09-03-2012, 08:36 AM
Since I have fed up with seeing people still wondering if Digimon came first or Pokemon (even thought the answer is obvious) I decided to write this thread here and later spread it to other sites. So here we go:
To all people who still wonder if Pokemon came first or Digimon: Do your research first (even a quick one in Wikipedia if you are so lazy).
Satoshi Tajiri have the concept for the videogame in his mind since he was young (in manga format at first if I remember correctly), started the development in 1990 and released Pokemon Red/Green in Japan in 1996. After the unexpected, huge success of the videogame (before releasing the game they weren't sure if the gamers would understand well the concept of the game, therefore they weren't sure if it would sell well), it has been merchandised into anime, manga, toys, trading card games and so on and the videogame is the second best selling videogame francise in the world after Super Mario series.
Digimon was first released as a virtual pet toy in 1997 in Japan following the style and concept of Tamagotchi (which was released in 1996 in Japan) but with the difference that you could fight with other Digimon virtual pets. In 1999 Digimon started to be merchandised into anime, manga, videogames and so in order to compete with Pokemon francise.
Since Digimon began as a Tamagotchi-style virtual pet toy it's no wonder that Digimon World, the first videogame of Digimon francise, is like the virtual pet toy in gameplay perspective. But in comparison with Pokemon videogames (expecially the main rpg series which began the phenomenon) which are high acclaimed, Digimon World sucks and only Digimon hardcore fans seems to enjoy them as well as the rest of the Digimon videogames. On the other hand, Pokemon main rpg series is enjoyed even by people who have never seen even an episode from the anime or reading a volume of the manga. Even Pokemon-themed puzzle games like Pokemon Trozei and Pokemon Puzzle Challenge can be also enjoyed from people who aren't Pokemon fan. OK, maybe the later Digimon rpgs are better and more enjoyable than Digimon World but still the fact that they are Pokemon-wannabe games doesn't change and there are much better Pokemon-like games like Dragon Quest Monsters series and Azure Dreams (such a shame that its semi-sequel, Tao's Adventure, is not so good).
The only reason that Digimon fans believe that their favourite francise is better than Pokemon is because of the anime. And speaking for the anime, Digimon fans seems to have low standars about anime generally. It can't be explained otherwise the fact that they hate Digimon Tamers so much even if objectively it's much better than Digimon Adventures. Even me that I hate Digimon I love Digimon Tamers. The credits goes to the writer, Chiaki J. Konaka, which is also responsible for high acclaimed Serial Experiments Lain senario. No wonder that Digimon Tamers is like Serial Experiments Lain for little kids. But every time I ask a Digimon fan (expecially my real life friends) why they think Digimon Tamers sucks they don't give me a persuasive answer. So I believe the reason they prefer Digimon Adventures is because they have more characters and stupit melodrama.
In conclusion, Digimon is nothing more than a Pokemon wannabe which for the videogame francise at least it will never be as interesting as other Pokemon-like games which have much more stuff to offer to the gamers that want to play something different than Pokemon. If some people prefer Digimon over Pokemon due to its universe and monsters design that's a different matter.
To all people who still wonder if Pokemon came first or Digimon: Do your research first (even a quick one in Wikipedia if you are so lazy).
Satoshi Tajiri have the concept for the videogame in his mind since he was young (in manga format at first if I remember correctly), started the development in 1990 and released Pokemon Red/Green in Japan in 1996. After the unexpected, huge success of the videogame (before releasing the game they weren't sure if the gamers would understand well the concept of the game, therefore they weren't sure if it would sell well), it has been merchandised into anime, manga, toys, trading card games and so on and the videogame is the second best selling videogame francise in the world after Super Mario series.
Digimon was first released as a virtual pet toy in 1997 in Japan following the style and concept of Tamagotchi (which was released in 1996 in Japan) but with the difference that you could fight with other Digimon virtual pets. In 1999 Digimon started to be merchandised into anime, manga, videogames and so in order to compete with Pokemon francise.
Since Digimon began as a Tamagotchi-style virtual pet toy it's no wonder that Digimon World, the first videogame of Digimon francise, is like the virtual pet toy in gameplay perspective. But in comparison with Pokemon videogames (expecially the main rpg series which began the phenomenon) which are high acclaimed, Digimon World sucks and only Digimon hardcore fans seems to enjoy them as well as the rest of the Digimon videogames. On the other hand, Pokemon main rpg series is enjoyed even by people who have never seen even an episode from the anime or reading a volume of the manga. Even Pokemon-themed puzzle games like Pokemon Trozei and Pokemon Puzzle Challenge can be also enjoyed from people who aren't Pokemon fan. OK, maybe the later Digimon rpgs are better and more enjoyable than Digimon World but still the fact that they are Pokemon-wannabe games doesn't change and there are much better Pokemon-like games like Dragon Quest Monsters series and Azure Dreams (such a shame that its semi-sequel, Tao's Adventure, is not so good).
The only reason that Digimon fans believe that their favourite francise is better than Pokemon is because of the anime. And speaking for the anime, Digimon fans seems to have low standars about anime generally. It can't be explained otherwise the fact that they hate Digimon Tamers so much even if objectively it's much better than Digimon Adventures. Even me that I hate Digimon I love Digimon Tamers. The credits goes to the writer, Chiaki J. Konaka, which is also responsible for high acclaimed Serial Experiments Lain senario. No wonder that Digimon Tamers is like Serial Experiments Lain for little kids. But every time I ask a Digimon fan (expecially my real life friends) why they think Digimon Tamers sucks they don't give me a persuasive answer. So I believe the reason they prefer Digimon Adventures is because they have more characters and stupit melodrama.
In conclusion, Digimon is nothing more than a Pokemon wannabe which for the videogame francise at least it will never be as interesting as other Pokemon-like games which have much more stuff to offer to the gamers that want to play something different than Pokemon. If some people prefer Digimon over Pokemon due to its universe and monsters design that's a different matter.
I was just trying to contribute is all. ANYWAYS, since I know that there have been lawsuits against Pokemon, haven't their been lawsuits against Digimon? I mean, honestly if you think about it, Digimon kinda STOLE THE ENTIRE IDEA after Pokemon came out. So I would imagine that someone from Game Freak would have gone and sued them. Of course, Digimon was never as popular as Pokemon, so they probably never needed to do so.