon is no longer nintendo first party. If it ever really was.

IDK what people's issues are with this, I think it's really cool, and I'm much more excited about this than I ever was for Sword and Shield tbh.

@Dracavius You know I like people like you. I personally don't care about this game, nor am I a huge pokemon fan, however blindfolding yourself with your wallet stuck out walking around with a smile on face in a shady neighbourhood will only get you so far. You do realise that it is a Free to start game right? Not free to play, and even then I wouldn't be surprised both will be implemented.

It's better to complain now, realize whats going on and move on from the mess this company has gotten themselves into, then being waste deep with no savings and leaving that mess proves you wrong, it won't be us crying in the end.

@Rika_Yoshitake -or maybe there is actual merit to the complaints and you're being stupidly reductive?

@TG16_IS_BAE,

The type where we can discuss I have no issues with, and has I have said many times thee games ain't perfect.

@Bolt_Strike,

I was talking about mobile games and not the latest Pokemon titles, and fair enough if you do not feel any value in them.

@mr-duster
It's prety obvious that's the next title Gamefreak is working on. They are very consistent in following release patterns over the last 3 decades.

Frankly, removing the video isn’t gonna change anything. Their biggest misstep was making this game “a big reveal.”

If they had just dropped the news and not made a big deal about it, it wouldn’t be this much of a disaster. I hardly think it would’ve been well received, but this largely could have been avoided. How they didn’t slot Pokémon Snap in it’s place is so bizarre, I almost can’t believe it happened this way. An absolute swing and a miss on the marketing front.

It made about as much sense as Nintendo giving us Federation Force with absolutely no update on the progress of a new mainline Metroid game. Sometimes, Nintendo and their friends, make incredibly odd decisions.

@westman98 I guess we'll have to wait and see.
And I'm probably in the minority when I say I don't think we need Gen. 4 remakes.

@DoktorTotenKopf Its the big wigs making the decisions. The devs are just doing their job, don't put the hate on them. The big wigs know nothing of how to make a game great (and they probably don't care either), all they see are dollar signs. Unfortunately, this won't change unless they see a huge decline in sales. Which probably won't happen since Pokemon appeals to such a vast, wide variety of people.

The way they revealed the game was a bit weird but why is it so unpopular? As a franchise, Pokemon has a lot of spin of titles and this is just another spin off. If you don't like it, don't play it. Why are so many people being immature about it? The main line games didn't stop when the likes of Pokemon Rumble, Pokemon Trozei, Pokemon Dash etc came out. The main line will continue despite this game existing. As for the reveal weirdness, I too was hoping for Gen 2 or Gen 4 remakes, but, I don't really care. They probably only made it a separate reveal at the request of Tencent.

@Fido007 You realize it IS free to play and not free to start right? Offering characters for sale isn’t stopping you from playing. Same exact setup as every free to play MOBA. Nintendo’s nomenclature is irrelevant.

I don’t expect someone with such a poor concept of humor to have the cognitive capacity to understand that, however.

Nobody at Tencent or Nintendo cares what you people think. And you do care, otherwise you wouldn’t have read the article and found my comment to execute a poorly formed insult of a reply.

@mr-duster
Gen 4 Remake will sell well over 10 million copies, much like all the other Pokemon remakes, which is enough of a reason for it to exist.

@drewber2635 POKÉMON lost it’s relevancy after Gold and Silver for me. I’ve dabbled in some of the games since then but they really lack any clear innovation and experimentation.

@Dracavius I think you need to rewatch your beloved video again, before correcting me bud.

I'm not gonna change your mind, everybody chooses their own shackles.

@johnvboy I appreciate you saying you liked the post! Makes my opinion feel validated haha. And yeah, you're right. CD Projekt Red has an easier job with the focus group angle they went with to improve their game as they just had to appeal to gamers in general and not a huge fanbase they developed over time. But even so, in terms of Pokemon Unite, it just feels so... cynical. Even Joe Merrick, the serebii guy, thinks that Pokemon Unite is a way to add another pillar to their annual tournaments where they already have Pokemon RPG Battles, Pokemon TCG and Pokken. And then they have Pokemon Go for the casual players.

As far as the younger fans go... I don't know, my opinion changes on it depending on the day. Some days I believe what I said earlier about the changing gaming environment will lead them to prefer other franchises over Pokemon. But some days I agree with you where I think Pokemon's gotten too big to fail and will just always be around, but won't change anything because they make obscene amounts of money with it. I'm not 100% either way and we'll see as time goes on so it doesn't matter a ton. As far as my stance on Pokemon in general goes (not just Unite), I'm probably going to hold out hope for one more generation to actually try innovating before I end up moving on.

“Fans” of Pokemon.

Weren't they already upset before it was reuploaded?

If you have problems with Tencent but not Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple then you're genuinely a complete fool

Funny thing is they showed of the phone version and they never showed how the switch version looked like.with that being said the switch version could look like this lol

@TG16_IS_BAE alot of people do whin lol

People bashed sword and shield and how did those sales end up.lol as of may 2020 the 4th best selling core pokemon game lol

@Fido007 All I see is a waste of time before me. Go bother some pleb who will fall for your trolling. I’ve shut you down and moving on. I won’t reply to the post you make just to get the last word in. Carry on, sad little man.

I haven't even heard of Unite, but didn't they announce a new snap that brought nothing but praise? How can people be both super happy and super mad at same time?

@Darkyoshi98 The fact that sword and shield sold well is a testament to the fan base not caring about quality.

@Dracavius Man, when I read through your convo, Fido is trying to be patient with you while you are being pretty insulting. It’s totally fine to disagree, you both make great points, but no need to be so insulting towards his intelligence.

@Blatherbon Never heard of Alphabet. Microsoft isn’t so bad, but I’m not sure to what you are referring, same with Apple. You’ll have to fill me in on what you mean. Tencent I think is pretty unanimously considered bad, same as Facebook. I’m not trying to troll you, I legitimately want to know what you mean.

This was a long time coming, but after Pokemon Sword/Shield, I'm just done with Pokemon. After years of stagnation of a franchise as hugely successful as Pokemon, they make a mainline Pokemon game that leaves out hundreds of Pokemon, moves, and mega evolutions. And so many more problems that shouldn't exist in a entry in a franchise like Pokemon. Very depressing to me as I've spent more time playing Pokemon games than any other game franchise in my life, with Silver version being my favorite game of all time. (First Pokemon game I played was Red version when I was 6-7, still remember the first time I played the game in the back seat of my family's car on the way home from the store)

With moving to the Switch they could have made something that represented the accumulation of 20 years of the Pokemon franchise. But instead, we got Sword and Shield. And it sold so many copy's it became the 4th best selling mainline Pokemon game. That puts the final nail in the coffin of any hopes for the future of Pokemon being anything but bleak.

I'm moving on to Shin Megami Tensei and Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth and not looking back.

But yeah, at least we have a new Poke Snap game, Pokemon GO, and Pokemon Unite! YAY!!! (/s urgh)

@TG16_IS_BAE Alphabet is the parent company of Google. Microsoft is less overtly evil than they were before the antitrust case but they were also caught collaborating with US intelligence agencies to help them spy on people through PRISM. Apple is the least "evil" of the above but they still collect a ludicrous amount of personal data with or without your knowledge and consent.

oh, yes, again, excume and I am sorry for saying it, but many Crybaby in these topics..., people who do not understand certain things and criticize for criticizing and worse, annoying to many people who have no business with "the dilemmas", yes, the normal thing in a <sad> internet day.

I better keep playing with my games and call me when people are more responsible, sensitive and reasonable with their comments.

(... I think it will be a long wait ...)

Still going to give this a try. I think it looks good but am disappointed Tencent is involved.

@fafonio We live in a society Fafonio, especially China. Don't write off people's lives as expendable to feed your ego.

It kinda makes me mad to see people calling those who dislike the announcement/game "toxic" or "nonfans". Fans of a particular franchise don't have to like everything about a franchise to be fans. I'm a Sonic fan, so does that mean I like every Sonic game that's ever been made? No, absolutely not. Does that make me less of a Pokemon fan because I have a negative opinion about Unite? No. Being a fan doesn't mean that you have to suck up to a company and love everything they do. The only way companies will change and improve is if we, the consumers, tell them that we won't stand for what they've been doing. If we don't, TPC will continue to run Pokemon further into the ground because nothing is stopping them. Fans are more than dollar signs and yes men, they are people with thoughts and opinions, and we have the right to express them.

The Pokemon Company shills its new method of delivering loot box gambling to children and fans dogpile it because something something disrespecting fans something in the editing? I think the whole silly boiling lot of them can get in the sea.

@VanishStampede lol what the hell are you even talking about?

@Blatherbon I see. At this point, out information is collected. They can do what they want with it, but their “targeted” ads are never on point.

I struggle to understand this story. What were the dislikes for? Why are people angry now? It feels like people just want to be outraged, and will grab onto anything to delve into their own miserable anger. Please stop, not for my sake, but for your own.

I think people will waste a lot of money anyways

@RPGamer That's how all game companies see people all the time. Just some mask it better than others. Companies want your money, they don't care about your opinions.

Why people personify corporations I’ll never understand. Companies don’t have feelings that can be appealed to. No matter how much of your life you’ve given to a business they’ll lay you off as easily as anyone. Similarly, no matter how much fan-emotion you give to a brand they still won’t care!

@SakuraHaruka contridiction? Quite possibly, nobody here is crying, you seem to be amost in tears about criticism of something you have no business with yourself.

I think you should just go back to your games and stay there. I doubt anybody is gonna call you, other then me

@TG16_IS_BAE I understand that sarcasm is hard to perceive online. So I don’t blame you and the two that liked your comment for completely missing Fido’s sarcasm.

@fafonio Made an account just to share something with you. Saying that Tencent is the reason people are mad is ignoring a majority of the voices, and sounds quite like a projection. All over Reddit Pokemon were top posts saying how Pokemon Company is losing touch with its fanbase, nothing about Tencent. Even the only quoted complaint in this 6 sentence article was about losing touch... If anything, Tencent was a small fuel that made people feel more validated in their OPINION that was "What the heck are these games, focus on the cores of Pokemon!"...

Are you personally scared of losing data to China? I'm sure it already happens every day. I actually will guess that you claim "Tencent bad!!!" so strongly because of the lack of fault from Pokemon. They are branching out, trying things, and there is nothing wrong with that. Sure, you can hate them for the mainline game, but really, what can you do. Lots of speculated reasons for that game being the best, or the worst. Opinions everywhere... Tencent is the only true "bad" thing about this game, and while I won't defend Tencent, I will say that at least I can expect a real game from them (unlike cafe mix, which is like a quarter of a game).

And as for my opinion, I am really excited about the MOBA, it will be fun trying it with friends who don't play MOBAs but love Pokemon. Mainline games are my *****, and I know they will release a new one in time, so I wait and enjoy what I've got now.

Now to never log onto this website again, lol.

Gotta love the people here who're calling people toxic for not loving everything The Pokemon Company does. They held off this announcement, building up a week of hype, for another Pokemon free-to-start game, made by Tencent on top of it. Obviously a good number of people set themselves up for disappointment, expecting Diamond-Pearl remakes for some reason despite the fact they're still pushing the DLC for Sword & Shield. But no, instead of revealing a new spin-off game or big updates for any of the existing Pokemon Switch games, we get yet another mobile game that only exists for microtransactions.

For some reason I strong hunch that people here wouldn't be calling others toxic if Konami built up a week of hype and then proceeded to spend 11 minutes talking about their new Metal Gear Solid pachinko machines.

@shoeses They did announce a spin off game tho they announced new pokemon snap

@Doktor-Mandrake Yes but I meant one that will be coming by the end of 2020. Considering the new Pokemon Snap didn't say 2020 or even 2021, it'd be a safe bet to assume it's still very early in production... seems to be the second Pokemon game like that at the moment, including the Detective Pikachu game that we don't even know if it's an enhanced remake of the original 3DS one or an actual sequel.

@Alpha-2002 if you think that's actually true then you must be the incompetent one.

Good to see we have another article to give the moaners another opportunity to say the same things again.

If they keep saying the same thing it might be the truth one day....

@Ajent I don't think you have a clue what I'm talking about.

But go ahead and tell yourself you've 'won' something. Sounds like you need it, living such a difficult life.

Every day we stray further from Pokemon and go back to Digimon.

@dew12333 I think 'moaning' is a bit disingenuous. More like expressing opinions. If those opinions don't align with your own then...sorry, I guess?

I don't know what you're expecting or looking for here.

@HappyMaskedGuy haha... I mean, I didn’t win anything?

I was just pointing out that this isn’t worth getting upset about. It’s a minor error made by a person who probably has a passing interest in Pokemon. You then compared the impact of such upset as being paramount to being a slave trapped in a volcano. I was simply stating that you seem to be agreeing with me whilst you’re insisting that you’re not.

As for me having a difficult life? Where on earth did you get that from? My life’s pretty awesome.

@westman98 If you think about it, Gen 4 was when the series was starting to push the boundaries in terms of presentation and graphics. Take the cutscenes and over world building sprites for example. It was a sign that the series was ever so slowly shifting to three dimensions.

@mr-duster
I totally agree with that, but fancy 2D sprite-work is still not the same as 3D models, which is what the Diamond/Pearl remakes will use.

Thanks for the heads up. I need to dislike those again.

@HappyMaskedGuy
Not at all, I don't agree with all the complaints but can see where they are coming from, but I heard all the same since before sw/sh came out and they are still going on. If things upset them this much maybe they should move on so that people who still do enjoy don't have to put up with it.

@westman98 If they come to frution, then yes.
Not only that, but it was also when the themes in the franchise turned to a more extreme or religious aspect, such as the powers of time, space, the Distortion World, the "original one" and so forth. I'm not sure how remakes could add on to themes as big as these. It's likely they could surprise us, but I myself am not sure how/if it can be done.

@mr-duster
It's not exactly impossible to recreate all of Diamond/Pearl's story scenarios using 3D models.

@westman98 That's true. I'm just saying that I don't know how Game Freak would be able to add on to what is arguably one of its biggest stories. They could give Dialga and Palkia super-enhanced forms, but that would sort of defeat the purpose of them being the deities of time and space. They could also pull a Delta Episode scenario with Girantina, but again, I'm not entirely sure how they'd add on to it to make it stand out from the originals.

@Wilforce i literally do not understand how you could be underleveled in that game unless you skipped most of the battles. I felt overleveled in my nuzlocke

@Bret Swapping out my party to be more competitive as I continue on through the story. I have two core Pokemon that have been with me since the start, and four that were added between the third and fifth gym to be able to counter future gyms. My core two are level 35 while the moved-in Pokemon are level 28-30. I'd stick with those 4, but they're so under leveled. Currently trainers in the wild have Pokemon levels 32-35 and if my top two are weak against them they drop like rocks.

@Wilforce Ahhhh that makes sense. I wish you could re-battle trainers.

@RPGamer You didn't name one. And even if you do, it's just those companies hide their main goal - profit - better than others.

Now don't get me wrong, the best way to make profit is to make fun games, but many companies are realizing gambling mechanics make even more money than fun ones do sadly.

I don't agree with how the companies think, I am just telling you, that is how they operate.

@RPGamer I love Nintendo, but their DLC explosion and money driven fee to pay mobile games let you know they want the $. Heck it took how many lawsuits to acknowledge the joy con drift problem?

Of course Indy devs are in it for the fans, that's why their games mostly don't sell well. And I own tons of them!

Go ask Sega why they haven't made a sequel to Crazy Taxi, Vectorman, Jet set Radio, Panzer Dragon (new, not remake), Golden Axe, Shinobi.... it's cause they want to stay open and can't listen to fans even if they ask for this.

Wayforward is cool, another Indy dev, but again Indy devs are awesome... they also struggle to put food on the table (with some exceptions, but there are thousands of them and we only know of the 20-25 success stories).

@fafonio Oh my bad, were you still arguing?

@RPGamer Agreed, I'm not mad. I am on your side in the sense I just want companies to listen to us (sometimes) and provide fun games. But unfortunately, if they can ignore the requests of the un-silent minority and make tons of $ from the masses who aren't picky... they will do it.