MTV got the chance to interview Nintendo's Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Cammie Dunaway about the Pokemon franchise. She briefly discusses ways to limit 'Pokemon Fatigue'. Excerpts from the interview are posted below.

Nintendo wants to avoid franchise fatigue, but utilizes no simple formula to fend it off. There’s no quota, for example, of a maximum number of “Pokemon” games that will be released in a given year.

Instead, Dunaway said there is at least a recognition that different “Pokemon” games can target different audiences. The “Pokemon Ranger” series, for example, is aimed at kids as you as five-year olds — kids to whom the core gameplay of using the DS stylus to draw circles around and trap Pokemon is easily enjoyed. The main “Pokemon” series are pushed to kids just older than that. The sweet spot of “Pokemon Platinum” is gamers aged 10-12.”

Nintendo has noticed that gamers who played Pokemon as kids aren’t all eager to give the series up. “There are a lot of 20-somethings that still enjoy a game of ‘Pokemon,’” she said. The company expects that some of the first “Pokemon” players will soon literally create some new fans. “I’m sure a lot of your readers grew up playing ‘Pokemon.’ Pretty soon they’ll be seeing their kids play ‘Pokemon.’”

As the series persists there are some obvious directions fans have been wondering about. One is a move toward a bona fide “Pokemon” game for the home console, a format that has yet to generate a “Pokemon” hit on the scale of any of the main “Pokemon” handheld games. “It definitely has a place on the console,” Dunaway said, citing recent success with the “Pokemon” WiiWare game “My Pokemon Ranch.” “I think there is an opportunity to offer them on both [handheld and console] and let consumers choose which one they want to spend more time on.”

Source: http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/03/23/nintendo-on-how-to-fend-off-pokemon-fatigue/