With the 3rd Generation of Pokemon being rolled out in the augmented reality world of Pokemon Go, there has been speculation as to if the additional 50 creatures to catch and collect will help revitalize the popularity of the game.
The short answer is no: “It’s hard to see how it (Pokemon Go) will be at that kind of intense level,” said Professor Mark Griffiths, director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University in the UK when commenting for a Forbes article, “It was a kind of rise and fall, I just don’t think you’re going to recreate that kind of hysteria.”
After losing about 80% of its player base, and with hundreds of Pokemon already from Gen 1 and 2, its hard to see how 50 or so additional species will attract new players or draw old ones back in. The Gen 3 starters of Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip do not exactly have the nostalgic appeal of Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander. That being said, the game still has about 5 million active players, so some additional Pokemon are sure to keep them satisfied for now.
The 3rd generation of Pokemon made their debut in Hoenn, the name of the world in which the Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire took place. Both titles were originally released for Game Boy Advance, then remade for the 3DS as Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
