Pokemon pitch for the west revealed that could have turned it into a gritty baseball game

Former Nintendo of America advertising manager Gail Tilden has revealed that there was at least some discussion about turning Pokemon into a gritty baseball RPG outside of Japan.

Well before the franchise became the mainstream success that it is today, Nintendo was grappling with how to localize things for the west. Feeling that it wouldn’t be easy to sell in the west, Tilden said that the company’s advertising agency suggested doing something different by essentially turning it into a gritty baseball game. Thankfully that didn’t come to be, and Nintendo ended up with a localization that was faithful to the original Japanese version.

Tilden noted in an interview with the Video Game History Foundation:

“So prior to me getting involved that directly as team lead, we had all seen the game — a black and white RPG on Game Boy with very Japanese characters — we’re like ‘ugh.’ And then our ad agency said, ‘Could we just change the art and it’ll be like gritty and we’ll make like graffiti on the walls and stuff like that.’ There was also a thought like, ‘Is the way that the game is formatted, could we make it that they’re all baseball players in a baseball league and not a Pokemon league?’”

Tilden went on to say that Pokemon was gaining popularity as various discussions and meetings were happening. Perhaps seeing the growing popularity, Nintendo of America founded Minoru Arakawa put his foot down and decided “to do it all”, which included localizing the games as intended. That ended up being the right move – Pokemon is still very much a force in Japan, but also around the world – including in the west.

Just a few days ago, Pokemon Legends: Z-A got its proper unveiling with a first in-game look. You can check that out here.