Games never seen in other parts of the world

If you grew up throughout the 90s, there is a good chance you have played at least one Pokemon game on the Game Boy (i.e. Pokemon Red or Blue). The two tinted cartridges were released in the United States in September 1998, throughout Europe and other countries, sweeping the gaming world. What many people didn’t know at the time, though, was that Pokemon Red had been released in Japan two years ago, and there was a title that would never be sold abroad: Pokemon Green.

With the advent of high-speed internet and accessible international travel in the decades since then, Pokemon Green is no longer a land-locked title, and copies can be found in person online and in many parts of the world. But why has this game never been released internationally? More importantly, what’s the difference?

Where it all begins

Before the Trading Card Game and the anime series I used to watch in the morning, Pokemon was originally a video game developed by the game freak for Nintendo Game Boy. Released in Japan in February 1996, there are two options to choose from: Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green, Charizard and Venasaur starred respectively in the art of packaging. The days of these games are very ambitious for titles that are now 30 years old and designed to run on systems you can hold in your palm. With 151 Pokemon, this storyline took over 20 hours to complete and was able to trade Pokemon with others who owned the game, it did a lot. But this ambition is not without its problems, especially for the green version.

From crashing to incorrect loading of character Sprites, Pokemon Green is full of programming inconsistencies, which can sometimes cause the game to behave instable or stop working altogether. So notorious are the many glitches of this particular title that the entire video series was created to record many ways in which these errors can be copied and exploited for strange and often interesting results.

Blue rescue

Realizing that their game needed some polished game freak recovery work and was ready in Japan in October 1996, essentially it was a new version of its predecessor with better graphics and bugs stood out. Interestingly, though, customers can’t just stroll to the local game store and pick up the dungeon. At least not at the beginning. Initially, Pokemon Blue was only available via mail order via Corocoro Comic, a monthly magazine for children that relies on the honors system where customers receive the game after they are paid in mail.

With the malfunction of the first two games and the graphics improved, the game freak then set out to develop an international version of the game. By tweaking the dataset of Japanese Pokemon Red and Green (in-game narrative, Pokemon spawning rate, etc.) with new and improved programming and graphics of Japanese Pokemon Blue as well as translations and dialogues for international audiences, we are tweeting us today in the United States and the world. However, these changes are not limited to the programming of the game.

In Japan, the original Pokemon game cartridges were released in low-key matte gray with colored stickers on the front, while the international version was even more striking, with the entire cartridge matched by color to match which version of the internal game.

But why is there no green?

From the outside, there seems to be no reason to make the updated version of Pokemon Green not available internationally with Pokemon Red or Blue. But, thanks to Wayback Machine, we can see that in an article on the 1999 Game Freak website, the opposite decision to green rather than green could be a marketing strategy that can further attract American consumers, whose colors are designed to fit the color of the American flag. However, whether this brings in the success of the franchise success with Western audiences, we may never know, as this decision is hardly elaborated anywhere else.

It’s safe to recall that even with all the problems, Pokemon Green went away so that its international peers could run. For those interested in trying some of the most influential titles in game history, it is still relatively easy to find a copy of Pokemon Green. If you are in Japan, most retro game stores will have used copies on boxes or no boxes, and if you are shopping overseas, you can find a lot online. Note that all real copies of the game are in Japanese, which is great for brushing your teeth while trying your best to grab your entire content (hopefully no malfunctions).

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