Particulars from a current assembly at Nintendo has revealed one cause that mainline Pokemon video games are constructed to be launched two at a time. There have been 9 generations of paired mainline Pokemon video games launched to this point, however the nature of their twin releases is tied to an much more timeless Nintendo mascot.
Beginning with the Japanese launch of Pokemon Pink and Inexperienced in 1996, the monster-catching franchise has change into an extremely highly effective popular culture power over the span of practically three many years, having reportedly hauled in additional than $103 billion from the time of its launch by 2024. As its most up-to-date mainline launch in 2022, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s sales, together with associated merchandise, have accounted for an estimate of $2.5 to $3 billion of that quantity as of October 2025, following the time-tested method of Nintendo releasing two practically an identical video games with monsters unique to at least one model or one other.
Mario’s Success Influenced Pokemon’s Two-Sport-Launch Format
Now, with the discharge of a transcript from a current Nintendo shareholder assembly, Mario franchise creator Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed one of many causes behind how the two-game format of mainline Pokemon video games got here to be. Responding to a query in regards to the sales potential of the Mario Kart series on Change 2, Miyamoto anecdotally described a dialog he had with Pokemon creator Satoshi Tajiri earlier than the primary pair of Pokemon video games had been totally developed. Throughout this dialog, Miyamoto remembers Tajiri quipping that to ensure that one other sport to surpass the Mario sequence’ success, Nintendo would want to determine a solution to promote two copies of the identical sport to the identical buyer. Whereas Miyamoto did not expressly state that this dialog was the catalyst that led to the duality of Pokemon Pink and Inexperienced, that was the tip outcome, and the mainline sequence has adopted this method ever since.
Pokemon is not the one Nintendo-published franchise of its sort to try a two-game launch technique. In 2015, Fire Emblem Fates‘ controversial release on Nintendo 3DS upset followers by dividing the sport’s story between two completely different cartridges, with every inserting the sport’s protagonist one the facet of certainly one of two dueling kingdoms, Nohr and Hoshido. Although it was a monetary success, the two-game technique was closely criticized by followers and seen as a cash seize, and Fireplace Emblem has since returned to a single-game launch technique.
However for Pokemon, the two-game technique has labored out properly, encouraging community-building by trades of version-exclusive monsters and particular evolutions. The franchise is common sufficient now that the format does not appear to be wanted, because the newly launched spin-off sport Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s sales already hit the fifth-highest spot in franchise historical past after only one week. Nonetheless, the subsequent mainline entry is rumored to nonetheless be break up into two completely different video games named Pokemon Wind and Waves.
Supply: GamesRadar+
