7 ms·

Sorry to rain on the parade, but isn't this simply a clone of Pokemon? You start by selecting one of three monsters (they even resemble the starting three from

Sorry to rain on the parade, but isn't this simply a clone of Pokemon? You start by selecting one of three monsters (they even resemble the starting three from the orignal game). The battle screen and fight dynamic looks almost identical. Am I missing something?

Fjslfj 16y ago
I have to agree with this. It's obvious these guys are smart and savvy. Couldn't they have come up with a new, brilliant idea instead of a Pokemon clone? I hope this gets acquired so they can spend their 20s doing something more meaningful.
- jamespickens 16y ago
  Can you come up with something? No, alright then.
- jazzychad 16y ago
  New and brilliant ideas are much more difficult to gain traction. Great execution on a "cloned" idea is much easier. How many Groupon clones are there? How many of them are making a lot of money? (Hint, a lot). How much money is spent on Pokemon and related collectible card games? (Hint, also a lot). Meaningful is in the eye of the beholder.
  - brackin 16y ago
    The point is Groupon Clones did something Groupon wasn't doing (targeting countries Groupon wasn't targeting) meaning Groupon isn't entitled to be the market leader and the other startups are free to create one for their country. Pokemon is not making a social web game, this is a big difference to the Groupon situation in my opinion as they are different things. I wouldn't say it's a copy just the story/theme is inspired by Pokemon.
- pgbovine 16y ago
  time to cue the cliched "isn't google just a clone of altavista" or "isn't facebook just a clone of myspace" rebuttals.
- codexon 16y ago
  It's obvious these guys are smart and savvy. Couldn't they have come up with a new, brilliant idea instead of a Pokemon clone? His first and only other "company" was a Gaia online type website.
citricsquid 16y ago
Arguably their unique take is the Facebook side of it, does Pokemon exist on Facebook like this does?
- teej 16y ago
  There's at least two. One is called Monster Galaxy by Gaia Online which launched in December (http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=129748227041755 http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=129748227041...). There's another, the name of which I don't remember, that did a ton of Facebook advertising in the last 12 months.
  - noahth 16y ago
    Miscrits.
- robotkad 16y ago
  Does it matter? Hasbro didn't think so when Scrabulous became one of the top games on Facebook. Nintendo protects the Pokemon brand very aggressively.
  - noahth 16y ago
    That was a pretty specific issue, with 2 complaints. One was the name, and the other was that the board layout was identical (location of bonus squares, etc). It relaunched very quickly as Lexulous with a different board. Damage done, but it wasn't an instant kill or anything.
pclark 16y ago
Does apologising before criticising someone's creation make you feel less guilty about doing it?
- zackattack 16y ago
  Yes that's exactly what's going on. He's attempting to externalize his guilt/shame to create a socially acceptable situation for criticism-- to validate his internal negativity and hate.
  - Stormbringer 16y ago
    He could just be telegraphing his intention so as to minimise confusion. Humour not clearly marked as such is often down-voted. As such, this would be a defensive move in ego-space, rather than an attempt for validation. Hence a self-protective mode of thought rather than an energy stealing vampiric dependency mode. Thus I feel that it is a positive, yang based maneuver, rather than a negative ying based energy flow. You suggest hate as a primary motivator. Hate is based on repressed anger, and anger is the archetypal emotive of rules that have been broken. What rules do you suggest that he feels have been broken? Perhaps some kind of rule that the things that are valuable are those that are unique and not derivative? What would you suggest is the causative agency of such a feedback based rules paradigm?
    - zackattack 16y ago
      Your rhetoric is hilarious and I really wish we could duo this routine in bars. I suggest the "causative agency" is the voice that says "I am supposed to be getting all the attention. Why is he? He didn't even do anything amazing!"
      - Stormbringer 16y ago
        Good to see someone gets it :D
Tiktaalik 16y ago
Nintendo has been continuously iterating the Pokemon franchise based around the situation on the ground in Japan, not North America, and as a result there's probably a lot of room for folks to create a Pokemonlike that is more designed for the North American play style. For example, Pokemon Black/White, the most recent version, has a huge amount of innovative local play features, but in NA, commuting to work, you're very unlikely to randomly happen across any folks that will have the game and so these features are for many quite useless.
- 9999 16y ago
  The primary market for Pokemon remains children. Children tend to congregate in large numbers at schools and playgrounds. Nintendo's lack of focus on the "commuting to work" crowd is not particularly surprising.
Raphael 16y ago
A few things I noticed: The interface is very confusing. I was only able to navigate it since I was familiar with Pokemon. It's dumbed down. There is no walking around towns, just battles.
chrischen 16y ago
By the way, what have you done that's so great? Do you create anything, or just criticize other's work and belittle their motivations?

Fjslfj 16y ago

I have to agree with this. It's obvious these guys are smart and savvy. Couldn't they have come up with a new, brilliant idea instead of a Pokemon clone? I hope this gets acquired so they can spend their 20s doing something more meaningful.

jamespickens 16y ago
Can you come up with something? No, alright then.
jazzychad 16y ago
New and brilliant ideas are much more difficult to gain traction. Great execution on a "cloned" idea is much easier. How many Groupon clones are there? How many of them are making a lot of money? (Hint, a lot). How much money is spent on Pokemon and related collectible card games? (Hint, also a lot). Meaningful is in the eye of the beholder.
- brackin 16y ago
  The point is Groupon Clones did something Groupon wasn't doing (targeting countries Groupon wasn't targeting) meaning Groupon isn't entitled to be the market leader and the other startups are free to create one for their country. Pokemon is not making a social web game, this is a big difference to the Groupon situation in my opinion as they are different things. I wouldn't say it's a copy just the story/theme is inspired by Pokemon.
pgbovine 16y ago
time to cue the cliched "isn't google just a clone of altavista" or "isn't facebook just a clone of myspace" rebuttals.
codexon 16y ago
It's obvious these guys are smart and savvy. Couldn't they have come up with a new, brilliant idea instead of a Pokemon clone? His first and only other "company" was a Gaia online type website.

citricsquid 16y ago

Arguably their unique take is the Facebook side of it, does Pokemon exist on Facebook like this does?

teej 16y ago
There's at least two. One is called Monster Galaxy by Gaia Online which launched in December (http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=129748227041755 http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=129748227041...). There's another, the name of which I don't remember, that did a ton of Facebook advertising in the last 12 months.
- noahth 16y ago
  Miscrits.
robotkad 16y ago
Does it matter? Hasbro didn't think so when Scrabulous became one of the top games on Facebook. Nintendo protects the Pokemon brand very aggressively.
- noahth 16y ago
  That was a pretty specific issue, with 2 complaints. One was the name, and the other was that the board layout was identical (location of bonus squares, etc). It relaunched very quickly as Lexulous with a different board. Damage done, but it wasn't an instant kill or anything.

pclark 16y ago

Does apologising before criticising someone's creation make you feel less guilty about doing it?

zackattack 16y ago
Yes that's exactly what's going on. He's attempting to externalize his guilt/shame to create a socially acceptable situation for criticism-- to validate his internal negativity and hate.
- Stormbringer 16y ago
  He could just be telegraphing his intention so as to minimise confusion. Humour not clearly marked as such is often down-voted. As such, this would be a defensive move in ego-space, rather than an attempt for validation. Hence a self-protective mode of thought rather than an energy stealing vampiric dependency mode. Thus I feel that it is a positive, yang based maneuver, rather than a negative ying based energy flow. You suggest hate as a primary motivator. Hate is based on repressed anger, and anger is the archetypal emotive of rules that have been broken. What rules do you suggest that he feels have been broken? Perhaps some kind of rule that the things that are valuable are those that are unique and not derivative? What would you suggest is the causative agency of such a feedback based rules paradigm?
  - zackattack 16y ago
    Your rhetoric is hilarious and I really wish we could duo this routine in bars. I suggest the "causative agency" is the voice that says "I am supposed to be getting all the attention. Why is he? He didn't even do anything amazing!"
    - Stormbringer 16y ago
      Good to see someone gets it :D

Tiktaalik 16y ago

Nintendo has been continuously iterating the Pokemon franchise based around the situation on the ground in Japan, not North America, and as a result there's probably a lot of room for folks to create a Pokemonlike that is more designed for the North American play style. For example, Pokemon Black/White, the most recent version, has a huge amount of innovative local play features, but in NA, commuting to work, you're very unlikely to randomly happen across any folks that will have the game and so these features are for many quite useless.

9999 16y ago
The primary market for Pokemon remains children. Children tend to congregate in large numbers at schools and playgrounds. Nintendo's lack of focus on the "commuting to work" crowd is not particularly surprising.

Raphael 16y ago

A few things I noticed: The interface is very confusing. I was only able to navigate it since I was familiar with Pokemon. It's dumbed down. There is no walking around towns, just battles.

chrischen 16y ago

By the way, what have you done that's so great? Do you create anything, or just criticize other's work and belittle their motivations?