Initially, Nintendo's scarily popular franchise was all on its own, brainwashing playground kids across the nation and simultaneously keeping Nintendo at a level of profitability which compensated hugely for the N64's mediocre performance in Japan. After a while, other Japanese developers realized the potential of battle/collect/trade games. Hence the Yu-Gi-Oh titles.
The thing with trading games of any type -- even football stickers, conkers and whatever you may have in the States -- is that they can become powerfully addictive pastimes (often wonderfully so, providing great escapism for keen imaginations) which never really end.
In a market such as Japan, where various entertainment mediums (TV/cinema games, books, cards) converge so effectively to get a message or product across to young audiences, an IP which has an addictive quality is a certain hit. And because there's so much consumer spending to be fought for in Japan, the production of new IP is constant. As a child (or a parent), you cannot escape the flood of content.
As a developer of a popular franchise, you cannot escape imitation by other developers. Case in point: Sega developed the hugely successful Mushi King, a game which manages to combine trading cards with compatible arcade, Game Boy Advance and DS titles. In 2005, Mushi King was the number one playground game in Japan. Very quickly, a remarkably similar game from Taito appeared. And then another, from Rocket.
I asked the seven-year-old son of a friend about Mushi King. He loves the games and is particularly enthusiastic about the cards, which he trades and battles with friends at school. I then mention the Taito/Rocket imitations/variations -- but he only likes "the real Mushi King."
Sega's next venture in this field was Dinosaur King. The premise is similar to Mushi King, only players battle dinosaurs in lieu of insects. Cheekily, Taito also followed this title with its own game, imaginatively named Dino King. Sega responded with a lawsuit at the end of 2005, but as far as I can see it's yet to have had any real effect on Taito's operation -- in fact, I played some Dino King in a local game center only yesterday. Surprisingly, it's a lot of fun. And surprisingly -- proving that he's no Sega loyalist, simply a fan of good gaming -- my friend's son concurs.
Taito has taken and honed the Mushi King system of janken (Japan's equivalent of 'paper, scissors, stone'), assigning a different action to each of the arcade machine's three primary-colored buttons and granting turns to whichever player wins the janken. In two-player mode, it's best to guard your three buttons from Player Two's sight in order to gain an advantage. And then -- ROAR! These dinosaurs really can attack with some ferocity. What's more, they are your dinosaurs -- you insert one of your own cards pre-battle and remove the card afterwards, having had it blasted with updated battle stats.
Cleverly, these machines have been built to specifications which make them small enough to place in a convenience store or supermarket -- and low enough to be played even by very small children. And because of the card-based gameplay which is integral to the experience, deck-porting kids tend to get their own way every time their parents shop. It's about placation and it's about fun and it's about lawsuits. Meanwhile, Pokemon still flies on the side of All Nippon planes.
