Someone light the Joe signal!
Haha, we discussed doing this earlier. He had access to some materials I lack so more logical for him to go forward while I was sleeping
Here's a thought. Ever notice how spin-offs have become so minor these days? Remember when they were more common and bigger?
I kind of wonder especially with GF's insistence that Pokemon should remain handheld only, is that they're possibly afraid of being overshadowed/beaten at their own game. Because to me the Stadium games were such outstanding experiences and the Orre games, while not in the same league, were also vastly underrated.
The fact that said spin-offs, especially on consoles, being virtually absent, maybe there is some fear of a big blockbuster console RPG being considered way better and fresher. It REALLY should NOT be Game Freak's place to say where the series should go or not, that should be Nintendo's call. If Nintendo want Monolith Soft for instance to make a AAA Pokemon RPG on Wii U, then damn it they should do so.
It's just spin-offs just seem to be limited to puzzle games and what not, rather than any sort of RPG, Game Freak wants to be the only game in town as it were. Only really noticed it now.
True, but also they never did anything of the sort on Wii when it sold gangbusters where a big game could've been a ginormous seller. Instead after Battle Revolution's rush for launch and showing it, all we had after at retail were the two PokePark games. Not exactly a showing of ambition.
And technically, do half of the games Nintendo put on Wii U look like big hits? I don't think so.
But Nintendo does it anyway because they try new things and have real ambition. Bayo 2 wasn't picked up for its sales potential, same goes for greenlighting the port of the original.
And it got critical acclaim on virtually every site.
Also Bayo 2 has 21 scores of 100, Pokemon X only has 2 100 scores. Juuuuuuust saying. They saw a winner of a game.
POINT BEING. If Nintendo sees huge potential in a game, they will fund it. So I don't see why a Pokemon Wii U RPG by Monolith would be a bad choice at least since Pokemon is a huge IP and does have huge selling potential, even on Wii U.
Oh and I always see people begging for a Pokemon MMO (not that I want that, I actually really don't). I think Game Freak vastly underestimate the desires of their fanbase.
Not to mention that since Wi-Fi, the series has become less reliant on portability, at the very least exclusively. I'm not saying we can't have portable games, obviously that's the franchise's bread and butter, but big steps should be taken. And quite frankly I'm tired of Game Freak's mainline games. Yeah I said it.
I still get uber excited when a new gen is announced, so there's that. XD
I believe this year is to be the year of spin-offs since we're not getting a main series title this year.
We actually have a 3DS one due out in the next few months (unless it got canned/delayed) which isn't a puzzle title, and certainly isn't small.
Spin-off titles haven't diminished lately. In fact, they have increased.
It's time for a "Joe lists things" list
For the purposes of sanity, I'm not including the Battle Sim series or utilities like Box and including developer just for curiosity sake.
Gen 1 Spin-offs (1996 - 1999)
Pokémon Snap (Developer: HAL Laboratory & Softnica)
Pokémon Pinball (Developer: Jupiter)
Pokémon TCG GB (Developer: Hudson Soft)
Hey You! Pikachu (Developer: Ambrella)
Total: 4
Gen 2 Spin-offs (1999-2002)
Pokémon Puzzle League (Developer: Nintendo Software Technology /Intelligent Systems)
Pokémon Puzzle Challenge (Developer: Nintendo Software Technology /Intelligent Systems)
Pokémon Card Game GB 2: Here Comes Team Great Rocket (Developer: Hudson Soft) -
Note: This game came out at the time of the WotC and PUSA split which is almost certainly why it never came here
Total: 3
Gen 3 Spin-offs (2002-2006)
Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire (Developer: Jupiter)
Pokémon Channel (Developer: Ambrella)
Pokémon Dash (Developer: Ambrella)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red & Blue Rescue Team (Developer: Chunsoft)
Pokémon Ranger (Developer: HAL Laboratory)
Pokémon Trozei (Developer: Genius Sonority)
Total: 7
Gen 4 Spin-offs (2006-2010)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon - Explorers of Time & Darkness (Developer: Chunsoft)
Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (Developer: Creatures Inc.)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky (Developer: Chunsoft)
Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs (Developer: Creatures Inc.)
PokéPark Wii - Pikachu's Adventure (Developer: Creatures Inc.)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blazing, Stormy & Light Adventure Squad (Developer: Chunsoft)
Pokémon Rumble (Developer: Ambrella)
Total: 10
Gen 5 Spin-offs (2010-2013)
Pokémon Dream Radar (Yeah I'm counting it) (Developer: Game Freak & Creatures Inc.)
Pokémon Rumble Blast (Developer: Ambrella)
Learn with Pokémon: Typing Adventure (Developer: Genius Sonority)
PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond (Developer: Creatures Inc.)
Pokémon Conquest (Developer: Koei Tecmo)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity (Developer: Spike Chunsoft)
Pokémon Rumble U (Developer: Ambrella)
Total: 7
Gen 6 Spin-offs (2013-Present)
Pokémon Battle Trozei (Developer: Genius Sonority)
Pokémon Art Academy (Developer: Headstrong Games) -
Note: This is the first Pokémon game developed outside of Japan
The Band of Thieves & 1000 Pokémon (Developer: Marvelous AQL)
Pokémon Shuffle (Developer: Genius Sonority)
Pokkén Tournament (Developer: Bandai Namco)
The Great Detective Pikachu (Developer: ???)
Total: 6
So yeah, not exactly diminished, in fact it's up on the years when Pokémon was at its "prime". Home console titles are also equally scarce.
Also, a Wii U Pokémon RPG doesn't have potential in GF/Nintendo's eyes because it's not portable, and portability is key for Pokémon.