1. It Needs A Real Mascot
Pikachu has emerged as the cute and cuddly mascot that will lead the franchise and it can't be said he's a bad choice. He appeals to kids (the key demographic) as well as their mothers (the key financial demographic) along with having some genuinely beneficial design choices, such as being a primary colour and resembling Winnie the Pooh. The problem is that Pikachu isn't a good mascot for the Pokémon franchise because you don't even have to catch him in order to play the game. In fact, it's quite beneficial to choose a different Pokémon to Pikachu for your party. He isn't even his highest evolutionary form so, if anything, Raichu has more of a case to be the mascot. Why not push to make one of the better Pokémon the mascot, which people are more likely to actually fight with? What about Blastoise? He's a massive turtle with
cannons coming out of his shell. Is anyone going to say they'd rather have Pikachu over Blastoise? Or how about Charizard, pictured below? He's only a god-damn dragon.
Of course this problem stems from the fact that the game is based around a group of monsters that
you choose from. Therefore, it's extremely difficult to accurately choose a good mascot to act as the face of the franchise. Can you imagine not being able to play as Mario in a Super Mario game? Or playing as Samus Aran being optional in a Metroid game? The main character you play as is completely nondescript save the name that you enter (nine times out of ten being your actual real name), so a human mascot is out of the question. These basic factors come together to suggest that Pokémon is going to have a tough time gaining solid popularity as a brand when it hits our shores. Who knows? Maybe Pikachu will work, but the safe bet says that Pokémon won't sustain, or perhaps even build, the same level of success here as it has enjoyed in Japan. What do you think? Will Pokémon become a phenomenon over here? Are you looking forward to Pokémon Red and Blue? Post in the comment section below! (Please note: Comments may take longer to be posted for those using a dial-up connection)