The Future of Pokemon? Looking ahead to Generation VI

[Lesser Smaug]

If Pokemon Gray is going to be released, it should be more than just a mingling of Black and White. When I tried out Pokemon Platinum, it was pretty awesome, but apart from the rematches, Pokemon, and the battle facilities, it was pretty similar to Pokemon Diamond. Pokemon Gray should be "hey, we forgot Pokemon A in BW, so let's ditch Pokemon B for A in Gray" and "let's bring back something from previous Pokemon games that we ditched", not "modify the maps, change the trainers, and add new competitive places".

My thought of the third version of the fifth generation is that it should not be too similar to the original pair.

 

[Ace Emerald]

"This brings up another fact: if the series is indeed rebooted, future generations will span longer than previous generations. Generation IV lasted about four years; if Generation VI is a reboot of the series, it will include a new region debuting in a paired version release, and later, the RSE remakes, and even later, FRLG remakes (RSE and FRLG are contemporaneous, so it only makes sense if they're both remade in the same generation). Oh, and don't forget the 3rd version of the debuting paired version. So that's at least seven games in one generation! Having so many games in one generation would mean that generation could easily last about 6 years!"

Haha whoops. What can I say, it was a big op and Im only human. In general, I think (like half the thread) a reboot is kinda sketchy considering how many people it turned off. I know several people, like Fishy just stated, detest RSE, and its break from the old probably had something to do with it.

 

[honchkro13]

Haha whoops. What can I say, it was a big op and Im only human. In general, I think (like half the thread) a reboot is kinda sketchy considering how many people it turned off. I know several people, like Fishy just stated, detest RSE, and its break from the old probably had something to do with it.

haha I understand. A second reboot is controversial, but still a possibility, however remote. I'm honestly hoping for a "chronological reboot", meaning that we'll still be able to transfer Pokemon to generation VI, but the new generation would go back in time and start all over again with RSE remakes, FRLG remakes and a new region filled with new Pokemon to boot.

 

[Temperantia]

The next gen will be backwards-compatible; I guarantee it.

One thing that I'm really surprised that GF has not done yet is make EV training more obvious or (at least) less painful. The power items were a step in the right direction, but certain stats remain to be extremely awful to EV train to this day. anybody who has trained anything for max Def in BW knows what I mean. IV breeding is a stupid process and RNG is not something players should have to require in order to do well. Both really need to be modernized, or at least revealed to the average player.

Be happy that GF added an indicator of what stats your nature affects in B/W.

 

[breh]

okay a present-standing EV checker thing would be the shit, they should also bring back the poketech for the love checker and step counter… it's like gamefreak would rather nix previous in game installments for what they feel are more useful ones, but totally disregard the intense appreciation of the earlier perks.

On this note, I did feel like GF took a bit of a step back with BW. HGSS had a bunch of nice stuff, especially the auto-run button.

On the topic of EVs: I'm not against EV training stats where all you have to do is kill 25 pokes and then another for that last one, which is annoying but not awful, but those stats where there is no option but to actually pay attention to what you are killing - in other words, those in which there are no areas that give that stat exclusively. I was talking about BW Defense - all other stats are easy enough to train (attack is route 1, SpD is frillish everywhere, Speed is Basculin, SpA is Litwick, and HP is something I can't recall), but Defense has no good training spot. What is normally something like a 20 minute endeavor rises in time simply because GF is too unwilling to add in a spot with only defense EV pokemon. In general, they seem to have an aversion to EV training in general, as noted by the removal of Cowgirl Shelley from DP.

@above: nature boosts being obvious is indeed a step in the right direction, but a minimal one at best.

am I the only one hoping for a game in the same vein as XD? Would work perfectly with the "black and white" and "good and evil" sense of the recent games.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

All I'm going to say is number 666 better be a dark-type.

 

[Arcticblast]

Why are we even discussing Generation Six? Black and White are barely a year old.

 

[honchkro13]

Why are we even discussing Generation Six? Black and White are barely a year old.

aren't you the least bit curious of what'll come after Black and White (aside from their 3rd version)?

 

[Arcticblast]

I really don't care what happens after Gray and the RSE remakes. Sure, I have college and shit to worry about (I'm a junior in HS now) but still. It'll probably be another three years before GenVI. Let's enjoy GenV - botched sleep mechanics, nixed Explosion, and weird seasons while we can.

 

[ungulateman]

I generally consider B/W to be a mirror of R/B/Y.

I would not be surprised to see Game Freak make generations 6-8 like generations 2-4, just to preserve a 'cycle' of sorts.

They'll probably retain complete backwards compatibility as much as possible to avoid causing more frustration, though. The Gen 2/3 split made a lot of players angry.

I really don't care what happens after Gray and the RSE remakes. Sure, I have college and shit to worry about (I'm a junior in HS now) but still. It'll probably be another three years before GenVI. Let's enjoy GenV - botched sleep mechanics, nixed Explosion, and weird seasons while we can.

Also this

 

[NidokingKing]

Be happy that GF added an indicator of what stats your nature affects in B/W.

That was actually in HGSS. Kinda funny how apparently nobody seemed to make the connection. Seriously, if you wanna prove me wrong, go check it yourself.

 

[Glen]

people have so much invested in the games at this point they would simply not buy a new one if it was not backwards compatible.

this is an oft-promulgated fallacy when it comes to like, every game that has a considerable fanbase

we here on smogon are not the target demographic of pokemon games. if diehard vgcers like mattj were really so incensed by a sixth gen that wasn't backwards compatible that they would not purchase it (which i don't believe for a second anyway lol), it wouldn't matter at all. there's no way gamefreak would factor it into their decision-making process if they were weighing the pros and cons of backwards compatibility.

look at smogon: we have 100 000 members. how many of those are interested in vgc? like a few hundred (sorry if that number is low, i dont mean to offend you guys, im just guessing)? from that group, how many are so invested in their current mons that they would not buy a sixth gen game that didn't allow them to use said mons? consider then that as of 8 months ago, black and white sold 11 million copies worldwide, meaning smogon represents at most 1% of the pokemon-buying population. when gen 6 comes out, most of its playerbase will be too young to have played prior games competitively anyway.

nintendo would not alienate their fans by rebooting the series again. stop kidding yourselves. there is a weird level of solipsism in gamers that i don't think exists elsewhere.

 

[az]

what about here

 

[Glen]

there are at least 4 people at that location sooo

 

[dloosh13]

Anyone else hoping for a Wii game similar to XD or Colosseum (better than Battle Revolution)? I think that would be a logical step for GF to make in the next couple of years

 

[Gabe]

They're just going to make 3D versions of previous versions after the Hoenn remakes. Easy money, they don't have to do all too much, and it will save them the pain of making new pokemon.

 

[az]

glem it is the fortress of SOLITUDE ok maybe the people there are apparitions of kal-els genocidified race

 

[Glen]

spoiler tags or risk being banned

 

[v]

 

[az]

ok i know when im got

 

[ungulateman]

Why is it that all the good threads get hijacked by mods

 

[Firestorm]

Anyone else hoping for a Wii game similar to XD or Colosseum (better than Battle Revolution)? I think that would be a logical step for GF to make in the next couple of years

Game Freak doesn't make the console games. Just the mainline handheld ones.

And glen, I feel like not being able to catch all the Pokemon did significantly contribute to my not purchasing Ruby / Sapphire. I had an attachment to the older Pokemon and did want to carry them over. Nothing like mattj's "I have invested so much time into my Pokemon!" thing though.

 

[Glen]

Game Freak doesn't make the console games. Just the mainline handheld ones.

And glen, I feel like not being able to catch all the Pokemon did significantly contribute to my not purchasing Ruby / Sapphire. I had an attachment to the older Pokemon and did want to carry them over. Nothing like mattj's "I have invested so much time into my Pokemon!" thing though.

totally fair. i think mattj's complaint is legitimate too (though i dont believe his threat about not buying it, come on mattj, you're a lifer)! i'm not saying backwards compatibility or lack thereof is a stupid thing to care about, only that it will not make or break a purchase for the vast majority of pokemon players.

 

[VKCA]

anybody who says that they're not going to buy the new game because of lack of bw compatibility or something similar is a lion.

 

[kiryu3000]

On the topic of EVs: I'm not against EV training stats where all you have to do is kill 25 pokes and then another for that last one, which is annoying but not awful, but those stats where there is no option but to actually pay attention to what you are killing - in other words, those in which there are no areas that give that stat exclusively. I was talking about BW Defense - all other stats are easy enough to train (attack is route 1, SpD is frillish everywhere, Speed is Basculin, SpA is Litwick, and HP is something I can't recall), but Defense has no good training spot. What is normally something like a 20 minute endeavor rises in time simply because GF is too unwilling to add in a spot with only defense EV pokemon. In general, they seem to have an aversion to EV training in general, as noted by the removal of Cowgirl Shelley from DP.

I don't see what the problem with Defense is. Just get the Pokemon Pokerus + Power Belt and fight Stunfisks (assuming you also want HP EV's). Repeat until you get all the DEF EV's you need; each kill should net you 8 DEF EV's and 4 HP EV's.

As for Gen VI, I'm more concerned about what it will bring in terms of battle mechanics. Gen V did not introduce anything groundbreaking; Gen II brought the Steel/Dark types, Gen III revamped the Pokemon data structure and introduced abilities and natures, and Gen IV brought forth the physical/special split for moves. If Gen V did not introduce anything significant, then I don't know what Gen VI will bring to the table.