Hey You, Pikachu! (ピカチュウげんきでちゅう, Pikachū Genki dechū) is a Nintendo 64 game released in 2000. It was developed by Nintendo and Ambrella. Its Japanese name is Pikachu Genki dechū, a pun on "Pikachu genki desu" (Pikachu is fine). It stars Pikachu. The game features voice-recognition technology; this is used to talk to Pikachu. It is also the only game that utilizes the N64's Voice Recognition Unit (VRU). Besides talking to Pikachu, the player can move around and pick up items. Despite being geared towards small children, there was a pamphlet included with the VRU that mentioned how the microphone may be unable to pick up younger voices. A game called Pokémon Channel was released three years later on the Nintendo GameCube, which is often considered to be the spiritual sequel to this game.
| Hey You, Pikachu! | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Ambrella |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64 |
| Release |  December 12, 1998 November 6, 2000 |
| Genre(s) | Simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Gameplay
The game begins when the main character has to try out a new device of Professor Oak's that is used to talk to Pokémon. The player then meets a wild Pikachu and befriends it. The Pikachu's trust must be earned, then it will come and live in the player's house. There are three different areas to explore, each with their own things to do: Pikachu's Daring Days, Discovery Days, and Play Days. Some of these areas you collect food, others pikachu goes fishing and in others different things happen, there's even a treasure hunt map which you can obtain by being skilled at the pinata level. Through the course of the game, the player can earn Pika Points, which is the currency used at Abra's Shop.
Eventually, if the player reaches day 365, Professor Oak appears on the television when the player wakes up and says that Pikachu has to be released, as it is a wild Pokémon. The player has to go to the woods where Pikachu was found and say "goodbye" several times, upon which Pikachu realizes he can't live with the player anymore, and sadly leaves. After the credits, while the player is looking around the front yard and reminiscing about Pikachu, it returns, and the game continues as if Pikachu was never released.
Characters
- Mom The main character's mother. She does not come into the storyline much, but does say "Good morning" to the player every morning.
- Professor Oak The professor who invented the PokéHelper, the device used to talk to Pokémon.
- Pikachu The partner of the main character, Pikachu and the player go on many adventures together, such as fishing trips and picnics.
- Owner You, The main character.
Reception
Videogame review aggregators like Metacritic and Game Rankings gave the game mixed reviews. [1][2] Some complaints included the simplistic music and graphics, the controls, and the limits of the voice-recognition technology, which only understood about 200 words. Because of this, and due to the many different languages in Europe and other territories, it was never released outside of Japan and North America.