GNS Pokemon!

[Danny_K]

You know, I never realized until I watched my son play "Fire Red Pokemon" on the Gameboy that Pokemon is like D&D for kids -- well-done, cute gamism with a dash of simulationist exploration.  

It's got the little Pokemon with differing abilities that are the player's stand-ins, XP, HP, levels, new and exciting abilities that come when you level up, and wandering monsters.  It's an addictive blend.  

What's more, it encourages kids to come up with their own material -- I've heard my son making up new Pokemon and classes of Pokemon with his little friends.

So I was thinking, why doesn't someone write a narrativist Pokemon?  A game that would use the same setting and ideas to explore theme?  

A Sorcerer mini-supplement comes to mind, with Pokemon as Demons and Humanity as... something.  Inspiration fails me.  "Pokemon in the Vineyard" would also be possible, with traits like "I'm a Pokemon trainer" and Pokemon as Possessions.

[Callan S.]

Ewww! You identify it as gamism, then start trying to stuff the idea into narrativism? Gawd, seems horrible to ditch gamism like that.

At least just suggest the TROS way, which is a hella lot of gamism, even as nar encapsulates all of it.

[Lance D. Allen]

I still contend that the gamism in TRoS is much more minor than people think. Really, when you get into the guts of playing, tactical decisions don't matter much.

But that's off topic, so I'll leave it be.

My distaste for Pokemon is also unproductive, so I'll let that be, too.

My question is what sorts of themes would you explore in Pokemon? From what I've seen, the captivity issue would go against the genre, as the Pokemon genuinely seem to enjoy being captive, or at least do not mind.

To ask the TRoS question: What's worth fighting for? might be appropriate, though again it doesn't seem to be supported by the source material.

Personally, I see it being very difficult to use Pokemon to address real issues, even on a simple, cutesy level. It's well suited to gamist play. I can even see it suited to simulationist play, as there is plenty to explore and experience. But I think you'd be hard pressed to use Pokemon's setting for narrativist play.

Now, something Pokemon inspired, where issues of captivity, loyalty, etc. are applicable, I could definitely see.

[Anonymous]

My question is what sorts of themes would you explore in Pokemon?

The relationships between people and their pets?  An appreciation for the great outdoors?  The joys of obsessively collecting things for their own sake?  I don't know: I'm not too familiar with Pokemon, gamist or otherwise.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Been here lots of times.

See Pokemon: feature or bug? And more and Stretching, including the link at the end of the latter.

Best,
Ron

[daMoose_Neo]

Pokemon really does offer a lot and from the proper perspective can fullfill any of the GNS catagories as I understand them:

Gamist- your standard Pokemon GB/C/A games: wander around, punch out a bunch of weaker critters, level up, kick the butts of the powerful bosses, take their loot, rinse & repeat. The storylines in these exist only to give a semi-plausable reason for what you're doing, much as old D&D plot hooks gave you a reason to loot the dungeon aside from "its there"

Narrivist - your TV episodes. Each episode has the characters learning something about themselves, people, their pets & the world. Or at least did when I last knew. The characters have a mission or goal, a statement they're trying to make, and learn something in the end that betters their life and that of those around them - IE when Ash saves the Charmander (anyone lost yet?), the Charmander learns the difference between a real friend who will do anything for you (and Ash goes through quite a bit of trouble from the perspective of the kids) and one who couldn't care less as long as you can offer them something.

Simulationist - an extension of the games believe it or not. While you can kick ass in the game, you can also kick ass "in real life".
The Pokemon games have always advertised their interconnectivity, thus effectively creating a small subworld for these players. The kids who do make use of this connectivity play through the Gamist scenario in the game to get access to the other parts of the world, where they can link up with friends, send and recieve special messages, trade and collect between them, discuss and swap tactics, study their monsters (a little gamist). The game also functions on internal clocks as of Gold/Silver, meaning to full explore the world and the options the player has to act/react at specific times, in a way plan their day/life around the game's schedule.
Aside from being "cool" among your friends for kicking their tail with a well built monster, there are numerous rewards for simply exploring the possibilities. Rewards aren't always calculable, though many are on a minute level (and I do mean minute, I've ripped the code to shreds). Many features in the game outside the railroaded story work to immerse players in its own little world and network.

I've been working on such a property, trying to encompass as much of these concepts as I can, but it is damn difficult. Kudos to the guy(s) who first cooked this one up, and kudos to Nintendo's marketing squad for building it right. Shame on the bean counters who can't stop milking it however. Its scary the things with the Pokemon logo slapped on it for extra sales!

[Danny_K]

The original thread was posted in 2003... so I'm two years behind Ben... sounds about right.  

The various threads really sum things up well -- a little bit of cut n' pasting, and you'd have enough for a one-sheet.  

I especially like the idea someone had that at Humanity zero, the Pokemon trainer loses all interest in anything except Pokemon dueling and becomes one of those NPC's that hangs out by the side of the road challenging people. Brilliance!

As far as theme, Pokemon traditionally doesn't seem to address issues of slavery too much -- except for the movie with MewTwo.  The issues would be more related to good sportsmanship, keeping things in perspective, taking care of your friends and your Pokemon.

Nate: absolutely. The exploration of the weird Pokemon world is part of the fun, and there's a huge variety of landscapes there.  The Pokemon cemetary really creeps me out.

[daMoose_Neo]

I'm *Really* keen on the Sim view, so much so to the point I was working on an MMO for Pokemon focused on the exploration of the world more than the battling, because its damn difficult for anyone to find enough people on a local level to partake in all of the cool, networking options. Sadly, Nintendo cut me off, hence the development into the new property. We changed from my coding in VB to another Neo member coding in C++ and has since bogged down to almost nothing, which makes me sad :(

New property is ripe for this exploration though. I wrote it up, taking the world of Pokemon and making it as self contained as I could: An island research facility/summer camp ^_^ Scientists discover these creatures, try to learn more about them, stumble upon a situation where they discover the critters easily develop rapports with children, and so 'sanitize' the island, open it as a "summer camp/retreat" and let the kids run free. Thus, gameplay runs with several concepts: A) The storylines we'd provide (via the MMO), B) Existing in this world as a student/trainer & exploring (anyone), and C) exploring what you can do with the freedom of "ruling" the island.