Pokewhaaaaaaaaa?

[meowman]

I'm not sure what makes it so entertaining. I know I think it's too childish even for me, and I'm barely a teenager. But the basic premise, while when you take a step back stupid, illogical and utterly bewildering (for extrapolation on this point, watch the South Park episode ChinPokomon I think it's called), is fun, and it's probably one of the only games to implememnt turn-based-combat well.

EDIT: Also children find it fun to enslave innocent creatures and pit them against each other, like cockfights except with magical monsters.

 

[Archetypal_Maniac]

I am going to try the games, my friend has them on his gameboy thing, I will see what the rave is about.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I'm sorry...

The originals SUCK at this point. Where the hell is my hotkey item?

 

[ShatteredBlack]

I just wish they would stop making so many of them! At some point it will take more nerdy encyclopedic knowledge than understanding every facet of the Marvel Universe! How many are there now?

There are now 48 Pokemon games.

Check this [http://au.wii.ign.com/dor/articles/1077494/pokemon-family-game-tree/images/pokemon-family-game-tree-20100314105841202.html?page=mediaFull] out. A nice bit of nostalgia.

 

[Urgh76]

The games are incredibly awesome, though they're starting to become a bit stale. The TV show should BURN in a NUCLEAR FIRE.

TWICE!

OT: Pokemon isn't all that bad when you get down to the nuts and bolts of it, but when you stretch it this far, it just goes insane. i consult VG cats http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=263

 

[JonnoStrife]

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
POKEMANS!

 

[DarkRyter]

Steelix actually lacks the offensive stats to be a tank, but he makes a great physical wall or curse-user.

The offensive stats of a tank are irrelevant, what tanks need is high defence or a big sack of hitpoints. Their job is to get thumped repeatedly whilst someone else dishes out damage.

Actually in pokemon metagame jargon, a tank is meant to be able to take hits, and hit back.

Something that is only meant to soak up damage is a wall.

It makes sense. Tanks have big guns and lots of armor. Walls are JUST armor.
http://www.smogon.com/dp/articles/pokemon_dictionary#roles

 

[Regiment]

Short answer: Popular things sell. Why is, say, [insert video game console] still around? Because people like it, and there's demand for it. Heck, you could make the same argument for Madden, or any other sequel-heavy property.

 

[Odd Water]

I could never get into it because I could never get past the 'talking in only their name' annoying crap they do. Then they toss out a few to make them more humanized like Team Rocket's Meowth or the mental speaking Lucario. Its worse then Jar-Jar Binks and Claptrap combined to me.

You don't pay attention to the childrens' television show. You just play the games. That's not in the game.

I understand that, cant base the whole thing off the show when we are talking all about the game, but just saying the stuff in the shows and movies is what kept me away from the games. I admit I did play one of the original ones, I think the blue or green one on old gameboy.

 

[Baron_BJ]

I could never get into it because I could never get past the 'talking in only their name' annoying crap they do. Then they toss out a few to make them more humanized like Team Rocket's Meowth or the mental speaking Lucario. Its worse then Jar-Jar Binks and Claptrap combined to me.

You don't pay attention to the childrens' television show. You just play the games. That's not in the game.

I understand that, cant base the whole thing off the show when we are talking all about the game, but just saying the stuff in the shows and movies is what kept me away from the games. I admit I did play one of the original ones, I think the blue or green one on old gameboy.

I'm not saying I don't understand, trust me, in your position I'd have done the same thing, although it was the reverse for me since I first saw the Television show at age 7 or so, so I obviously thought it was the shit, I soon after got some games and found that they were some good fun and I still think that they're good games with good mechanics (don't think about the actual theme of them, ie. them essentially being cockfights, but then again the same can be said about Mario, time travel, etc).

This doesn't change the fact though that they're essentially now just the exact same game being re-released over and over (considering all that they've done I can't think of anything those games could do to really become fresh) and with an absurdly large number of little shits to collect. I do hate what Nintendo is doing, but I'm at least willing to admit I'd milk that bullshit until it stopped shooting out solid gold nuggets.

 

[djrj]

Nintendo stumbled onto this incredible formula of catching, training, battling, trading and have polished this to perfection, extending it with new mechanics like online trading/battling, pokemon breeding, extra challenge levels like the Battle Frontier/Battle Tower, pokemon "beauty contests", and much, much more

It's impossible to tire of the game as long as they never run out of ideas for new pokemon designs and metagames.

Also, who can possibly forget "Prepare for trouble"...

 

[Velvet Kevorkian]

Pokemon has always been accessible to new players and cutsie enough to attract kids whilst retaining considerable depth and decent game mechanics for more experienced players. It's a formula that worked, so they stuck to it and it's been making them money ever since.

All this combined with the fact that everyone and their grandmother owns a DS nowadays and it's no wonder they continue to churn out a couple of new Pokemon titles every few years.

Personally, I lost interest after the first generation of Pokemon, but I still play LeafGreen pretty regularly and I must admit that the DS games are still very good (designs for new Pokemon stupid as they may be.)

 

[PurplAppl]

As long as facebook and the "Dating Page" on Askmen.com comes up before any pokemon sites on gmail, I know that I am just fine with my little obsession

 

[RDL_Razor]

because its an amazing game that keeps satisfying fans and will keep selling millions because its that good. Its about as much of a fad as the internet is

Much like sonic, mario and zelda?

I was hoping for a nuclear apocalypse since i was 13.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

In the 90's, I was a perfect example of a kid but heavily by the Poke' bug. If I wasn't playing one of the games then I was watching the show, collecting and playing the cards, playing with a Pokemon toy, or even reading a Pokemon book. And my diet? Pokemon cereal, Pokemon Eggo waffles, Pokemon Macaroni and Cheese, Pokemon fruit snacks. You name it, I ate it. Luckily, I wasn't alone. My best friend at the time was also a Pokemon maniac, so I had someone to share the obsession with. And it was also thanks to Pokemon that I came across my first internet forum.

I also have Pokemon Blue to think for gaming being a huge factor in my life. It had always been a hobby, but Blue was the first time I stayed glued for hours and hours at a time. Eventually, say around the time I hit puberty, I just started losing interest. The show was getting stale, the cards were starting to disappear from stores, the movies were becoming direct to DVD and the then upcoming GBA games were looking like more of the same. Eventually, Pokemon became something I just remembered from my childhood. But fondly.

And now, HeartGold and SoulSilver are beckoning me to come back in. Damn you Nintendo for making nostalgia half of your business plan!

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Nostalgia, for me. I grew up on Pokemon and it's been a big part of my life, which is pretty sad but true. I think the games are actually some of the best RPGs out there. They're addicting, portable, fun, and have plenty of hours of gameplay.