What is Pokemon to You?

[Mittens The Kitten]

Pokemon red was one of the first games I played, and I sunk an enormous amount of time into it. So, to me, playing a pokemon game reminds me of when I was little and provides a link back to my earliest gaming experiences.
How do you view pokemon?

 

[Lexodus]

That's gonna be the answer for a lot of people on this site (since you have to be over 13 to join, and at this point 13 years ago isn't too long from the first release of pokemon), including me.

 

[Light 086]

They seem to be slave labor. They are used to kill, rob banks, risk their lives to save their owner, power generators, take over the world... etc. Oh and they are trapped in little balls when they are not needed, like slaves in cells. Let us not forget that they are also traded, bought and sold as well. :S

As for the games, movies... etc. I was probably one of the few that didn't care for it (my friends thought I was wierd for this). I didn't hate it, just didn't care for it.

 

[Palademon]

"This isn't a game! IT'S LIFE!"

It's kind of like a comfort thing I guess, like a lot of Nintendo things. Another franchise carrying on, meaning your childhood will never die.

 

[Stammer]

Like with most fads, I was a little bit late to jump onto the Pokemon bandwagon. I eventually got Pokemon Blue and really liked it. Then I got Yellow, then Silver, and then Crystal. After that I stopped caring about it.

But since all of my friends are nerds, and each one being nerdier than the last, I still have to put up with it in my daily life. And since I'm highly considering getting a 3DS at some point in the future (mostly because I haven't had a Nintendo handheld since GBC) I probably will buy Black or White just to get myself back into it.

Part of the reason why I haven't cared all that much up to this point is just because they add so many new things and it's just to the point where I know I'm going to be horrendously overwhelmed when I jump back in.

 

[ShadeOfGrey]

I view poke'mon as a game to bridge the gaming gaps between gaming generations. Blue was one of the first video games I played extensively and really got me into gaming in general. Now, as an adult, I see new poke'mon games coming out and see my younger brother playing them and I smile.

 

[Solo-Wing]

Pokémon is my childhood. And my Teenhood. And my Currentlifehood.

 

[Armored Prayer]

The only reason to get a Gameboy.

Though its waves of merchandise and the show kind of ruin it.

 

[FernandoV]

I love pokemon so much that even though I haven't played a pokemon game since Ruby I still only have fond memories of it and it is one of the highlights of my childhood.

I wish GameFreak would work more on the story and the pokemon themselves; make them more plausible, put time into their backgrounds. Pokemon needs a lot of work and I hope they would realize that.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

Pokemon is hours and hours and hours of plain fun, and nostalgia in my view. Although Pikachu still remains my number one most favorite pokemon out of them all (a close second by Milotic).

Also, the 3D enhancement in Pokemon Black and White gives pokemon battles a whole new level of amusing nature.

 

[Emo-Hawk]

Pokemon is my life ^^

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

My childhood. While all of the other kids were playing outside I was leveling my team on Crystal to 100 to port to Pokemon Stadium 2. Manually, mind you. I'm not one of those slackers who uses a GameShark.

 

[Kaltazraza]

Pokemon is God over all, even cake. I've played pokemon since it came out, played it for far longer than any other game.

 

[TheDist]

It's something that I was too old to get into when it exploded. Seeing it around still makes me feel even older, bah!

With that I did try the red/blue games and I admit they were kinda fun, however after that it felt a little too similar each time. I can see how people could get into it big time fighting other people but the single player eh.. not so hot in my opinion. Never seen the cartoons or manga/comics about it so can't really comment there.

 

[KorLeonis]

Yeah, the pokemans are something the kids play. Maybe there's a good game in there, but I can't get past my prejudice that its a child's game. And one of my employees had the nerve to ask if my t-shirt with the Monty Python rabbit (Run away!) was a pokemon reference. *grumble* Stupid kids. And now I feel old.

 

[Mittens The Kitten]

Yeah, the pokemans are something the kids play. Maybe there's a good game in there, but I can't get past my prejudice that its a child's game. And one of my employees had the nerve to ask if my t-shirt with the Monty Python rabbit (Run away!) was a pokemon reference. *grumble* Stupid kids. And now I feel old.

Yeah, in the past 14 years they havent really done a lot to apeal to older sensibilities. Most of the encounters are pretty easy and the bosses can ussually be beaten without any grinding at all. Plus theres still too much of that "power of friendship" JRPG nonsense.

 

[DarthFennec]

Pokemon has always been a very large part of my life. It's what I grew up on, and I still play it to this day. There's always something new. And not just new games with new features, but there's always more things to try and do with your pokemon in the original games as well. New glitches that nobody has ever discovered, things like that. Red is and always has been my favorite version, and that's still the version I play the most.

 

[Mister Benoit]

It has changed a lot over time.

RBY - Playing at school in grade 6 with friends caught up in Pokemania.

GS - Played because I still loved it with some friends.

RS - Noone played pokemon in highschool sadly, I still played a ridiculous amount though, pretty sure I failed science because of it.

PD - www.smogon.com Played an absurd amount with my roommate at the time and found out how serious some people were and joined them.

 

[Twad]

IMHO, i see pokemon as a game with a lot of potential that it doesnt use (with it's setting, gameplay and story), and instead just stay a shallow, stiff mathematical combat simulator.

 

[baconsarnie]

For me it was a childhood well spent. Social skills, who needs them
The amount of hours i put into it must be in the region of four/five hundred hours (i only had yellow, gold and crystal)