Can Someone Explain Pokémon Games to Me?

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Pokémon first burst on to the scene in I think the late 1990s, I think I first remember hearing about it when I was in junior high school, but I have never played it. At no point in my life have I ever owned any iteration of a Game Boy, and until I picked up a Switch last year I hadn’t had a Nintendo console since my NES that I had from 1990-1994.

Anyway, I don’t play my Switch that often, and I kind of bought it for my kids but they don’t really play either, they’d rather watch me play so recently I picked up Pikmin 3 which my kids enjoy watching me play (my son just turned 7 last week and os finishing up first grade, while my daughter is 4 and will start kindergarten in the fall).

Anyway, my son knows about Pokémon and he’s got a few of the cards, as well as some “knockoff Lego” of a few of the creatures, so I thought maybe I’d pick up a Pokémon game for the Switch.

Anyway, the thing confusing me, and the reason I made this thread, is why do they release two separate games at the same time? I was reading on Wikipedia that when the game first came out in the 90s there was “Pokémon Red” and “Pokémon Blue” and that in Japan they even had a third iteration, Green.

I was at Walmart looking at their Switch games the other day and saw “Pokémon Sword” and “Pokémon Shield”. So what the hell is the difference? If I wanted to pick one up to play with my kids how do I pick? Are they actually different or is it just some kind of marketing gimmick (like back in the day when Warcraft III first came out you pick four different variations for the box art). If they are different is it substantial or nominal?

I’d say “help this clueless dad!” except I feel like I should know this seeing as how Pokémon’s been around since I was a teenager.

 

[hohner]

Pretty sure they are essentially the same exact game, except some of the Pokémon are different so they can make you buy two games if you want to "catch them all."

 

[HereticBD]

I believe it's a gimmick of sorts to get you to buy two games, instead of one. I think there's some gameplay related stuff, like carrying over saves and needing a certain character from one game, to play against certain characters from the other...I don't know.

All I really know is that kids(and some adults) go fucking crazy for it, and they must indeed "catch them all". So if you got a kid that's into it, have fun navigating it all.

 

[Jose Beehive]

You can get all the exclusives via trading I think so the choice is not super necessary. It it was me I’d just take a look at the different Pokémon exclusives, normally a handful or so, and go off which ones look better

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

So other than a few exclusive Pokémon are the majority of the “regular” Pokémon to be found in either game? My son’s not a hardcore, I could see him just wanting me to play as one of the “main” four (Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur or Charmander) and not getting too hung up on the rest.

 

[My Spot]

I only played Red/Blue/Yellow in the 90s but they were addicting as shit. Like yeah they're obviously marketed for kids but the gameplay was like crack.

 

[My Spot]

So other than a few exclusive Pokémon are the majority of the “regular” Pokémon to be found in either game? My son’s not a hardcore, I could see him just wanting me to play as one of the “main” four (Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur or Charmander) and not getting too hung up on the rest.

Well there used to be 150 (technically 151) of them but now there's like 800 or 900. A lot of the designs look stupid now.
And shame on you for leaving out Psyduck.

 

[Dizzy]

The idea was to encourage swapping Pokémon with your friends. It added another level of interactivity. Very few people were buying two Game Boys, a link cable, and a copy of each edition.

Now it’s just an option people have but they’ve included the ability to buy both bundled or separate. I thought that there was essentially an online marketplace where you could trade with other players, thus eliminating the need to buy both. I’m not sure though.

Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee is a remake of the original games and I’m pretty sure has all 151 original Pokémon in it without the need for another version. Might look into that and see if he enjoys it enough to want to progress to the newer titles.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Well there used to be 150 (technically 151) of them but now there's like 800 or 900.

And shame on you for leaving out Psyduck.

 

[My Spot]

Gengar and Pidgey too.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Gengar and Pidgey too.

Ok, now you’re listing Pokémon I’ve never even heard (as I said, never played the games, never seen the shows beyond them being on in the background while my kids watch) so I’m not going to apologize for overlooking them.

 

[My Spot]

Ok, now you’re listing Pokémon I’ve never even heard (as I said, never played the games, never seen the shows beyond them being on in the background while my kids watch) so I’m not going to apologize for overlooking them.

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

It’s a fun RPG with some sexy little animals you can catch/fight with…

 

[Kaybee]

Yeah, typically the only difference between the paired versions is the pokemon available in each game which you can look up online to see which ones you'd prefer. In some cases like with Black/White and Black2/White2 there are actually areas that you can visit that are version exclusive like Black City and White Forest, and sometimes there is a different gym leader but overall nothing major.

The games can be rather grindy though but I find them pretty charming.

some sexy little animals

Found the furry

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

The idea was to encourage swapping Pokémon with your friends. It added another level of interactivity. Very few people were buying two Game Boys, a link cable, and a copy of each edition.

Now it’s just an option people have but they’ve included the ability to buy both bundled or separate. I thought that there was essentially an online marketplace where you could trade with other players, thus eliminating the need to buy both. I’m not sure though.

Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee is a remake of the original games and I’m pretty sure has all 151 original Pokémon in it without the need for another version. Might look into that and see if he enjoys it enough to want to progress to the newer titles.

I think this Let’s Go Pikachu game might be the way to go for us if we decide to delve into the series. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[BJ@LW&WW]

if youre asking why a company does something, the answer is to make more money.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

if youre asking why a company does something, the answer is to make more money.

Duly noted, but this was more of a “what” than a “why” question for the thread.

 

[BJ@LW&WW]

Duly noted, but this was more of a “what” than a “why” question for the thread.

"the reason I made this thread, is why do they release two separate games at the same time?"

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

"the reason I made this thread, is why do they release two separate games at the same time?"

Touché.

I guess I need to be more careful with my words as I was more interested in this part:

So what the hell is the difference? If I wanted to pick one up to play with my kids how do I pick? Are they actually different or is it just some kind of marketing gimmick (like back in the day when Warcraft III first came out you pick four different variations for the box art). If they are different is it substantial or nominal?.

 

[Hyperglide]

Gengar and Pidgey too.

My younger brothers used to watch the animated show all the time and I watched it with them for a bit one day to see what the rage was all about and of course I didn't get it but I always liked Primeape cause of the way he said his name..