Okay, first things first. This is technically like, two weeks old. Midterms suck. Projects suck. Both take tons of time out of your life. New games (post coming soon about them!) do not suck, but also take up vast amounts of time (or at least, of my time). Long story short, I've been busy for the past two weeks. So busy that I've forgotten to go the the grocery store and stock back up on food. Anyways...
So (approximately) two weekends ago I went back home for the event to end all events. To build up the hype for the two new games in the Pokemon series that are coming out March 6, 2011 (Mark your calenders!) Nintendo has been putting on a nation-wide tour showing off Pokemon Black and White. This "Pokemon Tour: 2011" included a raffle/treasure hunt, where you ran around the mall like a crazed Poke-fan trying to get stamps from different stations so that you could win cool prizes, free screening of the newest tie-in-movie for the new games (which my friend and I unfortunately did not see), a "Pokemart" to buy neat swag, a community area, where you could watch the first couple episodes of the newest season of the anime series (the TV series, for those of you non-Japanese-media-loving people) as well as take pictures with the three new starter Pokemon, a station where you could play a fifteen minute demo of the games, and finally, a station to download a special Pokemon (Celebi, for all you Poke-geeks out there wondering which one).
Needless to say, I had a fun, event-filled day of acting like a kid again, running around the mall, looking at the cool new Pokemon. I wasn't the only one though. You would be surprised (or maybe not, I'm am unaware of my readers knowledge of the Pokemon fanbase) how many people over the age of at least fifteen, maybe even twenty years were not only at the event, but participating in it as well. There were people cosplaying as their favorite Pokemon (dressed up, again for those non Japanese-centric people) and displaying some of their most prized gear from past events. As a matter of act, I looked like one of the NORMAL people, with my Super Mario shirt on.
But this huge spread in age of the fans there just shows how much of a success the Pokemon franchise is. Sure, people poke (ha ha, get it? Poke... Pokemon? I'm so silly) fun at it, but the fact of the matter is that the games have become a juggernaut in the hand-held market. Their easy to pick up, hard to master (yes, Pokemon is indeed hard to master. Just Youtube any high-level battles, and you will see there is a ton of though and time put into building the perfect team) game mechanics, lovable characters (lets admit it, everyone has a favorite Pokemon), and a simple but enjoyable story all contribute to what makes these games so great. (Though I will admit, it is mostly the first two parts. Pokemon has never had the "riveting" story that games such as Final Fantasy have had).
All this makes me proud when I think about it. Why, you ask? Because, although I obviously had nothing to do with the development of any of the games, my generation was almost personally responsible for the success of the series. It was us who were the original target audience or "Subject Prime" as I like to say (cause it sounds cooler), for the first generation of games (Pokemon Red, Blue/Green (in Japan), and Yellow). A good 99.9% of people my age can recall stories of one sort or another, be it from the video games, trading card game, the comics, or the TV show about what at the time was the greatest thing in the world. And although most people wont admit it, I am willing to bet that almost everyone (except that .01% of people who for some odd reason, were never able to experience the joys of Pokemania) still have a soft spot in their heart for the game. It was literally something that defined our generation.
And with that, I shall go and reminisce some more over my fleeting childhood. Please enjoy this picture of myself and Tepig, the new fire-type starter for Pokemon Black and White.
(And in case you are wondering, my favorite Pokemon is Charmander and its evolutions, Charmeleon, and Charizard.)
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