Play Pokémon Masters At Launch To Snag Useful Bonus Items

I have downloaded the picture of Pokemon trainers above onto my smartphone. 😀
But i don't play mobile games 😜

I'll get the game but I'm not expecting too much just yet.

So it's a guaranteed gacha game now right? So it's a game where the core function for obtaining characters is gambling? And it's targeted directly at children because Pokémon directly targets children as the target audience, right?

Will Nintendo receive backlash for this or will they go unquestioned despite the fact that if EA did this, they'd be dragged through the mud?

Not available in my country, ok thx for caring about all EU countries Nintendo but I;m not doing the same like with Dragalia Lost (download apk for every update is a chore) for a simple Pokemon game.

Not that I would ever spent a cent on it, if I spent money on mobile games then only if it's the full package (like Terraria or GTA San Andreas for example)

Also this looks like gatcha and aimed at kids too, I wonder when certain countries ban the game for it.

@Rayquaza2510 it's not available in Belgium because Nintendo won't abide by their gambling laws as to do so would be an admittance that this is gambling and should not have a rating that allows children to play.

@Peterjr1 yeah I'm in the netherlands and over here they never said a thing about it, or at least they did not ban the game and don't intend too.

It's just Nintendo being Nintendo for not releasing it, but in the end would I even play it for more than 5 minutes? I guess not, the issue is that I expect such practices from other companies but Nintendo doing this proves they are at least on the mobile market the same like others, which is sad.

Fun fact is that Mario Kart Tour will be releaed over here, inconsistency in releasing the game is also one reason why I hate mobile games.

That static anime character with great voice acting is so cringe

@Rayquaza2510
The Mario Kart Tour beta was incredibly aggresive with monetization, more so than Pokemon Masters, so unless things drastically change when the game officially launches, it seems strange to exclude the game from anti-gambling regulation.

if gatcha-based, then I won't play. Just sell me a game with a one-time purchase. Is that so much to ask?

@Peterjr1 I think you can earn them through gameplay, and at least they tell you what are the chances to get each character.... but idk, I hope it will be fun to play

@Mando44646 Apparently it is too much to ask for most people. Don't forget that Nintendo tried that with Super Mario Run and it did terribly. So they figured they might as well just give the people what they want. Granted, this is a Pokemon game, so I'm not sure how much say Nintendo actually had in it.

@FiveDigitLP I mean, maybe people just didn't want Super Mario Run? Most I know didn't want an auto-runner instead of a real Mario platformer. Personally, I don't like Mario games in general, so its the only Nintendo phone game I haven't at least tried.

I want to like FE:H so bad. But I won't pay for microtransactions and I gave up after using all my free orbs and getting the same fracking character 4 times when I redeemed a bunch. Gatcha completely ruins the experience

@Mando44646 I certainly understand where you're coming from. I have mixed feelings on the games with gacha. It can definitely be frustrating and I certainly had my fair share of times where I got the same freaking characters in FE:H. However, as a whole, I feel like Nintendo is a lot more respectful of the player when it comes to their mobile games than others. It may partially be the rate at which I play versus others, but I feel like I can play games like FE:H or Dr. Mario and never get to the point where the cool-down timer kicks in.

As for Super Mario Run, I certainly understand why some people might not prefer that style of play. Personally, I found the Remix 10 mode to be a lot more enjoyable than the base game.

Unless it's required for some Sword/Shield connectivty bonus I'll probably trial it for a day or two then forget about it. Looks like it'll really tax my phone performance wise as well

@Mando44646 no. People specifically cried about the cost of Super Mario Run. Most people really see a one time purchase, with the higher than normal (or non-free) cost as more expensive than grinding or micro transactions.

@Peterjr1 Pokemon Masters isn't a full priced console game, it's a free-to-play mobile game.

@LordMolecule that means nothing. It's a game with gambling that doesn't have a rating befitting of a game with gambling because they want to make money off off encouraging gambling habits within young children. Whether it's 'free' or not means nothing. If EA had a specifically kid-focussed brand the size of Pokémon and they made a gacha game for phones with a 3+ age rating, you wouldn't hear the end of it.

@Peterjr1 I very much enjoyed Pokemon cards as a kid.

@LordMolecule brilliant strawman

@Peterjr1 I see no reason to outrage against lootboxes in free to play games, or Magic the Gathering booster packs, random colors from gumball machines, or people who buy those mystery box loot crate things.

I will probably give it a try if I am bored and have some free time, but I really don't like mobile games on average. I do play Pokemon Go and am curious to see if this game ends up having any cross compatibility with PoGo and eventually Pokemon Home and Sword/Shield.

That's how they could sucker me into playing this. Have some kind of interesting cross compatibility feature.

@LordMolecule I do. Even though I love card games like Pokemon TCG Magic and Hearthstone, I have never liked the random nature and artificial rareness of cards. It's all entirely forced. Let me use Pokemon as the example since this is a Pokemon article. In the Pokemon TCG most tournament level decks contain many copies of the highest rarity cards. The naming has changed over the years, EX, Level X, Prime, GX etx... but the idea is the same, these rare, flashy cards dominate the game. You can buy a booster box which, when I still played was about 100 dollars in the US, and only get 2-4 of these cards. When most decks would often use 4 copies of a single one of these cards. It quickly becomes exceedingly expensive to play the game. But why? That rarity is entirely forced. It's not like it's harder to print the cards in question. The whole competitive card game system is designed to abuse fan loyalty because their options are forced, fake rarity or going through expensive, inconsistent, 3rd party re-sellers.

I'd love to see that system replaced with one where you can just buy the cards you want, directly. They could still sell traditional packs too, but they should give us the ability to just buy the cards we want.

I was hoping to pre-register, but it never appeared in the store...bleh.

@Peterjr1 They never even mentioned that they target children...

@Peterjr1 You're not 'Gambling' though. You play the story mode to unlock the trainers. You can even play event mode to unlock special trainers.

@FiveDigitLP While I don't typically play Gacha games some do it right. F.E.H. is alright I suppose. I play Bleach: Brave Souls, a fantastic example.

@Heavyarms55 I'm sure creating Meta like that is the only way to keep it balanced from people who would just buy the 'best' cards and either Troll or Dominate.

@Peterjr1 Gambling involves using money, which this does not.

@Peterjr1 Gambling also implies the risk for you to lose. In this game, you still get something when you don't get the character you want. It's not like a real lottery where you lose everything if you lose the bet.

@Reigestugatensho Not at all. And there is nothing at all wrong with buying the cards needed to build competitive decks. That's the whole point of games like Pokemon TCG, MTG, Hearthstone, etc... The rarity system and random nature of getting cards is entirely done to milk player's hard earned money. It makes it much much harder for new players or kids or those with less money to play because it is much much more expensive to build viable decks by opening booster packs.

Also, just FYI, you can reply to more than one person at once by manually typing @their_user_name like this. And you can even edit your own comments to add in more replies. It tends to keep the comments more organized.

@Heavyarms55 I see your point... But still, nobody wants people to get ahold of the Meta like that since older players will know all the best cards to work with. Thanks for the comment info though.

@Reigestugatensho Nonsense, the meta is already like that. More experienced players in any game will always have the edge, the changes I propose will simply make it easier for newer players to get into the game, without wasting time and money building decks and getting demolished by people who know what they are doing. I'm not only talking about high level tournament play, even local get-together's and leagues at card shops and community centers. It's not 1996 anymore, the internet is a thing and there are countless good tutorials made by fans online.

Pokemon does divide tournaments by age because inherently older players have more potential experience, but if you watch tournament level play, I promise you there are 12 year old kids who could beat players who have been playing since before the kid was born. Happens all the time.

@Heavyarms55 (Sigh) I just realized all of our internet debates are all about meta representation in card games...

@Reigestugatensho We have had this conversation before, haven't we?

@Heavyarms55 Yup I believe it was about Yugioh Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution. Although my little bro pre-ordered the game and I personally saw some gameplay. Getting cards in there is really easy and they give you a handful of very helpful cards like Mirror Force, Rush Recklessly, and Magic Cylinder, to name a few.

@Reigestugatensho That's a different sort of beast, I would say, because it's a full priced game - so all the cards should be obtainable in game at no extra cost. At least I hope that is how it works. The game was certainly on my radar.

I assume card unlocks in that game work kinda like the old Pokemon TCG video games, with in game packs obtained when you win games or perhaps bought with in-game currency. Maybe some story segments for special cards like the Egyptian God cards.

@Heavyarms55 That's exactly how it works! Except it's even easier than that to earn the in-game currency. You should go try it out sometime. It's a 100% bonafide Dueling experience!