Future remakes of the Pokemon saga would undergo major changes
The Pokémon saga is more present than ever. During the past month of February the company launched the arrival of two new remakes for the video games of the past generation. The Brilliant Diamond and Shimmering Pearl editions will arrive by the end of 2021 with a change of developer and with some controversy due to their graphic style. It would be the fifth installment of these new editions, which began in 2004 with Fire Red and Leaf Green, followed in 2010 with HeartGold Gold and SoulSilver Silver, put the spotlight on 2014 with the Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire editions, and which in 2018 had its last installment to date with Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's
Go Eevee. However, rumors that there will be more remakes do not stop haunting the Pokémon bubble. Especially to the new versions of the first generation of video games, the classic Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow. What the series did not count on was that buildings as mythical as the casino were going to cause problems and pose a real dilemma. And the fact is that the inclusion of these facilities would conflict with the new law on gambling and would put the video game in a difficult gap to correct. Welcome to the new era. A new era where the conflict with casinos was already glimpsed due to their characteristics. The arrival of this new regulation has forced PEGI, the European video game content classification system, to modify its criteria when evaluating the new titles that are appearing. New and future Pokémon remakes that include this class of games in places like the Casino de Ciudad Azulona should receive the denomination of +18 . They would come under the same denomination as a shooter video game or a title based on casino games. Can entering the Pokémon casino compare to playing a slot machine on an online website or spinning an online roulette game ? The new rules equate it. The alternative solution that the saga could opt for is to eliminate the casino in future remakes, as it has already valued in other recent editions. Farewell to our hopes of acquiring a precious Porygon. And zero options to add to the team that level 40 Larvitar from Pokémon Crystal, the most precious Pokémon of the second generation. A new
normative order “The game contains elements that encourage or teach to play games of chance. These gambling simulations refer to games of chance that are normally carried out in casinos or gambling halls ”. That is the criterion on which PEGI is based to classify games that include some type of reference to these disciplines as not suitable for minors. In recent years there have already been other cases in which other sagas have had difficulties when
integrating their reward boxes or other elements that are discordant with the new laws of chance. There are many European countries that have started to work to regulate this kind of content and keep vulnerable players away from possible elements that could be harmful. It is important to note that the video games that went on sale before the proclamation of the new rules will remain as they are and will not undergo any changes. It is only the new titles that have to be adapted. Hence, Pokémon is going to have to find a solution for those remakes that it has in mind. Neither does the Japanese company come as a surprise, since in its latest creations it has had to look for alternatives. For the Pokémon Let's Go edition it has already introduced changes , leaving behind the slot machines inside the casino and replacing them with arcade machines , while in the new editions of Diamond and Pearl that are still to be released it seems that the game room will be replaced by a clothing store . That could be the future of the new remakes, the total or partial replacement of the gambling buildings, since they do not seem willing to accept the new qualification. Therefore, that return that the casino had made in the most recent versions of Pokémon seems to be more fleeting than expected. It must be remembered that the purpose of the slot machines was none other than to bet game chips to try to win more and exchange them for the prizes that were available. The user decided the pay lines and the amount that he put into play hoping to have a stroke of luck. Something that in 1996 was seen as something normal, but that a posteriori has been criticized by various associations dedicated to the sector. With no date for these new remakes to appear officially, Pokémon is already warned of which is the way to go and what would be a cumbersome path that would complicate things. The loophole left by PEGI is that if gambling is included in narrative elements, this rule would not apply. But in the case of Pokémon, being a building within the platform itself, there would be no room for doubt. Imagining a child being deprived of getting his game because he is unfit for his age seems somewhat surreal to Pokémon. And everything indicates that it will not happen.