Pokémon NetBattle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pokémon NetBattle (or NetBattle/NB for short) is a program initially created by "TVs Ian" in 2002 that lets the user engage in Pokémon battles with other people online. Downloading and using the program is entirely free. The program only simulates Pokémon battles, so it is not necessary to train, raise, or capture Pokémon used for play. The player can build a team of six Pokémon and can select their moves, Individual Values, Effort Values, gender, ability, nature, and level. Players can change their teams as many times as they like. The program works similarly to the Pokémon games; each Pokémon has four moves, and battle mechanics work as identically as possible to those in the actual GBA cartridge. Players are allowed to use anything accessible in the games to battle other people, and several servers contain modified databases offering additional moves.
Thousands of people play the program a day, and while it remains somewhat obscure as part of the online Pokémon community as a whole, the number of people that use the program has risen at an increasing rate since its creation.
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[edit] Servers
Some people run servers on NetBattle that players can join to battle other players on that server. Pokémon from any version of the Pokémon game may be used, and players can battle with the current Full Advance engine or use battling engines from previous generations. The most populated server running on NetBattle belongs to Smogon.com[1]. In all servers there is a team of moderators and administrators. There are also scripts, which apply commands to the server, such as kicking people from the server.
[edit] Controversies concerning legality
Although the legality of the program is disputed by the internet community, Nintendo has never told the creators of the program to cease operation of the program and likely never will, unless a future Game Freak-produced game has WiFi features similar to the NetBattle program. [2] It was rumored that the release of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl would cause Nintendo to crack down on the NetBattle program, but this has not happened. Nintendo of America (or at least some of its employees) do appear to be aware about the existence of the program, but has not done anything to deter the program's use. This became evident when one of the finalists in a Nintendo-sponsored GBA tournament in 2005 remarked to a Nintendo of America employee that he had tested his team out on the program, and, in his words, "No NOA SWAT Team came to my house after me." [3]
Discussing the NetBattle program on Nintendo's official NSider forums, however, has become forbidden,[4], although some have questioned this rule, and others blatantly ignore it [5]
NetBattle is not a new concept, as Pokémon simulators have existed in the past in various forms, such as the web-based Pokémon Battle Simulator to the GSbots and RSbots on IRC, which are no longer used, despite their continued existence. Ever since, the online battling community has grown quite large.
[edit] Rules of standard play
Several mutually agreed upon general rules have been established during the history of the program. They are not required to be followed in non-tournament battles, but breaking these rules during a tournament setting on most servers will usually lead to disqualification.
These include generally banning luck-based moves, such as Double Team, and luck-based items, such as Quick Claw, from competitive play, since many players feel it turns the strategy of the game into another simple game of luck. Additionally, the standard (and most popular) format has removed certain "Uber" Pokémon, such as Mewtwo, from battles on basis of base stat totals, movepools or move manipulation, and by that token their adverse effect on the metagame as a whole. An unofficial tier system has been created by the NetBattle community that separates Pokémon on various levels, based partly on power and partly on actual usage. [6]
