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宝可梦为何仍被玩家喜爱
增田顺一与河内丸武史解释宝可梦如何以简单上手、收集交换与隐藏深度长期留住玩家。
The power of the Pokémon brand is impossible to deny: Worldwide sales figures total over 186 million units across the entire series, and individually, each game holds a coveted spot in the top 20 highest selling console games of all time (with the newest, Diamond/Pearl weighing in at 16.48 million after just two years in worldwide release). In fact, the brand only seems to be growing stronger – Diamond/Pearl has already sold more units than every other Pokémon iteration except the original Red/Blue. But why are gamers still playing? How did Pokémon escape the ravages of both waning interest and oversaturation that leave so many of its kid-friendly peers behind?
宝可梦品牌的影响力无可否认：全系列全球销量总计超过1.86亿份，单款游戏也都在史上最畅销主机游戏前20名中占有一席之地（最新的《钻石/珍珠》在全球发售仅两年后销量就达到1648万份）。事实上，这个品牌似乎只会越来越强——《钻石/珍珠》的销量已经超过了除初代《红/蓝》之外的所有宝可梦作品。但为什么玩家们还在玩？宝可梦是如何逃脱兴趣消退和过度饱和的双重侵蚀，而许多同类儿童向游戏却未能幸免？
Junichi Masuda, a member of the Pokémon design team since the first title (as well as a board director of Game Freak) who’s held duties ranging from scenario director to music composer, obviously knows the game very well. When asked what he thought the major reason that people still eagerly await the release of each new title, his immediate response was its simplicity. “Pokémon games don’t focus just on hardcore players; they’re accessible, approachable by everyone. Anyone can pick up and play the game without feeling overwhelmed. When you focus too much attention on just the hardcore, things get complicated.” And, obviously, with its cute graphics, Saturday morning cartoon tie-ins, and watered-down narrative, the game is skewed toward a younger audience. But it remains almost as popular among adults, and the reasons for that come down to strong game design.
增田顺一从首款作品起就是宝可梦设计团队的成员（同时也是Game Freak的董事），担任过从剧本导演到音乐作曲等多种职务，显然对这款游戏非常了解。当被问及他认为人们仍然热切期待每款新作发布的主要原因时，他立刻回答说是简单。”宝可梦游戏不只面向硬核玩家；它们平易近人，任何人都能上手。任何人都能拿起就玩，不会感到不知所措。当你把太多注意力放在硬核玩家身上时，事情就会变得复杂。”而且，凭借可爱的画面、周六早晨卡通片的联动以及简化的叙事，这款游戏显然偏向年轻受众。但它在成年人中几乎同样受欢迎，原因归结于出色的游戏设计。
收集的科学
The Pokémon games have some cute, original creature designs, but beyond their cuddly forms (and the hulking monsters many of them grow into) there are a lot of them – 493 at last count. And, like with any repetitive game that offers rewards directly related to time spent in the game (see also World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time) the capacity for endless grinding to raise a character’s level by even a fraction is an almost primal desire, one particularly well suited to games. For casual collectors, it might be enough to make it through the story with the bare minimum requirements. But countless hours can be spent exploring the game world to find every last, rare pokémon – then even more time spent leveling them up. From the outside, it can seem like a grueling task, but, there’s a great deal of comfort in familiarity and repetition.
宝可梦游戏有一些可爱、原创的生物设计，但除了它们可爱的外形（以及许多最终进化成的庞大怪物）之外，它们的数量很多——最近统计有493种。而且，就像任何一款奖励与游戏时间直接挂钩的重复性游戏一样（参见《魔兽世界》和《最终幻想水晶编年史：时之回声》），为了提升角色等级哪怕一点点而进行无尽刷练的能力是一种近乎原始的欲望，特别适合游戏。对于休闲收集者来说，以最低要求通关故事可能就够了。但可以花费无数小时探索游戏世界，寻找每一只稀有的宝可梦——然后还要花更多时间将它们升级。从外部看，这似乎是一项艰苦的任务，但在熟悉和重复中有很大的安慰。
And unlike many other games that make the player start over with each new iteration, Pokémon (with one exception) allows players to transfer their previously caught creatures to the next title in the series. The exception occurred when the Game Boy transitioned to the Game Boy Advance – the original cartridges were incompatible with the redesigned system, leaving no way to transfer Pokémon between Red/Blue and Gold/Silver over to Ruby/Sapphire. But Game Freak rectified its mistake with the fourth generation of DS titles: Diamond/Pearl provided the ability to transfer Pokémon from GBA to DS. But it’s all another way to maintain the audience; when players feel that the Pokémon they catch today will still be viable party members in the next iteration of games, it encourages loyalty to the franchise.
与许多让玩家在每一代新作中从头开始的游戏不同，宝可梦（有一个例外）允许玩家将之前捕获的生物转移到系列下一款作品中。例外发生在Game Boy过渡到Game Boy Advance时——原版卡带与重新设计的系统不兼容，无法将《红/蓝》和《金/银》中的宝可梦转移到《红宝石/蓝宝石》。但Game Freak在第四代DS作品中纠正了这个错误：《钻石/珍珠》提供了从GBA向DS转移宝可梦的功能。但这都是维持受众的另一种方式；当玩家觉得今天捕获的宝可梦在下一款游戏中仍然是可用的队伍成员时，就会鼓励对系列的忠诚。
But what might also be artificially inflating the number Pokémon copies sold is that while the two versions that come out in each new generation follow the exact same story, certain pokémon are rare-to-nonexistent in one title, while abundant in the other. To truly catch all of the game’s myriad pokémon, players must hook up with a friend who has the corresponding game and trade creatures (or buy a copy of both Diamond and Pearl, then play through each multiple times). According to Masuda, it’s not just a videogame, it’s a shared experience – and for that experience, “It’s important to communicate what you want, to talk when you trade and battle.”
但可能人为抬高宝可梦销量的另一个原因是，虽然每一代推出的两个版本遵循完全相同的故事，但某些宝可梦在一个版本中稀有甚至不存在，而在另一个版本中却很丰富。要真正捕获游戏中所有众多宝可梦，玩家必须与拥有对应游戏的朋友连接并交换生物（或者同时购买《钻石》和《珍珠》各一份，然后各自通关多次）。据增田说，这不仅仅是一款电子游戏，而是一种共享体验——对于这种体验，”表达你想要什么、在交换和对战时交流是很重要的。”
超越训练
Platinum’s director, Takeshi Kawachimaru, describes the Pokémon universe as “a very specific world, but I think players feel comfortable in that world. And they want to keep going back, because it feels so comfortable.” And the reason for that is that Game Freak provides reasons to stay there beyond the main game. Ruby/Sapphire introduced casual friendly Pokémon Contests to the franchise – a dog show-like event for pokémon. The standard battle moves all have alternate descriptions which affect the contest’s judges in unique ways, and there’s a separate set of badges and awards that can only be obtained through methodical grooming and show competing.
《白金》的总监河内丸武史描述宝可梦宇宙为”一个非常特定的世界，但我认为玩家在那个世界里感到舒适。他们想不断回去，因为感觉太舒适了。”而原因在于Game Freak提供了主线游戏之外留在那里的理由。《红宝石/蓝宝石》为系列引入了休闲友好的宝可梦华丽大赛——一种类似犬展的宝可梦活动。标准对战招式都有替代描述，以独特方式影响大赛评委，还有一套只能通过有条理的梳理和表演竞赛获得的徽章和奖项。
But there’s another game-within-the game at work in Pokémon, made to resonate with the casual audience: the player’s relationship with their pokémon. And no game made that connection quite as apparent as Pokémon Yellow. After the raging success of the Pokémon TV show and the incredible love viewers showed to a certain electric mouse, the developers changed the starting pokémon to Pikachu and let the player talk to him throughout the adventure. If he was kept alive and well trained, he expressed his happiness whenever the player interacted with him, while bad trainers who repeatedly let the mouse faint or kept him confined to his Pokéball would only receive messages of unhappiness from their companion. That game mechanic carried forward throughout the rest of the series. Though it wasn’t quite as obvious till Diamond/Pearl – which added specific accessories that let the player keep an eye on their pokémon’s happiness levels.
但宝可梦中还有另一个游戏中的游戏在起作用，旨在与休闲受众产生共鸣：玩家与他们的宝可梦之间的关系。没有哪款游戏比《宝可梦 黄》更明显地建立了这种联系。在宝可梦电视动画大获成功、观众对某只电老鼠表现出难以置信的喜爱之后，开发者将起始宝可梦改为皮卡丘，并让玩家在整个冒险过程中与它对话。如果它保持健康并训练有素，每当玩家与它互动时，它都会表达快乐，而反复让这只老鼠昏倒或把它关在精灵球里的糟糕训练师只会收到伙伴的不快乐信息。这种游戏机制在系列后续作品中延续下来。虽然直到《钻石/珍珠》才变得相当明显——该作添加了特定配件，让玩家可以关注宝可梦的幸福等级。
隐藏的宝可梦游戏
But underneath that sugar-coated veneer of Pokémon is a game that, for all its pick up and playability, still rewards dedicated, extremely hardcore players. Entire websites are dedicated to tracking a pokémon’s Effort Value (EV) and Individual Values (IV). It’s only exploited by a small percentage of the fan base, but entire websites are dedicated to breeding, cultivating, and nurturing fighters who have the highest possible stats. And, since they aren’t tracked in any visible way, normal players have no way of knowing anything about them.
但在宝可梦那层糖衣般的外表之下，这款游戏虽然上手容易、随时可玩，却依然能回馈那些投入极深、极其硬核的玩家。有整座整座的网站专门用来追踪宝可梦的努力值（EV）和个体值（IV）。这些机制只被一小部分粉丝群体所利用，但确实有整座整座的网站专门用于培育、养成和培养拥有尽可能高数值的对战宝可梦。而且，由于这些数值没有任何可见的方式被追踪，普通玩家根本无从得知它们的任何信息。
The specifics are far too in-depth to fully describe (but MyCheats has a handy guide that lays it out right here). But the point is that the hardcore are rewarded for careful, calculated stat manipulation. While the core mechanics were added in to make sure every pokémon leveled up with individual stats, it’s natural that some players learned the rules of manipulating those hidden values. And for better or worse, it provides a game that caters to a broader audience because of it. If the entire system truly was randomly generated, there wouldn’t be a culture of mathematical manipulators focused on “overclocking” their pets. And, just like in the world of high-end computing and technology early-adopters, these people help create and maintain the buzz around the source of their obsession.
具体细节太过深入，无法在此完整描述（不过 MyCheats 有一份方便的指南，就在这里把它讲清楚了）。但关键在于，硬核玩家会因为精心、计算过的数值操控而获得回报。虽然这些核心机制被加入，本意是确保每只宝可梦升级时都有各自的数值，但自然会有一些玩家学会操控这些隐藏数值的规则。无论好坏，正因如此，它提供了一款能够迎合更广泛受众的游戏。如果整个系统真的是随机生成的，就不会有这样一种文化：一群数学操控者专注于给自己的宠物“超频”。而且，就像高端计算和技术领域的早期采用者一样，这些人帮助创造并维持着围绕他们痴迷之源的讨论热度。
展望未来
Without going through a substantial evolution (the game’s graphics have improved marginally, and the roster of available, but similar, pokémon, grows larger with each new game), Pokémon has managed to create a handheld empire, but a lot of that credit goes to Nintendo. Outside of its sheer marketing power, Nintendo nurtures a stable of hit-making characters who don’t vary too much, but whose basic structure is compelling enough that people always want to come back for more. No matter how many sports cameos Mario makes nor RPG outings, the Italian plumber is all about platforming, saving the princess, and beating Bowser. Link is a sword-wielding Hyrulian who has to rescue Zelda. And Pokémon is a collecting, battling, and trading-centric RPG.
在没有经历重大进化的情况下（游戏的画面只有轻微提升，而每一款新作中可获得的、彼此相似的宝可梦阵容都在扩大），宝可梦成功打造了一个掌机帝国，但其中很大一部分功劳要归于任天堂。除了其强大的营销能力之外，任天堂还培育了一批能够制造热门的角色，他们变化不大，但其基本结构足够引人入胜，让人们总是想回来获得更多。无论马力欧在多少体育游戏里客串、又出了多少 RPG 作品，这位意大利水管工的核心始终是平台跳跃、拯救公主和打败库巴。林克是一位手持剑的海拉鲁人，必须去救塞尔达。而宝可梦则是一款以收集、对战和交换为核心的 RPG。
If Pokémon continues its current trend, there won’t be another major release in the franchise until a new handheld reaches the market, and when asked about it, Masuda said that the design team is always looking for a challenge, but “the handheld system is the most suitable for Pokémon.” The DS, with 27 million hardware units solds, offers an incredibly broader player base, and there isn’t another casual and hardcore franchise out there (outside of Nintendo’s own Mario) with the such a strong history. Masuda added that, just as a teleconference isn’t as involving as meeting with someone face-to-face, Pokémon’s charm is that it’s best enjoyed face-to-face. Even if the series expands onto the web, the core experience will remain the face-to-face experience. There might not be an MMO or even a major console release anywhere in the near future, but as long as Nintendo and Game Freak maintain the partnership, Pokémon games will remain on the horizon, and at the top of the sales charts, for a long time to come.
如果宝可梦延续当前的趋势，那么在该系列中就不会再有另一款重大作品问世，直到新的掌机上市；当被问及此事时，增田表示设计团队一直在寻找挑战，但“掌机系统最适合宝可梦”。DS 已售出 2700 万台硬件，提供了极其广泛的玩家基础，而且除了任天堂自家的马力欧之外，没有另一个同时面向休闲与硬核玩家的系列拥有如此深厚的历史。增田还补充说，正如电话会议不如面对面会面那样有参与感，宝可梦的魅力在于它最适合面对面享受。即使该系列扩展到网络上，核心体验仍将是对面体验。在不久的将来，也许不会有 MMO，甚至不会有主机平台的大型作品，但只要任天堂和 Game Freak 维持合作关系，宝可梦游戏就会在很长一段时间内继续出现在地平线上，并位居销售榜前列。
Index 本篇提到
- 宝可梦 1
- 皮卡丘