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Waypoint

Meet the Hackers Taking Pokémon into Their Own Hands

From ROM hacks to modded monsters, these hackers are breathing new life into their beloved franchise.

Pokémon Prism was just days away from release when developer Koolboyman was hit with a cease and desist from Nintendo. At that point, the Pokémon fan-game had been in development for eight years and some change.

Prism, a ROM hack of Pokémon Crystal, featured a Pokémon league with 20 badges to collect, an entirely new region—the Sevii Islands—and introduced Pokémon from more recent generations in old-school 8-bit form. It was an impressive undertaking that gained attention after the game first appeared on Twitch Plays Pokémon and various gaming publications.

When Nintendo brought its DMCA down on the project, though, Koolboyman was quick to comply, though an early build of the game was leaked on 4Chan and picked up by a team of new developers who continue to work on the game, providing updates on the Pokémon Prism subreddit.

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