I am now thoroughly convinced this game does not exist (please prove me wrong)...

MasterFygar

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I am now thoroughly convinced this game does not exist (please prove me wrong)...

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8115

After scouring the English and Japanese speaking worlds for about two years looking for information on Himshou Goran Pocket Monster, I have come to the conclusion that the entry in KLOV is a fake-- that the game is nothing more than a hoax.

It's not surprising that it would get the votes needed to be added to the database-- after all, the information is very specific, the descriptions are long, and Pokemon is a franchise that is too new for most of KLOV's audience to pick up on. They know it exists, but few keep truly up to date on Pokemon matters, and fewer do so enough to tell when something is fishy about an entry. I admit it, I am a Pokemon fan, or at least a fan of the original generation, and I consider myself a bit of an expert... or at least enough of one to see what's wrong with this picture.

First of all, the description of the game itself is an almost pixel-perfect, so to speak, description of the Game-Boy games. The two version system, the Game Corner numbers, and almost everything else. The main difference is that each of the options on the menu are described as a button on the machine, and the functions each thing does are a bit warped from the way the real game works. Surf, for example, allows you to move normally on water, not teleport to other places. That's what Fly does, but Surf is what you use to get to the Unknown Dungeon. You don't need 50 Ultra Balls to catch a legendary bird, and you don't need a Master Ball to get Mewtwo. These 'facts' contradict the explanation at the bottom that they are arcade ports of the Game-Boy games. The writing gets more and more flawed and unprofessional as it continues: "Once you get to certain cities, go to the house with the POKE sign to heal your Pokemon. You can also turn on the PC to deposit objects. Read the status from Professor Oak's PC to see how many Pokemons you have got. Once it says MART, that means you can buy things. Some places wants to trade your Pokemon for theirs such as: Farfetch'd, Likitung, Mr. Mime, and Jynx." It sounds like a ten year old tried to remember what he did in the Game-Boy games to try to get one over on KLOV... or was just stupid.

It also says that the game is two player, with a Red version side and a Blue version side, and that they play simultaneously and only interact in Pokemon Centers if they choose to battle. While this works on the independent-screen Game-Boy games, I can hardly imagine a split-screen cabinet like that when little would be accomplished by it. It also says you can save like you do in the main games, which brings up even more logical fallacies. There is only one save file in Pokemon Red and Blue- why would an arcade machine make room for some thousands of daily players to save their files? What more, why would a game that takes days to beat usually, hours at minimum, be made into an arcade machine!? It's an RPG, there isn't much to keep you from progressing, and I can hardly see it working in an arcade situation to have fifty angry kids in line waiting for one Pokemon nerd to stop grinding levels in the grass to get their Pidgey to Level 100. And it talks about what to do "after you beat the game once"... if you're free to roam the world after beating it with overpowered Pokemon that can do anything, couldn't you play forever!? How would that even work in an arcade!? None of it makes any sense.

On a bit more technical level, the cabinet is described as having Ash and Pikachu on the side art. Why would Ash be on the side art for the video game, when he was only on the show!? The cabinet art sounds more like the art on crappy USA-only redemption game Pokemon Catch. What's more, if this took place in 2001 when Ash was out and the show was popular... wouldn't the machine use Gold and Silver, which were now the big attraction!? Red and Blue were outdated by then, and everyone had it for the Game-Boy- why the HELL would anyone pay to play a game they already beaten two years ago in an arcade!? I could see a game like Stadium working in such an environment where one could bring in their carts to battle, but to simulate an ancient home version of the game is simply absurd.

Plus, I can find no proof that this game exists anywhere. Searches only bring up sites reffering to the KLOV database, and when I search for the title in Japanese I get nothing. Even common Japanese variants bring up nothing. Doing some intense research on the Japanese web by searching for Pokemon arcade games in general showed me the print shops, snap stations, and coloring studio games, but nothing even remotely named like "Himshou Goran Pocket Monster". My Japanese speaking friends even say Himshou Goran is Japanese gibberish-- it sounds and looks Japanese, and uses their syllables, but means nothing. I looked through Japanese arcade databases, and I even got a magazine from Japan documenting Pokemon arcade releases- a ton of redemption games, nothing like what is described in the database. Nobody on any Pokemon or Nintendo forums had any answers, and one man was convinced he had it by finding a "Pokemon Island" flyer on ArcadeFlyers- but it featured Pokemon that came out around 2003.

And, when Nintendo released Pokemon Battrio a couple years back, a strange Pokemon battling game, they described it as the first Pokemon arcade game "game". The others were redemption or simple kiddy applications. If Himshou Goran exists, Nintendo must have forgotten about it. Even funnier, the information mirroring the Game-Boy releases posted at the bottom- "The Green Version was released in Japan only. The Red version had Charizard, the Blue version contained Blastoise, and the Green Version had Venusaur." Actually, you could get any of the three starters in any version, and... well, we're talking about a Japanese arcade game, right? And we just said there were Red and Blue versions... when we were talking about the Japanese version. So was there originally a version with THREE monitors, or what!?

It's become obvious to me, and hopefully now to all of you, that this game doesn't exist. If anyone can prove otherwise, please do, because it sounds like a cool concept for a home collection addition and I would love to have it. But as it stands, it's on most "to be dumped" lists of MAME ROMS when it DOESN'T EVEN EXIST, and it's leading lots of people to think there was some big arcade port that doesn't exist. I don't know if there's any way to remove from the database, and that may not be neccesary, I'm mainly just posting to see if anyone has anything more to add, and since I know there are some other Pokemon/retro gameboy fans on here, I don't want them to get tricked and spend two years chasing a phantom like I did.
 
In my opinion, entries should have at least a picture as a requirement to be included in the database. And I dont mean a promo picture, I mean an actual normal picture. But yeah, i've never heard of that game.
 
I am not arguing whether it exists or not, since I have even heard of it. However, over the years many games have existed that very few collectors knew about, including many of the cabaret/mini cabineted games. Time may tell, but I do commend you on your efforts to prove or disprove it's existance.

Scott C.
 
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I am not arguing whether it exists or not, since I have even heard of it. However, over the years many games have existed that very few collectors new about, including many of the cabaret/mini cabineted games. Time may tell, but I do commend you on your efforts to prove or disprove it's existance.

Scott C.

The only difference I can see in this case is that Nintendo never listed the game in any of their records. I've been through every account I can find of their arcade releases, and while I have discovered many hidden gems I thought I'd never seen (the Pokemon Coloring Studio had an incredible cabinet, for example), I can find nothing on this. If it were a release from any earlier I would agree there is a good chance that it is simply missing... but from the late 90s onward, Nintendo put a lot of effort into documenting every major release of theirs. There are many almost unknown arcade games in their databases (that are not on KLOV's) that shocked me, including an incredible four-sided Mario Party 8 machine... but this game is mysteriously absent from any of their documentation. At the very least, I would refute the idea that it was "wide release" as the database claims, and perhaps some sort of prototype.

But don't get me wrong- I would love if this game really did exist. The main reason I'm posting this is to see if anyone can figure out any mention of it outside of places using the KLOV entry as a source to give me something to go on. As a huge Gen 1 Pokemon fan, this would be my dream machine to own... I just fear that it doesn't exist TO own. If it did come out, it must have been a very limited release for Nintendo to effectively silence all reference to it from their archives.

And thank you... I really never meant to try to disprove its existance, but after essentially wasting my energy trying to prove it, I'm starting to find myself proving the answer I didn't want to have. I still really hope you might be right and it is out there somewhere...
 
This may possibly be related. Read Japanese?

267000103.jpg
 
There's this one, too:
pokecab.jpg

But I guess this one is way too new... would love having one, though. And a snap station, too
 
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Thanks Mod, but that's the Pokemon Island flyer I mentioned that came out too late to fit the release window. That has Gen III Pokemon that shouldn't have been out yet.

Mindl3ss- yeah, that's Battrio :D Too new to be related but it is freaking sweet. You get little magnetic tokens you use to move your Pokemon on the screen. It's kind of like a cross between Pokemon Stadium and Fire Emblem. And I have a Snap Station, they're pretty cool but the 15 minute reset chip is annoying as hell.

vicemikey- It's not because it's a Pokemon game (well okay maybe it is somewhat since I already admitted I am guilty of being a retro Pokemon fan), but because it's an inconsistancy in the database. Pokemon was made by Nintendo, and as attached as a good chunk of the population here are to the "Ninty" machines, I should hope they would see the importance of accurately portraying the company's release history and possibly discovering a new game.

I really just want to know who posted the game and where they got the information from (or if they completely falsified it). If there was widespread debate about it like Polybius that would be a different story, but as it is I'm failing to see how the article's creator could have discovered the information. From the writing style and condradictions I doubt they could have discovered legitimate information I could not. If they did, I wish they'd speak up and say where.
 
I can feel what you're putting down, all except being a "retro" pokemon fan. :) - Pokemon is barely 10 years old in the states right? - That's not retro, is it?

Thanks Mod, but that's the Pokemon Island flyer I mentioned that came out too late to fit the release window. That has Gen III Pokemon that shouldn't have been out yet.

Mindl3ss- yeah, that's Battrio :D Too new to be related but it is freaking sweet. You get little magnetic tokens you use to move your Pokemon on the screen. It's kind of like a cross between Pokemon Stadium and Fire Emblem. And I have a Snap Station, they're pretty cool but the 15 minute reset chip is annoying as hell.

vicemikey- It's not because it's a Pokemon game (well okay maybe it is somewhat since I already admitted I am guilty of being a retro Pokemon fan), but because it's an inconsistancy in the database. Pokemon was made by Nintendo, and as attached as a good chunk of the population here are to the "Ninty" machines, I should hope they would see the importance of accurately portraying the company's release history and possibly discovering a new game.

I really just want to know who posted the game and where they got the information from (or if they completely falsified it). If there was widespread debate about it like Polybius that would be a different story, but as it is I'm failing to see how the article's creator could have discovered the information. From the writing style and condradictions I doubt they could have discovered legitimate information I could not. If they did, I wish they'd speak up and say where.
 
I can feel what you're putting down, all except being a "retro" pokemon fan. :) - Pokemon is barely 10 years old in the states right? - That's not retro, is it?

I mean "retro" jokingly, to refer to the first generation, meaning the original GameBoy titles and the console titles compatible with them. It's still fairly new, yes (1998 release for the first game). I think it might be based on some obscure manga that the guy that made it released in the 80s called Capsule Monsters, if I've heard correctly, but even that's shaky.
 
Thanks Mod, but that's the Pokemon Island flyer I mentioned that came out too late to fit the release window. That has Gen III Pokemon that shouldn't have been out yet.

But it does show a Nintendo copyright, so that would suggest Nintendo had something to do with Pokemon-related arcade games in Japan. That would suggest it's possible there was a prior title.

I also noticed in my searching that someone mentioned the possibility that the first two words are misspelled, which may have something to do with search failures.

Anyone here read Japanese who can check what it says in Japanese on the KLOV title page?
 
But it does show a Nintendo copyright, so that would suggest Nintendo had something to do with Pokemon-related arcade games in Japan. That would suggest it's possible there was a prior title.

I also noticed in my searching that someone mentioned the possibility that the first two words are misspelled, which may have something to do with search failures.

Anyone here read Japanese who can check what it says in Japanese on the KLOV title page?

I know Nintendo made a few titles... I have 4 of them saved to my bookmarks, including that one, and that one was the latest since Battrio, so I didn't really find the copyright surprising. You did make me realize by pointing that out, though, that the database entry says it was by "Game Freak", so if Nintendo was somehow uninvolved (perhaps it was originally meant to be an arcade release!?), that could explain its abscence from their archives. The misspelling, however, could be crucial... If anyone knows enough Japanese to take the Japanese title from KLOV and transpose it to usable Japanese text I can use to search for answers, please speak up!
 
Hey, I'm with you MasterFrygar... I started playing Pokemon before it was released in America. I used to download the fan translations of the games and play them on No$Gameboy

As for how old it is... it was released in 98. Not "retro" by comparison, but I would consider the original pokemon "classic" pokemon
 
Thanks Mod... that's certainly it, but I get nothing in response to a search for it in any search engines but a link to another topic I made about it on another forum. The games authenticity is not looking good... even if it was a one of a kind prototype, someone must have found the title somewhere, and it doesn't appear to exist on the Japanese side of the web, KLOV or otherswise.
 
hinshi - dying, verge of death - or - part of speech
you - appearance, manner, way - or - early death, calamity
goran - look, inspection, try
poket - pocket
suto - strike
monsuta - monster
 
Huh. So it does mean something, and has an awesome title too. Since it's not gibberish but still brings up nothing, I'm thoroughly confused, but also intrigued. Perhaps this was some sort of bootleg release like Puckman Pockimon? Either way, thanks Mod, you've managed to solve the puzzle's title unlike anyone else I've gone too before...
 
I love pokemon . Haven't kept up with the latest games though . The first DS game was the last one I've played .
 
Huh. So it does mean something, and has an awesome title too. Since it's not gibberish but still brings up nothing, I'm thoroughly confused, but also intrigued. Perhaps this was some sort of bootleg release like Puckman Pockimon? Either way, thanks Mod, you've managed to solve the puzzle's title unlike anyone else I've gone too before...

The problem is grammar and semantics. Words by themselves mean one thing, but when paired with others mean something else entirely. There's also the structure element, so I don't know if the words are sequential like English (White House) or not (Casa de Blanca).

Plus, do you translate it literally? "Voulex-vous coucher avec mois ce soir?" literally means, "Would you like to sleep with me this night?" But we would say, "Wanna fuck?"
 
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