But they were both deceived, for there was a third choice.
this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2026
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Not at launch. Our only choices were red and blue.
I don't understand how Pokemon got away with it and keeps getting away with it; they release two "versions" of a game and they're literally the same game.
So for the original games it was a new idea and a new concept. You wouldn't complain about an MMO requiring an internet connection, because the entire point is playing with and connecting with others players. For Pokemon a key part of the gameplay was trading and battling with other players.
So, to further encourage trading you create two different versions with version exclusives.
Every version split beyond the first is just legacy. That's just what Pokemon games are.
Now, I completely agree that it can viewed a "evil" or done only for money, etc. I don't think that was the original intention, but I'm sure the idea crossed some minds when it was first being developed.
You also have to remember that Nintendo has pioneered, or at least popularized, a lot of video game "gimmicks" that have resulted in interesting new mechanics. In this case the trading cable. But you have the Rumble Pack for the N64, or motion controls with the Wii. Video games couldn't talk to one another before the trading cable, once it's added you get new ideas. Some bad, some good, some meh.
I don't think that was the original intention, but I'm sure the idea crossed some minds when it was first being developed.
They are a trading card company. Before videogames trading cards had all the scummiest techniques to get people to buy more.
One of Pokemon's main catchphrases is "Gotta catch 'em all!"
And it was impossible to catch mew.
I’ve always had a little hatred for Game Freak because of that.
Actually there's a way to get mew in the original game without attending one of the events, although it relied on the missingno bug. Also you had to be aware of it very early in the game, and skip facing a particular trainer until much later. But yeah you should totally have just got it when you got all 150.
I’m aware of the bug and have confirmed it works on original hardware but it wasn’t intended by Gamefreak so they’re still pricks.
Completely reasonable position to hold, have a great day
If you are referring to Nintendo as a trading card company I don't think Hanafuda cards are meant to be collected and traded like say, Magic the Gathering. If you are referring to GameFreak/The Pokémon Company as a trading card company, well, that actually came later on. Also, the "gotta catch 'em all" slogan was not part of the original vision, and I think they made it up for the international release of the anime and/or game; thus, it was most likely an American invention to — indeed — sell more crap.
Yeah, that tagline was an American addition. The character Ash Ketchum was named Satosi in Japan, being named after the creator of Pokemon.
You don't become the most profitable IP of all time without a few tricks, lol
Tbf, that's not driven solely by their game sales. Both my kids literally wearing Pokemon clothes right now, lol
The (recent) games are just ads for the mech. It's why they're so cheap-looking and buggy.
Agreed. I'm glad I'm at least playing the older games in front of my kids. My 4yo loves Swanna, Haxorus and Volcarona from recently playing White and nobody has any idea what she's talking about except me. Lol
Genuinely surprised by fist of the north star, like it's totally badass, so deserved. But it's not really kid friendly.
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The real choice was Yellow.
That came out over a year later.
Yeah, it wasn't even an option then and people who got yellow later were not immediately welcome.
Intro music wasn't nearly as awesome and getting all the starters was kinda cheap.
POV you're looking at Mr. Burns buying ketchup
Catsup
Blue had better Pokemon sprites (graphics).
So in Japan, it was originally Pokemon Red and Green. The original third version was Blue, with bug fixes and some updated Pokemon sprites.
Japanese Blue was used as the base of the international Red and Blue versions, but for some reason they included the original sprites in international Red version. Maybe to make more differences between international Red and Blue?
Yellow was actually a fourth version, lol.
This is also why the GBA remakes were Fire Red and Leaf Green.
Red and Blue had the same graphics outside of Japan. People seeing these boxes weren't choosing between sprite work.
In fact, going by the Japanese versions, it was Blue that we never got. Red and Blue outside of Japan were just reskinned Red and Green.
Hence why one of the trainers being able to talk about the Raichu that you traded him evolving -- it came from the script of the wrong version of the game (I'm guessing Blue) even though the games have the Red/Green trades (I think).
You might have known this, but adding for clarity that the west still got Red/Green under the hood but with Blue's sprites shared between both games.
I got blue and my brother got red. To this day he's still a little bitch.
As the sibling who got red, fuck you too.
Red then, red now.
I still remember when a kid told me he figured out how to copy pokemon. You would trade using the link cable and pull the cable out in the middle of the transfer. But the crappy Ratata was the first to be sent over and then he pulled the cable and I lost my Hitmonlee.
It's amazing how these tricks circulated pre-internet.
Defeat the Elite Four 100 times with a team of only Mewtwo and Magikarps, no visiting the Pokemon Center between runs. Then fly to Cinnabar Island and walk around the island 51 times, COUNTERCLOCKWISE, then fly to Pallet Town and talk to Professor Oak who will battle you. Win the batt and he'll give you Mew.
It's funny a few months back when Pokopia was first released I was trying to lookup some information about how to find a certain Pokemon. I stumbled onto some terrible LLM generated page that started off "ok", but quickly went into full hallucination mode. It felt like the good ole days of Pokemon lies on the Internet. I just wish it has been a person lying.
Na, man, Mew is hiding under a truck.
Lol. That's great. I hope we can teach AI to claim it's uncle works for Nintendo.
In 1998 we very much had newsgroups communities and local/regional BBS that had gaming discussions, hints, maps, puzzle solutions, etc. NNTP in particular could allow the quick regional and global spread (connecting to other BBS was long distance phone charges, but still possible if you knew about them).
In 1998 I knew exactly one other middle schooler nerdy enough to even know what a forum was
I remember it being the person with the good pokemon switching off the console at the right time.
Back in primary school I sacrificed my save file, pick a starter, clone it over and over again, repeat with the other starters till we had about 2 of each. Then cloned back the others to me.
From then on we could evolve one of each and keep another spare for cloning to others.
Someone somehow got a mew. So we cloned that to everyone too.
both. "gotta catch 'em all"
Pokemon red/green minimum requirements:
[x] Game boy
[x] Batteries
[ ] Friends
Don't need friends if you've got two game boys...
Why not both?
The right answer is Wartortle.
I always go with bulbasaur. He's always the right option
Wasn't much of a choice for some of us. Red was out of stock everywhere...
red was the best. it had the best exclusives.
Blue had Victreebel which is the best grass type behind Venusaur (Exeggutor is mid game and is really slow to lvl so less useful for a run) and Victreebel's base 70 Speed gives Razor Leaf a 99.9% chance of landing a critical hit.
Also Meowth lets you farm money really easily which gives access to TMs.
Red has Arcanine as a standout but good fire types aren’t hard to come by and Scyther… but having the best bug type isn’t really doing anything.
Honestly I prefer Blue’s exclusives.
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You chose: Digimon
The fire lizard couldn't fly back then, but I was able to surf on the turtle... Yeah blastoise is always the solid option.
The only choice that matters is when you pick charmander.
Fun fact, if given the choice of only primary colours, there will always be a bias towards blue.
Yellow and red makes us pay attention more, but blue gives the feeling of trust.
the illusion of choice
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