Why We Will Never See A True Pokemon MMORPG On The Wii U

It’s the dream of millions, the gold prize at the end of the rainbow, a truly 3D Pokemon MMORPG. As with most dreams the potential for it to become true is unlikely but that doesn’t stop the heavy debates on forum boards across the internet. So today I thought I’d give you my opinion on the matter, as you obviously care what my
thoughts are right?

Usually I’d go into depth on what aspects I feel would be most appealing and successful but my efforts would be wasted as I could not dream of competing with our very
own Michael Flusk. He’s gone into massive depth on every aspect of a potential Pokemon MMORPG so go ahead and take a look through a few of his articles.

Now that you’re fully versed in the potential of a decent Pokemon MMORPG and probably ridiculously excited, I’ll trash your dreams with my skeptical approach. ‘Cause you
know, that’s how I roll.

Pokemon is currently one of the biggest selling franchises in the gaming universe and one of the most successful IP’s outside of gaming itself. The games have sold well over 50 million copies worldwide and that’s not including fan favorites such as Pokemon Snap and Pokemon XD. We could sit here and debate the reasons for that success until we’re blue in the face but that doesn’t change the fact the game is a massive force in the industry.

We’ve seen Nintendo attempt to break into the console market with titles I mentioned previously and although each was met with a positive response, they never really competed in terms of sales when compared with the handheld versions. It is for this reason that I feel Nintendo will avoid launching any large-scale Pokemon products on the Wii U, and what can be bigger than a Pokemon MMORPG?

Pokemon dominates the handheld market, outselling anything released on competitors consoles and it’s widely considered to be one of the biggest selling points behind
each Nintendo handheld. We’ve seen huge success on the original Game Boy, further success on the Game Boy Advance and a surefire success story is waiting in the wings with the upcoming release of Pokemon X and Pokemon Y for the Nintendo 3DS.

It all boils down to the logical saying. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”. Nintendo sell millions of handheld devices and millions of games purely down to the success and popularity Pokemon, so why risk damaging the reputation of the franchise with another questionable console release?

Don’t get me wrong. There’s very little I’d rather see than a true Pokemon MMORPG but I think Nintendo would have to be in an extremely dire situation before they’re willing to take Pokemon to the next level.

What do you think? Am I merely following my typical skeptical approach to everything that’s good in gaming or do you think there’s credit in my opinion? Leave a comment below and let me know.

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