Nintendo Events Have Never Sat Right With Me

[The Outrage]

...Pokemon is about MONEY?

*shits bricks*

Isn't it obvious? Ten year olds quiting school to train creatures to fight each other and then stealing half the loser's money because for some reason, yo can only ever find half of it.

 

[otoritomasu]

Isn't it obvious? Ten year olds quiting school to train creatures to fight each other and then stealing half the loser's money because for some reason, yo can only ever find half of it.

I wish i could've done that when i was 10.
I had to do real work for my money, but it was in a game shop so its all gravy.

 

[Adamant]

A field trip to what I'm assuming is a large city that has plenty of things for you to do once you get your pokemon?

You could totally make a day of it.

Yeah, I probably will, especially since this event lasts an entire week, so it won't really crash with anything.

But, as you said, these events ARE made for 10-year-olds, and I'm not sure how easy it will be for them to get their parents to drive them halfway across the state to get some new data into their video game.

It's a rather clumsy and old distribution method, and it really should've been updated by now.
(Hell, in Norway, the original RBY Mew event was done by mail - send your cart to Nintendo with a return address and stamps to cover return postage, and get your cart back with Mew on it a week or so later, There was also an in-person event where you could get the Pokemon directly transferred to yourcart then and there, but the mail system made getting Mew viable for absolutely everyone. Might be harder to do in more populated countries, but worked really well back then.)

 

[Takoto]

Or what if they live too far away from wherever a certain event is being held?

There's never any events where I live, the closest event there's been has been in London, but heck, I'm not spending ten pound of train fair just to get an event Pokémon. :c
There's a Toys 'R' Us right by me as well, but theres never been any events there...

 

[Snake Bandage]

(Hell, in Norway, the original RBY Mew event was done by mail - send your cart to Nintendo with a return address and stamps to cover return postage, and get your cart back with Mew on it a week or so later, There was also an in-person event where you could get the Pokemon directly transferred to yourcart then and there, but the mail system made getting Mew viable for absolutely everyone. Might be harder to do in more populated countries, but worked really well back then.)

You had an RBY Mew event? In Norway? God, I hate living in Israel. T_T

 

[freddie515]

There's never any events in Ireland. It sucks but I don't mind , I find a way to get them anyway =)
1) Youtube , just search the event you want , almost always somebody giving it away
2) Chat rooms , ask if people have the event your looking for and work out a reasonable trade.
3) GTS , yesterday I got a level 50 japanese dragonite in a cherish ball off of it and a wishmaker jirachii for a lugia and mewtwo =)

Oh , I'm looking for somebody with pokemon platinum to test my shiny movie regigigas , pm me about it ^_^

 

[Snake Bandage]

There's never any events in Ireland. It sucks but I don't mind , I find a way to get them anyway =)
1) Youtube , just search the event you want , almost always somebody giving it away
2) Chat rooms , ask if people have the event your looking for and work out a reasonable trade.
3) GTS , yesterday I got a level 50 japanese dragonite in a cherish ball off of it and a wishmaker jirachii for a lugia and mewtwo =)

Sigh, I got my TRU Darkrai through a live stream event advertised on YouTube. It was a really lucky shot. I hope I could get someone to clone me an event Shaymin... Sigh.

 

[freddie515]

Sigh, I got my TRU Darkrai through a live stream event advertised on YouTube. It was a really lucky shot. I hope I could get someone to clone me an event Shaymin... Sigh.

I could I guess

 

[Silverwynde]

Are Nintendo events a pain at times? Yes they are.
Are they fair to everyone? No, they aren't.
Do I go to them? Yes, every chance I get.

I do have to admit the events have gotten a bit less problematic-- there's a TRU not 20 minutes away from where I live and a Gamestop that's a bit closer. The only real problem I have is getting the time off: I work most weekends. But even then I'm okay since Prime could simply take my copies of Pearl and Diamond and take care of everything. And trust me, it's a lot more convenient than driving to St. Paul or Chicago. (I kid you not, I've done both.)

What really bothers me the most is not getting the data to activate any special events on the games. Sure, it's cool to get a Darkrai in a Cherish Ball, but I'd rather have the Member's Card so I could catch my own-- whether it be a shiny or have a killer Nature. I'll treasure the little Shaymin I'll get a couple of weeks, but I'd rather have a chance to catch my own and nickname it. If NoA decided to release such things over Wi-Fi, I'd jump for joy.... but it still wouldn't be completely fair. One of my co-workers has Diamond, but no Wi-Fi. She can't access GTS and could never receive any gifts. When it comes to the rarest of the rare, NoA will never be completely fair about it. As much as I enjoy the events, it sucks that this is the only way to get the truly rare ones. And it isn't fair. But I seriously doubt anything will ever really change, either.

It would be great if I was in the Detroit area at the moment. However, I'm currently sitting in Mount Pleasant and the nearest one is in Saginaw well over an hour away. It just seems a little too inconvenient for a piece of data.

That brings back memories. I wasn't in Wisconsin when Mew was given away in 2006. I was actually in Lexington, KY for BotCon. So yeah, I spent a day away from the convention getting Mews for me and Prime. Good times, good times. (I didn't miss anything too terribly major that day, iirc.)

EDIT: Found some new info over at the Allspark which is at least going to irritate everyone in Canada who wants to nab event Pokémon.

After being annoyed by these events once again, I decided to e-mail Nintendo the other day. This morning, I got a reply saying that they aren't the ones organizing these events; instead it's Pokemon USA that does it. Fair enough, so I e-mail those guys through pokemon.com and a few hours later, I get this response:

For each Pokemon distribution that we have done through Toys R Us, we have offered the same promotion to Canadian TRU stores, as we have to US stores. In each case, Canadian TRU has declined to participate in the distribution promotions.

We will continue to encourage Canadian TRU stores to participate in these promotions, but, in the end the decision is up to them.


Thank you,
Dave
Pokemon USA, Inc
Customer Service

Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: XJH-104455

WTF!?!? I'm never shopping there again; but in the meantime I'm going to send an e-mail off to their customer service department to complain.

Is THAT a six-pack of suck or what?

 

[VeronicaIsabel]

I know its ingame, just not obtainable by anything you do in the game unless you get to an even to unlock that part. And for a long time I never could use wifi on my DS and did not want to hack my game just to get the last few remaining pokemon to complete my pokedex, which I am just missing Arceus, Darkrai and Shaymin now. I could just trade on GTS for non legit ones, but it would not seem right, but its just a game after all.

You do reliese your Pokédex is already complete?

 

[The King of Nidos]

Shinx she is right you only need 490 pokemon to get the cirtificate not the last three so if those are the only ones you're missing then go claim your cirtificate buddy. =]

 

[Tezzle]

I've never actually completed a Pokedex in all my years of training, so I have to ask...what certificate are you guys talking about?

 

[The King of Nidos]

You get a cirtificate at the end of the game that proclaims your love for pokemon. You can get the Diploma if you have the Nat Dex because that means you have seen all of the pokemon in the sinnoh region. Also the reason I'm trying to fill up my pokedex is because I'm trying to get five stars on my trainer card.

 

[Tezzle]

Oh, I see. I was wondering if maybe there was some real certificate. With the immense number of pokemon their are now, and what you have to go through to get them, having all of them should get you some kind of physical prize. XD

 

[DCM]

Boo freakin hoo. So theyre are no events around where you live. Is the pokemon a neccesity? NO! It's part of a game, kids. They're out to make themsleves rich, not help every person who plays pokemon. And if there are no events on your country, then trade for the pokemon! It's not that hard.

 

[The King of Nidos]

Trust me getting a star on your card is a big deal and seeing someone with a black trainer card is really cool so trust me you wanna aim for the black trainer card but it's pretty hard. I only have a bronze one (2 stars)

 

[VeggiePopper]

I look at it this way.

Oh you have a pokemon you would like to give me and all I have to do is get in the car and drive somewhere? AWESOME! Theres nothing more frusterating for me than trying to catch a legendary/awesome pokemon and it runs or the pokeballs dont work, or I waste 30 pokeballs and 2 hours trying to get the sucker. This is fool proof!

As for Shaymin I'll be there. and if Toys R Us is lucky I might buy something.

Of course it is fool proof, but not country proof. If you live in, say, Indonesia or Mexico (wait!! I live in Mexico!), there is no Toys 'R' Us stores giving away the special Pokémon. And wait! These event Pkmn can't be traded over the GTS. OK, we're screwed now...

 

[Crankyman]

I dunno why you think that buying a game entitles people to events and easy access to said events. YOU BOUGHT A GAME.

 

[Orion-Sama]

I've never actually completed a Pokedex in all my years of training, so I have to ask...what certificate are you guys talking about?

It's just a Diploma from some NPC. Nowadays you "get" two. One for completing the local Pokédex, and the other for completing the National Pokédex. "Get" because you're only shown the Diploma. You can never have it physically. Oh yes, also a Star in your Trainer's Card. Nothing much indeed. Just bragging rights.

Oh, you don't need to complete the Pokédex with every Pokémon to get the Diploma/Star. Event Pokémon don't count for the completion. This is, you don't need to have any of the following: Mew, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Jirachi, Deoxys, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin and Arceus.

In any case, I'm with you regarding Events. We get them in Mexico once in a blue moon, only in the capital, and it's never at a time I can go to them. I can understand it until 3rd Gen. Nowadays, it's ridiculous. I mean, Wi-Fi is there for something. Why not use it? Keep on giving the super-special Pokémon if you want, but at least you could make regular forms of such Pokémon available to everyone. :/ Platinum takes it to a new level of ridiculousness by making some in-game content inaccessible if you don't own certain Event Pokémon. No matter how negligible this in-game content is, it's still ridiculous. Oh, Platinum also gets all the Wi-Fi Items, while DP owners are left in the dust. Way to go, 'tards.

I didn't have any problem with Event Pokémon, until the cool ones started to come around. Now I'm at a loss. At least they become available little by little. Still, OP has a point. It's gotten pretty egregious...

 

[ShadowTeddy]

oh man, the events are usually at toys r us which is all the way on the other side of the island ( i live in hawaii) and i don't even have a car to get there T~T