Pokémon Channel
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| Pokémon Channel | |
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Release date(s) |  July 18, 2003 December 1, 2003 April 2, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Virtual pet/Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone |
| Platform(s) | GameCube |
| Media | 1 × GameCube Optical Disc |
Pokémon Channel is a virtual pet video game for the GameCube, developed by Nintendo. Its focus is the adventures the player has with Pikachu, most of them involving a new television network. The game can be considered the spiritual sequel to Hey You, Pikachu!.
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[edit] Plot
Professor Oak is developing a network that can be enjoyed by both Pokémon and their Trainers. The player has been chosen as a beta tester for the network, and is given a TV to watch the programs on. A television-loving Pikachu, seeing the TV being delivered, takes an interest in the TV and follows the Magnemite delivering it to the player's in-game house. As the network is to be enjoyed by both Pokémon and humans alike, the Pikachu becomes a beta tester as well. As the game progresses, the Pikachu grows closer to the player, and can eventually be nicknamed.
The game uses the GameCube's internal clock to count real time as game time. As days progress, more channels become available, including the serial Pichu Bros. in Party Panic! show.
[edit] List of channels
The network has a large number of channels, consisting of:
- Pichu Bros. In Party Panic!: A twenty-two minute long cartoon, broken into five short segments, featuring the Pichu Brothers. Meowth throws a party that the Pichu brothers and their friends are not invited to. After a series of events, they find out they were invited, but their invitations were simply delivered late. They go to Meowth's Party and hear him sing. The series has a total of five episodes, each on its own channel. The event cannot be bypassed.
- Hosted by Kasumi!: The complete Pichu Bros. short with Kasumi (Misty) as the narrator. This is in Japanese.
- Pichu Bros. In Party Panic: Japanese Version: The complete Pichu Bros. short in Japanese. (In the European version, this is replaced by Spanish when the game is set to English, and English when the game is set to a different language.)
- Pichu Bros. In Party Panic: English Version: The complete Pichu Bros. series in English. (In the European version, this is replaced by whatever language the game is set to.)
- Oak Report: Not a TV show, but merely a channel to save the game. It is hosted by Professor Oak.
- PNF (Pokémon News Flash): The local news channel, hosted by Psyduck. It has two random news stories, as well as Meowth interviewing a Pokémon. Sometimes it gives hints on where to find rare Pokémon. Psyduck will occasionally fall asleep during the newscast, and at times will be asleep from the beginning of the show right to the end.
- Shop 'N Squirtle: The home-shopping network. It sells a variety of items, both decorative and necessary to game play. The show offers consumer comments with every item, and is hosted by Spencer the Squirtle.
- Smoochum Shape-up: The aerobic exercise channel. Pikachu follows along with Roochu Smoochum's exercises, and sometimes invites the player to join in.
- Quiz Wobbuffet: The first of three gameshows on the network. Wobbuffet asks the Pokémon contestants, as well as the player, various "Guess that Pokémon" questions.
- Slowpoke's Weather Report: On this channel, which is often considered rather tedious, Slowpoke will change the weather to sunny, cloudy, or rainy. The weather determines what Pokémon will appear in the different regions.
- Smeargle's Art Study: After the player has painted something with the Smeargle Paint 2 and displayed it in the player's in-game room, Smeargle will feature it on his show and rate it.
- Eggzamination: The second of three gameshows. The player has to guess what Pokémon will hatch from the Pokéegg. The hatching process can take anywhere from two minutes to twenty-four hours.
- Chansey's Fortune: The player picks a fortune cookie, and Chansey reads the fortune. The player can only read one fortune a day.
- Odd One Out: The last of the three gameshows. The player must guess if there will be an odd or even number of Oddish, Wynaut, or Caterpie on the field.
- Mareep Farm: Watch Mareep jump over fences as the game counts how many have gone by.
- Chum Chum Ranking: Moochu Smoochum, Roochu's twin, rates various things.
[edit] List of Pokemon Nice Cards
See the List of Pokemon Nice Cards
[edit] Pokémon Mini
Pokémon Channel also includes a virtual Pokémon Mini. Pikachu must find it under the bed before it can be played with. The virtual Pokémon Mini comes with a Pokémon Channel exclusive game, Snorlax's Lunchtime. The player has to buy other Pokémon Mini games on Shop N' Squirtle.
[edit] Jirachi
Players can obtain the rare Pokémon Jirachi in both the European and Australian versions of the game; it can be downloaded onto a version of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. After unlocking the full version of The Pichu Bros. in Party Panic, Jirachi will appear, and the mini-movie will be shown above the campfire. After the movie finishes, Jirachi can be obtained from the menu screen. Doing so will also fix the infamous berry glitch in Ruby and Sapphire.
[edit] Reaction
The game received mixed reactions from critics [1]. The main complaint from critics was over the game's lack of interactivity since most of the gametime is spent watching television. In addition to this, the fact that many animated sequences cannot be bypassed was found to be annoying, particularly when the player has already seen them or is familiar with them. The good reviews were more lenient on these points, stating that it likely designed with younger players in mind.
X-Play was the harshest on the game, considering it to be the 2nd worst GameCube game to date, only to be beaten by Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis. They consider it an example for a game deserving a 0 / 5 score, following the belief that it isn't truly a game because it really lacks a sense of interactivity.
Despite this, the reviews average out to a score of 53% which Game Rankings places at rank 283 out of 489 GameCube games as of November 2006. [2]
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