Pokémon Channel

The player can explore full 3D environments, have Pikachu converse with other Pokémon, and collect various items. The game was developed rather quickly as a sequel to the Nintendo 64 title Hey You, Pikachu! And to promote the Nintendo e-Reader accessory; it uses a novel 3D texturing effect. It was first showcased at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2003 and later through a month-long series of promotional events in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. It was released on July 18, 2003, in Japan, December 1, 2003, in North America, and April 2, 2004, in Europe. In Japan, the game sold 66,373 copies in its first year. It received mixed reviews, which generally criticized its low level of interactivity and repetitive sound effects, though its collecting aspects and visuals were somewhat better received.

• Developer — Ambrella • Director — * Muneaki Ozawa • Norio Matsumura • Producer — * Tatsuya Hishida • Kunimi Kawamura • Designer — * Muneaki Ozawa • Miki Obata • Norio Matsumura • Kunimi Kawamura • Programmer — * Takayuki Ito • Yosuke Suma • Nayuta Taga • Ein Terakawa • Yoshihiro Hatta • Hisato Matsumoto • Yoshiyuki Oku • Writer — * Miki Obata • Norio Matsumura • Takayuki Ito • Masayuki Miura • Hizuki Misono • Composer — Miki Obata • Genre — * Adventure • virtual pet • simulation • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — GameCube • Series — Pokémon

Pokémon Channel is difficult to categorize into a genre, as it incorporates elements of adventure, simulation, and digital pet games. The graphics are in 3D, the perspective is first-person, and the player navigates and selects things with a cursor. The game centers on watching television programs with Pikachu, a mouse-like Pokémon (voiced by Ikue Ōtani). The player, who lives in a house, can channel-surf freely among the various channels of a television network created by the Pokémon professor, Professor Oak, as well as explore one room of the house and several outdoor areas. Pikachu sometimes displays emotional reactions while watching, such as happiness or anger. The game takes place over a few days, with unique plot events on each. The GameCube inner clock tracks time such that every in-game day lasts at least as long as one real-time day. While several channels are available, only a few are essential to the completion of the game. The player saves the game by reporting on recent accomplishments to Oak at Prof. Oak Report, watches episodes of an anime series at Pichu Bros., and listens to plot-advancing news coverage from Psyduck at Pokémon News Flash (PNF). On a channel called Shop 'n Squirtle, the player uses the game's currency, "Poké", to purchase bus passes to travel among the game's locations, as well as non-essential items like Pokémon dolls, new television sets in various styles, and other decorations, all delivered by Delibird (a bird-like Pokémon that carries various items in its satchel). Extraneous channels include the trivia-based game show Quiz Wobbuffet, where the player earns Poké, the art exhibition program Smeargle's Art Study, where Smeargle gives opinions on art that can be created in a paint-by-numbers style in the player's house, and the exercise program Smoochum Shape-Up. The main collectibles available in Pokémon Channel are trading cards that display various Pokémon. The trading cards, known in game as Nice Cards, exist in three forms: Single, which simply show a picture; Motion, which are holographic; and Platinum, which are holographic and play the respective Pokémon's cries. The collectibles can be found by having Pikachu speak with other Pokémon and help them with tasks, or by ordering from Shop 'n Squirtle. There is a virtual Pokémon Mini console hidden under the player's bed that plays 10 games in the Japanese release and six games internationally. These games are all excerpts from games released for the real-life Pokémon Mini, with the exception of Snorlax's Lunch Time, which is exclusive to Pokémon Channel. The games are simple and mainly based on rhythm.

• Illustration — Pikachu watches a game show, Quiz Wobbuffet. A group of Magnemite delivers a television to the player's house. Upon turning the television on, Professor Oak appears to request the player's help: he is creating a new television network for Trainers and their Pokémon to enjoy together, and he wants the player to serve as a beta tester. He has them watch an episode of an anime called Pichu Brothers in Party Panic! and then introduces the game's basic features before leaving them alone. The player then hears Pokémon cries from outside, which turns out to belong to the mouse-like Pikachu, the reptilian Treecko and the avian Torchic. While the others run off, Pikachu stays and the player adopts it. Oak allows Pikachu to be a second beta tester. After the player completes a few tasks, Oak remarks that Pikachu has behaved remarkably well. Overexcited, Pikachu inadvertently uses its Thunderbolt attack on the television. Undaunted, Oak gives the player a replacement television the next morning while remarking their viewership has brought life to the network and helped spawn new shows. The player then finds a bus stop and visits Viridian Forest, a location that first appeared in Pokémon Red and Blue. Over the next two days, Pikachu invites its friends back to the player's house, and later visits the snowy Mt. Snowfall and the tropical Cobalt Coast with the player. On the morning of the fifth day, a disc containing the unaired fifth episode of Pichu Brothers was dropped and lost by the delivery Magnemite on their way to the show's broadcasting studio. After obtaining a lamp from a friendly Duskull in the front lawn, the player takes a bus back to Mt. Snowfall, where the disc was presumed lost. Eastward are the Ruins of Truth, where the stubborn Ghost-type Pokémon Gengar blocks the player's path until the lamp scares it away. Inside the Ruins, Pikachu gets stuck inside a statue of the bat-like Pokémon Golbat. The player hands it back to Magnemite, who is waiting sheepishly outside, and heads home to watch the last episode, along with a video called Meowth's Party. Oak informs the player that every program produced for his network has been aired, thanking the player and Pikachu for their time, and announces the impending arrival of a gift for them. The gift, which arrives the following morning, is a "Star Projector", a device for viewing images flashed across the sky. That night, Professor Oak notices that a Pokémon has arrived at the player's house—the rare and legendary Jirachi—which leaves him in shock. The player, Pikachu, and Jirachi then visit Camp Starlight, the locale for which the Projector is intended. Using it, they project the entire series of Pichu Brothers and Meowth's Party onto the sky for the universe to see.

• Illustration — Pokémon Channel was created in part to promote the Nintendo e-Reader (pictured) and included three cards for it. Pokémon Channel was developed by Nintendo subsidiary Ambrella and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. It was created both to serve as a spiritual successor to Hey You, Pikachu!—a similar digital pet-type game wherein the player plays with a Pikachu—and to promote the Nintendo e-Reader peripheral device. The game included three e-Reader-compatible cards, but not the e-Reader device itself. When scanned, the cards upload new templates for the player to paint and for Smeargle to critique. The game uses the visual effect of applying pre-rendered video footage to a polygon, specifically the game's pre-recorded shows on the television. IGN writer Anoop Gantayat praised this effect's implementation, although he did note some minor graphical issues visible in the transition from distanced to full-screen viewing. Also unusual for the Pokémon video game series, the Pokémon's voices are performed by the anime voice cast and sound like their names. The game was first announced at E3 2003, where IGN staff noted that the game's demo appeared to be early in development due to its choppy frame rate. Pokémon Channel was released on July 18, 2003, in Japan, December 1, 2003, in North America, and April 2, 2004, in Europe. The game was showcased on its Japanese release date at the Sapporo, Hokkaido, location of Pokemon Festa 2003, a series of promotional events that extended across Japan and lasted about a month. Attendees could play the game at GameCube kiosks.