By CVXFREAK
Posted 07-27-2004

There's no denying that Pokemon is, and still is, a commercial success as I've noted in a previous (and now outdated) rant on Dogasu's Backpack. Despite being over a year old, Ruby and Sapphire still sell an average of 50,000 copies each in the U.S., or 100,000 combined, and as of June 2004 sold . In Japan in the first half of 2004, Ruby and Sapphire managed to sell approximately 200,000 in the first six months alone, despite the releases of Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green in January 2004. Oh, did I mention that those remakes of the Kanto generation are the best selling Japanese games on any format for 2004? Using Famitsu sales data, they've sold 2,136,737 as of June. That's "only" about 30% penetration from the original versions, but still, those are fabulous numbers considering that the popularity in Japan has technically died down but the Japanese market as a whole has been on the slumps lately. And we haven't considered Europe yet, where Ruby and Sapphire sold at least 500,000 as of one year ago. Overall, Ruby and Sapphire have sold over 12 Million copies combined!!! 

On those notes, this isn't a rant about Pokemon's popularity. Those who aren't ignorant KNOW its a resounding success on several shores. But now Nintendo recently announced "Pokemon Emerald" for the GBA. Theorized by fans for quite awhile, this version is the Yellow/Crystal equivalent of the Hoenn generation. Hey, Creatures/Game Freak/Nintendo, take existing coding, change stuff around, tack on a new color and a new main Pokemon, a wireless adapter, and call it a day. 

There's no denying that I will buy this game twice, from the US and Japan. I will love it (I personally loved Sapphire the best of all Pokemon games and Emerald can turn out better). I don't agree with certain direction on the title (the starters should have been Chikorita/Cyndaquil/Totodile) but it should sell at least a two million copies between the US and Japan alone. Perhaps as much as 4 Million when its all said and done. 

But was Pokemon Emerald necessary? No, it wasn't. The touted showdown between Kyogre and Groudon would have been better off as dealt in the anime in my opinion. And Gonbe won't be in Emerald either despite how its been shown before the release of the game in AG Movie 2. But that's besides the point. 

Nintendo has another handheld coming up, the Nintendo DS. Nintendo could have gotten more done on the 4th generation Pokemon games on DS than simply rehash the Hoenn generation. And let's not forget the presence of Fire Red/Leaf Green, which were ultimately much better decisions than Emerald itself. My guess is that Emerald will help promote the DS in some sort of fashion (DS plays GBA games), but I doubt it will do much. If Emerald were a DS game with functionality of the second screen with touchscreen compatibility, then I can understand their approach. But... 

No new Pokemon. Some new features (based mostly on battling). New character outfits that seem too mismatched for my tastes (red and green? bleh). And a new, admittedly cool Deoxys form. It sounds alright, but c'mon Nintendo, we just don't need Emerald. Can we count on you to make Pokemon Lighting Pikachu Yellow next? Or how about Rain Blue? Oh, I suppose before its over, I can get my GS starters (excluding the mediocre Colosseum alternative) in Pokemon Sun Gold and Moon Silver, and heck, throw in Pokemon Star Crystal while you're at it. And perhaps 5 more Deoxys forms to brighten up our day. I can just see it now, Liquid Deoxys, Lighting Deoxys, Deoxys of the Sun, Deoxys of the Moon and Deoxys of the stars. Hee! Emerald, in my view, can only be saved if we can capture Mew. And Celebi since I'm not big on Colosseum. 

Now, I wouldn't technically mind those titles at all, and I'd buy them, but many others will begin to see and draw the line if Nintendo keeps taking this approach (especially when they're the company trying to promote originality with DS). Don't see me as anti-Nintendo for a second. I love the company, I love Pokemon, but I'm not a blind fanboy. 

Let's move on Nintendo. The Hoenn generation was good, but Ruby and Sapphire were enough. Fire Red and Leaf Green were great as alternative experiences and while I personally didn't like Colosseum much, it too was a good alternative (and let's not take into account that the new Deoxys form probably isn't programmed into Colosseum). But not Pokemon Emerald. Please don't update Fire Red and Leaf Green, and if you remake Gold/Silver, please do everything you want to do the first time around. 

But let's get going on generation 4 shall we?