Series: Silph Radio: A Pokémon Podcast
Episode: #060 Spaceworld '97 Pokemon Gold Demo (With Jolly By Nature)
Contributors: Nathan Kappesser, Jolly By Nature
Release Date: July 29, 2018
Length: 1 hour, 49 minutes, 54 seconds
Summary: The leak of an oft discussed lost demo for Pokemon Gold and Silver, featuring a completely different Pokedex and showcased at the Nintendo Spaceworld 1997 expo, recently surfaced online, rocking the Pokemon fan community. Blast Burn Radio's Jolly By Nature lends their hand to help us investigate and analyze the plethora of new Gen II Beta information.
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/nathan-kappesser/silph-radio-a-pokemon-podcast/e/55541976
Warning: Explicit language.
Music
"Silph Radio Main Theme"
Nathan Kappesser
You would be forgiven if you assumed that the announcement of "Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu!" and "Let's Go Eevee!" was the biggest recent news to rock the Pokemon fandom. In fact, it was overshadowed by the sudden, unexpected leak of a fabled piece of software long thought lost to the sands of history. In 1997, Nintendo exhibited a playable Pokemon Gold & Silver demo at their Spaceworld 1997 event. This early build of the game boasted all sorts of curious features that wouldn't make it to final cut, including a sibling character, a skateboard, and several never-before-seen and never-seen-again Pokemon designs. And now, the demo has been data-mined and reconstructed. Ohhh there's so much to talk about.
Blast Burn Radio's Jolly By Nature (visit his Twitch Stream here!) joins us to discuss all of the strange "new" evolutions, baby forms, and completely original Pokemon that we never got to see fully realized, plus so much more. You either already know this stuff, or you're about to have your mind blown, so I see no need spoiling the fun conversation with promotional banter. Check out the episode!!
A few visual references...
On the left, Mister Donut's mascot Pon De Lion. On the right, the original conception of Porygon2. Coincidence? I think donut.
And finally, I would like to share something I have referenced a few times on the podcast... my initial exposure to the Pokemon franchise! During my interview on Blast Burn Radio, I recounted the tale of leaving school sick and picking up the Yoshi's Story issue of Nintendo Power at our local Blockbuster on my way home. In this magazine I saw my first glimpse of Pokemon. I remembered seeing a few screenshots from Red & Blue version. Funny how our memories can fail us, because there was one small detail I was missing...
It wasn't Red & Blue version that I had seen at all. The very first glimpse of Pokemon that I had seen was a pair of screenshots from Pokemon Gold and Silver, in a feature about Nintendo Spaceworld 1997. A good two years before I would begin my rabid online hunt for any and all images and information I could scavenge on those mysterious, "upcoming" sequels. And my short attention span brushed right by the earliest and most obvious example I had available.
Who knows what we're missing nowadays, right underneath our noses.
~Nathan K.