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Twitch Plays Pokemon

Twitch Plays Pokémon (TPP) is an automated Twitch channel that mainly focuses on Pokémon and relies on user input through its chatroom. It was initially founded by an Australian programmer on February 12, 2014, though the project lead has changed three times since 2017.

Brief history

2014–2017

In the beginning, an Australian programmer with social anxiety1) decided to program a 'SaltyBet'2)-inspired automated stream for Pokémon, believing its menus wouldn't be much trouble.3)4) The channel launched on February 12, 2014 with Pokémon Red and rapidly exploded in popularity,5)6)7)8)9) which put immense stress on pre-acquisition Twitch's chat servers.10)11) The first run would conclude on March 1, 2014.12)13)

When the stream immediately moved onto Pokémon Crystal, there was a noticeable drop-off since the whole spectacle of “Is this possible?” was gone, there was always the 'Genwunner' nostalgia issue, and one could argue that back-to-back runs led to immense burnout.14) By May 5, 2014, the stream would introduce a betting minigame,15) which has since become their main intermission.

Over the next two years, the ROM hacking team “TPP Devs” would produce a number of 'anniversary' hacks, then came the surprise that the Pokémon Prism hack would be run before their planned release.16)17) It was eventually canceled after Nintendo, who had been gathering a negative reputation for being litigious against fan games, issued a cease-and-desist letter18)19) after it, likely, drew too much attention.

2017–2024

In 2017, a developer named “The_Chef1337” leaked the new overlay to protest internal mistreatment of the developers,20) so the founder considers doxing him,21) which escalated to an infamous rant and 30-minute pause.22) The founder apologizes23) to save face,24) then transfers leadership to “Aissurtievos” on November 15, 2017,25)26) and that compromise led to “The_Chef1337” apologizing.27)

On December 17, 2017, “Aissurtievos” would transfer leadership to “Chaos_lord” as the role was stressful.28) Then in 2021, a moderation fallout led to “Chaos_lord” resigning on February 1, 2021, so “asdf14396” (ax6) became interim leader,29) then it was formally revealed on June 26, 2021 that “Chaos_lord” and “Red031000” had exhibited sexually inappropriate behavior towards several members of the community.30)

Leadership would then be transferred to “m4_used_rollout” (VorpalNorman) on June 26, 2021.31)32) For their 10th anniversary, the 'Super Gauntlet' was held with every run being played off physical hardware, such as Pokémon Red being played on a CRT TV through a Super Game Boy 2.33)34) Not much has happened since then, but the stream is still very much active, albeit smaller.

List of runs

This list is not religiously updated.
This section was meant to be a way to *actually link* the ROM hacks.
Key(s): 🎲 = Randomized.

Toggle chart.

Original streamer

The founder of Twitch Plays Pokémon47) is an Australian programmer with social anxiety, who previously dealt with relationship problems,48) domestic abuse,49) and withdrawal50) before stepping down51) and moving to New Zealand in 2018.52) While there hasn't been any new blog posts, he remains active on the developer team and in the official Discord server. He is a known fan of Vinesauce and the Pokémon, Slowpoke.

Notes

  • In the past, Twitch Plays Pokémon would automatically host SaltyBet if the stream went offline for an extended periods of time. The host feature has since been removed in 2022.53)54)
  • During the betting intermission, there used to be a trend of spamming the 'PRChase' emote whenever the chat decided to parrot the Pokémon Battle Revolution announcer Rodger Parsons.
    • On March 14, 2017, the actual face of the emote, then-PR director named Chase, had visited the stream and felt flattered that they used the 'PRChase' emote at all.55)56)57)
    • Coincidentally, this happens to be the same PR director who wrote the blog post after Twitch Plays Pokémon completed its first run on March 1, 2014.58) A pointless, but 'interesting' factoid.
  • For the 2021 leak, Twitch Plays Pokémon had ranked #8405 in terms of approximate gross earnings, allegedly making $28,048.97 from 2019 to 2021.59)60) This does not include donations.
  • As of 2022, the stream operates an official Discord server. There used to be an unofficial server for the subreddit since 2016, and a short-lived server in 2021 due to the controversy at the time.61)
1) , 48)
"Part 1" (February 14, 2016). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
2)
SaltyBet (Salty's Dream Cast Casino) is an automated stream for Mugen, where its viewers can bet virtual money on randomized matches between two automated CPUs. The stream launched in 2013.
3)
"Twitch Plays Pokemon Interview: TPP Will Continue on to Emerald" (March 13, 2014). The Escapist.
4)
"An Interview With The Mind Behind Twitch Plays Pokémon" (March 14, 2014). Game Informer.
5)
"The bizarre, mind-numbing, mesmerizing beauty of “Twitch Plays Pokémon”" (February 18, 2014). Ars Technica.
6)
"Here’s What Happens When 80,000 People Simultaneously Play One Game of Pokemon" (February 19, 2014). Slate.
7)
"Twitch Plays Pokemon, but can Twitch beat Pokemon?" (February 20, 2014). Joystiq.
8)
"Millions Unite for a Game of Pokémon. You Can Help (Or Troll)" (February 21, 2014). Wired.
9)
"After two weeks of anarchy, 100,000 simultaneous ‘Pokémon’ players may actually beat the game" (February 26, 2014). The Verge.
10)
"Recent Chat Issues and TwitchPlaysPokemon" (February 19, 2014). Twitch.
11)
"Surviving Twitch Plays Pokemon: Adventures in Twitch Chat Engineering". Twitch.
12) , 58)
"TPP Victory! The Thundershock Heard Around the World" [Archive] (March 1, 2014). Twitch.
13)
"Twitch Beats Pokémon!" (March 1, 2014). Kotaku.
14)
"TLDR Season 1 (year 1 of TPP) involved us back to back playing runs." (December 20, 2017). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
15)
"Twitch Plays Pokemon gambles with Pokemon Stadium 2" (May 5, 2014). Joystiq.
16)
"Twitch Is Playing An Unreleased Pokémon Hack That Took Eight Years To Make" (October 11, 2016). Kotaku.
17)
"Video: Introducing Pokémon Prism, A New Hacked Pokémon Game Based On GBC Games" (October 11, 2016). My Nintendo News.
18)
"Pokémon ROM hack stopped by Nintendo four days before launch" (December 21, 2016). Ars Technica.
19)
"Nintendo Shuts Down ‘Pokémon Prism’ ROM Hack After Eight Years of Development" (December 21, 2016). Vice.
20)
"Presenting: TPP's new overlay" (November 13, 2017). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
21)
"Imgur" (November 13, 2017). Imgur.
22)
"Twitch Plays Pokémon Battle Revolution - Matches #97961 and #97962" (November 14, 2017). YouTube.
23)
"Apology". (November 14, 2017). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
24)
"Incase you believe the apology, streamer admitting he doesn't feel remorse and saying his apology is a lie." (November 14, 2014). Imgur.
25) , 51)
"Official transfer of leadership of the Twitch Plays Pokemon channel" (November 15, 2017). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
26)
"Twitch Plays Pokémon’s Creator Says He Is Stepping Down Following Alleged Doxing" (November 15, 2017). Kotaku.
27)
"Statement regarding the past few days" (November 16, 2017). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
28)
"As of a few days ago, I have the role of streamer. I want to say a few words." (December 17, 2017). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
29)
"Stream leadership change" (February 1, 2021). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
30) , 32)
"On Recent Events..." (July 6, 2021). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
31)
"Farewell" (June 26, 2021). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
33)
"Twitch Plays Pokémon Returns to Its Roots for 10th Anniversary, This Time on an Old CRT TV" (February 14, 2024). Gizmodo.
34)
"Twitch Plays Pokémon goes back to the beginning for 10th anniversary" (February 14, 2024). Polygon.
35)
Pokémon Chatty Yellow is a simple ROM hack of Pokémon Yellow that replaces the starter with Chatot, and the trainers with Twitch emotes. During the stream, all non-essential dialogue would be replaced with an amalgamation of chat messages, trainer names would be replaced with a random chat member, and speaking to Chatot would result in a chat message being read through text-to-speech on stream.
36) , 37)
In June 2021, the PokéCommunity received a takedown request against four seemingly random ROM hacks. This included Pokémon Flora Sky and Pokémon Glazed, which Pokémon Blazed Glazed builds on.
38)
Pokémon Fused Crystal is a ROM hack that combines the Randofuser (i.e. randomized fusions) with an Item Randomizer, while also redesigning Kanto and Johto to have more winter-themed layouts.
39)
Pokémon Burning Red was a simple gimmick where the game had a 15% chance of switching between Pokémon Red and Pokémon FireRed during screen transitions. The player's team and inventory were synced across both versions, but gym leaders had to be beaten in both versions as well.
40)
Pokémon Chatty Crystal is a ROM hack which adds more Pokémon from later generations, the starters are replaced with an egg that hatches into an Unown, and key trainers are replaced with the players from prior runs. During the stream, the same gimmicks from Pokémon Chatty Yellow were brought back, but the Unown's Hidden Power could be manipulated through chat activity.
41) , 46)
The Twitch channel, 'Type2Play' (T2P), was previously known as 'TwitchPlaysPaperMario' (TPPM) and 'TwitchPlays_Everything', while the original channel technically became 'DoodleDonutDev'.
42)
This was the debut of the St. Baldrick's Foundation's Pokémon-themed Catch a Million charity event. It ran for a week, April 24–30, 2022, and raised a total of $599.90 in its first year.
43)
Pokémon Inverse Platinum combines Pokémon Following Platinum and Pokémon Inverse Platinum.
44)
Pokémon Snakewood DX is a modification of Pokémon Snakewood, with some improvements borrowed from a 'Pokémon Snakewood Zeta' hack. During the stream, the blood was changed to pink.
45)
Multiworld Emerald was a crossover event where all three streams would play a randomized version of Pokémon Emerald, through Archipelago, which had a system that forces the three streams to cooperate as players would get stuck until another player found a key item that would allow them to progress.
47)
Technically speaking, the 'founder' of Twitch Plays Pokemon was nicknamed 'streamer' by the community, but it would be incredibly confusing to use that as there have been multiple 'streamers' over the years.
49)
"Part 2" (February 12, 2017). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
50)
"Part 3 (edited)" (February 13, 2018). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
52)
"Part 4" (February 13, 2019). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
53)
"Twitch is removing the host feature and streamers are furious" (September 6, 2022). Dexerto.
54)
"Twitch is removing host mode and absolutely nobody understands why" (September 7, 2022). PC Gamer.
55)
"Twitch Plays Pokémon Battle Revolution - Matches #73623 and #73624" [3:21]. YouTube.
56)
"A very special Twitch Staff member visits us!" (March 14, 2017). Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
57)
"Flattered to be included on Twitch Plays Pokemon subreddit! Met some great people in /twitchplayspokemon chat too." (March 15, 2017). Twitter.
59)
"Sorry guys, I fucked up." (October 6, 2021). 4chan /g/.
60)
"Untitled" (October 6, 2020). Pastebin.
61)
"Discord Server Invite". Reddit /r/twitchplayspokemon.
twitch_plays_pokemon.txt · Last modified: by namelessrumia