Well, that's the traditional narrative of the story
of Pokémon. But what really happened was that in the summer of 1998 Pokémon entered
the US as a tiny (almost unnoticeable) trickle - in the from of a VHS tape....
A Sneak Peek at Pokémon (1998)
This embarrassing (in the "parents trying to be cool"
sense)15-minute promotional introduction to Pokémon made by
Nintendo was sent to a small number of people in the US (maybe subscribers
to Nintendo Power magazine?). Whether this
tape stirred enough interest to make kids watch the show can be debatable, but
one thing we do know is that almost no one had heard of this relic from
the Poképast - until some uploaded its footage onto YouTube over a decade
later. Because this tape pre-dates the official debut of of Pokémon in
the US (and the rest of the world) it has became a very valuable collector's
item (about $100 on eBay (in 2016)).
It wasn't until September when the VHS trickle became a torrent. The
English-dubbed version of the series (where all further translations were based
upon) first aired on syndicated US TV on the 7th (with the dramatic,
action-packed 'Battle Aboard the St Anne'. They began the series
properly with Episode 1 the next day.). Then, on the
28th, Pokémon Red and Blue were released in
North America.
Now comes one of the biggest questions from the
subject of Pokémon entering the US -
Why was Pokémon Green never
released outside Japan? Why only Red and Blue?
Remember Missingno? Missingno was a glitch. Red and Green
were full of bugs and glitches, like Missingno.
The original Pokémon Blue (released
on 15th October 1996 through mail order through CoroCoro
Comic, then became available through general retail on 10th
October 1999) was the first "solitary version" game. The first of a
tradition where after the first pair is released a second stand alone version
of them is made where faults are fixed and new features (which the developers
thought about putting in the previous pair of games but had no time or
resources to put them in) are introduced. So, the original Pokémon Blue is
basically just like Pokémon Green, except with a few
aesthetic changes and (more importantly) less bugs. So when it came to
introducing Pokémon to the rest of the world
the obvious thing for Game Freak to do was to make a new Red version
(using the less buggy Blue version as a base) and localise those for
the foreign markets. That is why Pokémon Green never
crossed the Pacific. I hope this answer sorted out the confusion you had when
you first found out about the Blue/Green inconsistency.
Oh, and on a final note here, in the mist of localising it, the American
team doing so suggested changing the designs of the creatures. Tsunekazu Ishihara refused the idea (which
we're all thankful for).
Let's go back a bit and address a fundamental
difference between Japan and the West. Notice the fact that the TV series was
introduced first then the games. In Japan video games are a
big driver in generating culture, while in the US (and Western Europe) TV is
the main driver... or was, until Netflix took
over. In 2016 Westerners aren't that amazed when a successful video game
becomes a TV series because of the fact its an adaptation of a game,
but before 2000 it would be more of a surprise. But it wouldn't have been to
the Japanese, as they have been use to it for years. Mario, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and Sonic have all become animes years
before Pokémon.
But in the West, people are surprised by
this fact, as they are use to video games been a spin-off of successful TV shows or movies. Maybe this fact is the reason why
when Pokémon arrived in the US the kids were exposed to the cartoon first, then
were exposed to the games.
But regardless of why it came out before that, the launch of Pokémon in
the US was a success. By September 1999 Nintendo of America reported that the
franchise had made them worldwide $5 billion. That was more than the whole
American video game industry made in the whole of 1998.
And people were worried that Pokémon was
"too Japanese" to be a success in America.
Can you believe that?
Apparently so. A few years before Pokémon the biggest
thing to come out of Japan to conquer American childhoods was the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Back then (in
1993) many people in the American toy industry were worried that Power
Rangers wasn't sophisticated enough for American kids and (as a
result) many turned down the offer of making toys for the franchise. Power
Rangers proved to be a hit with the kids and the few toy companies
that did buy a licence (plus its co-creators Bandai)
got very rich from it in the mid-1990s. When Pokémon became
the talking point in American toy business trade fairs in 1997, those toy
companies who turned down Power Rangers years ago
(learning (the hard way) that Japanese stuff can sell to American kids)
took the gamble. This is the main reason why Pokémon became
one of the most merchandise-heavy franchises of the 20th century. And with so
much merchandise in existence (from stationary to clothes) it was almost
impossible to avoid Pokémon in the late-1990s. In fact, (and
this is just speculation here) in the future the presence of the remains
of Pokémon merchandise (along with dead Tamagotchis and
CDs from AOL) can be used to date archaeological sites to the turn of the
millennium. Game Freak just couldn't keep up with with the increasing number of
merchandise that needed their approval....
"At first, there were between 10 and 20 new proposals for various products each week. We used to line them up on a large table in the meeting room..." - Tsunekazu Ishihara"But it wasn't long before we ran out of space on the desk... (laughs)" - Shigeki Morimoto (from this interview)
It was that big, you ask? It sure was. I was there,
remember. I remember Pokémon toys taking up a whole aisle in a Glasgow
branch of Toys "R" Us. I remember them dominating
more than two pages in Argos catalogues (when I was still browsing
the toy section for reason I don't think need explaining). With those two
personal observations alone, I know that it was very clear for British parents
that the most-wanted thing for Christmas 1999 was Pokémon.
And there's more...
There was the fast food promotions (which include these gold-plated cards (I still have one of them)... and those choking hazard Poke Balls that had to be recalled in 2000). The skits on SMTV Live (featuring a rap so terrible that the crushing of its initiator by a 10-ton weight was widely celebrated across the land (Everyone in Britain my age knows what I'm talking about.)). The magazines. The card game tournaments. (The first world tournaments were held in the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, Hawaii from 1999 to 2001. This was before they became the pro events we are familiar with today.) Even all the presents I got on my 13th birthday (that I can remember getting) were Pokémon stuff (a ring-binder, some stationary, a digital watch and a VHS of the second movie).
You want some official statistic proof? Here's my clincher. According to this article from BBC News from November 2000 Pokémon was beating Lego in toy sales. Lego! The toy that was voted by UK toy sellers as "Toy of the [20th] Century" back in January that same year. That was how BIG Pokémon was then. Everything wasn't awesome for Lego then. Only Harry Potter could save them.
I can go on telling you how big Pokémon was...
By November 1999, as Pokémon was making inroads into Europe, Pokémon was still pulling money out of American parents wallets. Especially in cinemas, as this was when Pokémon the First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back was released in the US. At this time (like in all crazes that dominate kids cultures) adults try to scratch their heads what the heck it is. This clip from MSNBC in 1999 is an example of this head scratching.
Pokémania MSNBC report from 1999
"Pokémania" (as they
called it then) was such a noticeable thing in the world that Time magazine
made it the main feature in the November 22nd 1999 issue. This issue is worth
reading if your curious how big Pokémon was
in the western world and how it reacted to it in this time period. A must find for any
Pokélogist. Even the cover says it all...
Time 22nd November 1999 issue
Note the explanation mark!
The whole feature can be read online here (courtesy of
the Wayback Machine). It includes an online exclusive interview with Satoshi Tajiri, a teenager
trying to explain the appeal of it, some cautious words from a psychologist and
a preview of Generation II. It even includes this review of
the first movie with a title that said it all.... The Man Who Doesn't Get It by Richard Corliss
Great title.
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