Why Are The Generation 1 Fans the Biggest Complainers About Each New Pokemon Generation?

[Dragonbums]

This is just something that has really been bothering me lately, and I need to get it off my chest.

I'm a big fan of Pokemon. Been so since the original Gold and Silver games.
I understand that some Pokemon fans simply grow out of Pokemon, or leave the franchise because they want something more serious RPG sense. Or perhaps they simply got tired of the same old plot.
Every single new generation that comes out, there is usually an ungodly amount of complaining about how "This gen sucks." "These Pokemon are unoriginal (because the likes of Ponyta are the pinnacle of creativity)", and "Pokemon just became crap after the original 151"

Now I'm not saying one has to like every single generation that comes out. I found that Generation 4 was my least favorite, while Generation 5 (Which got the most hate for some reason) was my absolute favorite. However a lot of these dissenters aren't people who have been playing the games on a regular basis. Many of them just happen to be the original 151 players, who haven't touched a Pokemon game since the year 2000.
Like, I just don't understand...why continue to lurk on the Pokemon forums for practically 13 years just so you can call Pokemon crap? Like we get it. You like your Charizards, Gengars, and Zubats. Whenever someone states they like the later generations- whether it be 3 or 5- if it happens to be a kid they will try to explain to them why that gen sucks and 151 are great. If it's someone in the same age group as me (18+) they will ask if there is something wrong with me.

Again, this isn't everyone who is a fan of the original 151 Pokemon.
Yet there is a reason, the parody label "Genwunners" is coined now.


And oddly enough, there isn't nearly a lot of complaining about the new generation so far as opposed to Generation 5

What are your thoughts.

 

[kingthrall]

sorry pokemon is still popular? Not being a troll here but I thought this cheap stuff died out way back in the late 90's with the trading cards that cost my parents a fortune?

 

[Dragonbums]

sorry pokemon is still popular? Not being a troll here but I thought this cheap stuff died out way back in the late 90's with the trading cards that cost my parents a fortune?

Pokemon is still very big in the videogame market.
The original Pokemon Black and White games when first released on the Nintendo DS systems became a top seller on the platform for around the first two weeks or so.
They are also going to have their own exclusive Q and A session at E3.
Of course, it seems that many websites tend to completely ignore Nintendo in any situation that involves the state of the gaming industry. Unless it's about bashing the WiiU. Yet alone talk about any of their games outside of Mario, Zelda, and the occasional really good third party game.

No. Pokemon has far from died out since the 90's.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Gen 1 player here, I grew out of the games after silver. They don't appear to have evolved much to me, so gave me no reason to play the new ones. That said, some of the new Pokemon are pretty friggin weird, an ice cream? A fridge and lawn mover? Seem a bit silly, but so is the whole premise. That said, I've never really complained.

Peoples favorites tend to be their first, not always, but most of the time. A lot of people would have started then, so that would prob answer your query.

 

[kingthrall]

sorry pokemon is still popular? Not being a troll here but I thought this cheap stuff died out way back in the late 90's with the trading cards that cost my parents a fortune?

Pokemon is still very big in the videogame market.
The original Pokemon Black and White games when first released on the Nintendo DS systems became a top seller on the platform for around the first two weeks or so.
They are also going to have their own exclusive Q and A session at E3.
Of course, it seems that many websites tend to completely ignore Nintendo in any situation that involves the state of the gaming industry. Unless it's about bashing the WiiU. Yet alone talk about any of their games outside of Mario, Zelda, and the occasional really good third party game.

No. Pokemon has far from died out since the 90's.

I remember the cartridges from game boy color the blue and red one I think. I also remember when I was like 9 years old used to flip over the energy cards face down and swap them to 6 year olds for their shiny charazard card and then run away. Ironically I reckon this is kind of same practice I will assume (being a "gamer) for this game with all the D.S connectivity.

Please dont arrest me for fraud I was a mere child

 

[Leemaster777]

As far as I can see, almost EVERY fandom has that segment of fans who ONLY like the original incarnation, and scoff at anything new.

Transformers has it's own "Geewunners".
Power Rangers fans who won't touch anything not Mighty Morphin.
Star Wars fans who hate the prequel trilogy (although there is a bit of justification to this one)
Star Trek fans who only like the original series/Next Generation.
Sonic fans who ONLY like Genesis games.

Weirdly, Bronies have an odd, reverse "genwunner"-ism, and generally look down at anything that came BEFORE Friendship is Magic.

In the end, it really has less to do with the overall quality of any given Pokemon generation (since I personally think that the basic quality of all 5 gens are more or less comparable), and more to do with the close-mindedness of the individual in question.

While obviously you can't expect anyone to like EVERY single Pokemon design, and there may even be generations with far more designs that you personally detest, I think it's a mistake to write of any generation simply on principle.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Honestly, as someone who has really enjoyed the series since Generation 1, I have no idea.

Might just be the "This is the one I started with, therefore it's the best" kind of attitude I suppose.

 

[Dragonbums]

Gen 1 player here, I grew out of the games after silver. They don't appear to have evolved much to me, so gave me no reason to play the new ones. That said, some of the new Pokemon are pretty friggin weird, an ice cream? A fridge and lawn mover? Seem a bit silly, but so is the whole premise. That said, I've never really complained.

Peoples favorites tend to be their first, not always, but most of the time. A lot of people would have started then, so that would prob answer your query.

To be fair with the whole fridge and lawn mower thing- which happens to be forms of Rotom, it isn't so much a "fridge" Pokemon as it is that one of Rotom abilities allows it to take over various electrical appliances and utilize it to further implement it's strength.
However like I said, people do move on.
Some people hold fond memories of the first generation and simply move on.
Those aren't the people we see though.J
It's like these subset of fans never really "moved on" so to speak. They stopped playing Pokemon, yes, but it's like they festered some sort of bitter attachment, and they go to great lengths to make sure the rest of the fandom knows that "[_________] generation here is crap. First Generation is the greatest" which is what drove me absolutely crazy when Black and White versions came out because it was to such extreme levels.
At the same time they talked down the trashbag pokemon as being unoriginal, they somehow manage to justify grimer and muk? Which are basically sludge with eyes?
I'm all for a favorite generation, but one should not be blinded by nostalgia nor favoritism. I will give Sugimori credit- it takes a lot of work to do almost 300 Pokemon by yourself without any help prior to the Ruby and Sapphire games. However there were clearly some Pokemon in the first two generations that you could tell Sugimori was running out of ideas.

 

[Dragonbums]

sorry pokemon is still popular? Not being a troll here but I thought this cheap stuff died out way back in the late 90's with the trading cards that cost my parents a fortune?

Pokemon is still very big in the videogame market.
The original Pokemon Black and White games when first released on the Nintendo DS systems became a top seller on the platform for around the first two weeks or so.
They are also going to have their own exclusive Q and A session at E3.
Of course, it seems that many websites tend to completely ignore Nintendo in any situation that involves the state of the gaming industry. Unless it's about bashing the WiiU. Yet alone talk about any of their games outside of Mario, Zelda, and the occasional really good third party game.

No. Pokemon has far from died out since the 90's.

I remember the cartridges from game boy color the blue and red one I think. I also remember when I was like 9 years old used to flip over the energy cards face down and swap them to 6 year olds for their shiny charazard card and then run away. Ironically I reckon this is kind of same practice I will assume (being a "gamer) for this game with all the D.S connectivity.

Please dont arrest me for fraud I was a mere child

Pokemon wi-fi battles are pretty great. The best implementation being on the Wii system where one were allowed to use legendaries (not me of course. I just like beating up noobs who thought they could win any battle with them.)
Honestly, it's not that different from the Gameboy days. Only that you can do it online with random people.

As for the cards, I know people still play them, but the popularity has died down to a sort of niche circle kind of thing. You either bought the cards for the gameplay, or you bought the cards for the artwork.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Know what? I'm 32 years old. I like the Pokemon franchise very much. It's the kind of RPG that I can happily enjoy while murdering opponents (metaphorically, I mean; though Ghetsis is one that I might not wish to do this thing metaphorically) and raisin' mah teamz. For me, it doesn't matter what generation was considered "best" or which game in the series was the first you played; it's enough when I have fun and enjoy playing the game.

Personally, I like running Steel and Dragon type teams as I play, and that's the way I wish to play my games. I don't care so much about the competitional aspect of Pokemon between other players; though, I'm not vocal about this towards others of the opposite view because this is how I feel, and how I feel shouldn't be treated as the "one-and-only" view of how to play Pokemon.

Somewhere in between all of the meaningless opinions, the mindless bickering and the pointless rage, the point of Pokemon of missed - that what's important is that you have fun, bond with your team, learn from your battles and grow as a person.

Well, that and leveling your Adamant natured Garchomp (or insert favorite Pokemon here) to completely obliterate, Exodia style, everyone that stands in your way.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

As far as I can see, almost EVERY fandom has that segment of fans who ONLY like the original incarnation, and scoff at anything new.

Transformers has it's own "Geewunners".
Power Rangers fans who won't touch anything not Mighty Morphin.
Star Wars fans who hate the prequel trilogy (although there is a bit of justification to this one)
Star Trek fans who only like the original series/Next Generation.
Sonic fans who ONLY like Genesis games.

Weirdly, Bronies have an odd, reverse "genwunner"-ism, and generally look down at anything that came BEFORE Friendship is Magic.

In the end, it really has less to do with the overall quality of any given Pokemon generation (since I personally think that the basic quality of all 5 gens are more or less comparable), and more to do with the close-mindedness of the individual in question.

While obviously you can't expect anyone to like EVERY single Pokemon design, and there may even be generations with far more designs that you personally detest, I think it's a mistake to write of any generation simply on principle.

Hey I'm a "geewunner" of Transformers =P, I'll admit I loved the 80's TF back then but I've loved nearly ever show they've had since then and I'm currently hooked on Prime that was made using the Dead or Alive engine.

OT: I'm also a G1 from the old Pokemon days and I can say I've played most of them except for the last gen because I didn't have a 3DS but I'll always be willing to give a new pokemon game a go.

 

[kingthrall]

sorry pokemon is still popular? Not being a troll here but I thought this cheap stuff died out way back in the late 90's with the trading cards that cost my parents a fortune?

Pokemon is still very big in the videogame market.
The original Pokemon Black and White games when first released on the Nintendo DS systems became a top seller on the platform for around the first two weeks or so.
They are also going to have their own exclusive Q and A session at E3.
Of course, it seems that many websites tend to completely ignore Nintendo in any situation that involves the state of the gaming industry. Unless it's about bashing the WiiU. Yet alone talk about any of their games outside of Mario, Zelda, and the occasional really good third party game.

No. Pokemon has far from died out since the 90's.

I remember the cartridges from game boy color the blue and red one I think. I also remember when I was like 9 years old used to flip over the energy cards face down and swap them to 6 year olds for their shiny charazard card and then run away. Ironically I reckon this is kind of same practice I will assume (being a "gamer) for this game with all the D.S connectivity.

Please dont arrest me for fraud I was a mere child

Pokemon wi-fi battles are pretty great. The best implementation being on the Wii system where one were allowed to use legendaries (not me of course. I just like beating up noobs who thought they could win any battle with them.)
Honestly, it's not that different from the Gameboy days. Only that you can do it online with random people.

As for the cards, I know people still play them, but the popularity has died down to a sort of niche circle kind of thing. You either bought the cards for the gameplay, or you bought the cards for the artwork.

somewhere in my room I got the entire original set fully in tact in plastic covers.

 

[bojackx]

OT: I'm also a G1 from the old Pokemon days and I can say I've played most of them except for the last gen because I didn't have a 3DS but I'll always be willing to give a new pokemon game a go.

Err... The Pokemon main series isn't on 3DS yet, Gen 5 (Black/White and Black2/White2) games were all on the original DS, whilst gen 6 (which will be on 3DS) is coming out this year in October.

OT: I think because they're the people who stopped playing after the first couple of generations, and are uncomfortable with replacing that beloved Charizard with an Emboar.

If you think about it, a lot of people complain that Pokemon as a series hasn't changed enough over its entire life, but these same people will hate any of the new Pokemon anyway. Some people just like to have things to complain about.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

My theories are: 1. Gen 1 fans were the target audience when Pokemon started and the games aren't getting any more sophisticated as a whole (let's not get into the special/physical seperation adn the addition of Steel types, you know what I mean), and 2. Individual Pokemon were always somewhat unoriginal (Muk, Seel, Geodude, Exeggute) and as the whole concept gets older this becomes more apparent, rather than the originals all being inspired and the later ones being unimaginative (that said, the rehashing of earlier Pokemon (Zubat Woobat) is still as unoriginal as complained). Although I will say an icecream and a bag of rubbish are scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit sooner than it needs to be scraped.

EDIT: And to address the rest, you don't know that. I've played 1 through to 5 and I still complain about Pokemon more than I praise it. Favourite was Gold/Silver for the record.

 

[scorptatious]

I imagine nostalgia has something to do with it.

As someone who has played Gen 1 when it first came out, I kind of consider either gen 4 or 5 my favorite. Gen 1 was great and all, but it was kinda buggy and psychics were overpowered seeing as there was like what one or two bug type moves and none of them actually did damage.

Weirdly, Bronies have an odd, reverse "genwunner"-ism, and generally look down at anything that came BEFORE Friendship is Magic.

I kind of used to be like this. Then I watched one guy's video talking about the older generations. I now realize that while I don't really like the older generations, I know for a fact that if it weren't for them, MLP FIM wouldn't even be a thing today. So I got to thank them for that at least.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Might just be the "This is the one I started with, therefore it's the best" kind of attitude I suppose.

Pretty much the only explanation. I've been a player all of my life, and each pokemon game brings something new and polishes the series. Looking back at Gen 1, the games are pretty bad and many of the pokemon designs are kinda lazy.

 

[Hagi]

Was a fan of generation 1 but haven't really liked any generation after, likely in large part since I've not taken any effort to look into them.

What I've seen of them though I don't really like quite as much as the first gen. The first generation generally all are very simple Pokemon. They take directly after an animal or object and they make a certain kind of direct sense.

Squirtle is a turtle and turtles live in water so he's a water-type.
Charizard is a dragon and dragons breathe fire so he's a fire-type.
Magnemite is a magnet and those have to do with electricity so he's an electric-type.

I'm well aware that there's exceptions to this, even in generation 1, but for the most part it seems to be there. You can take one look at a Pokemon and for the most part instantly make out what real-life thing it resembles, what it's type is and what it's likely strengths and weaknesses are.

From what little I've seen of later generations this is kinda lost. I can't really make out what they're supposed to resemble, what type they're supposed to be and what likely strengths and weaknesses they have.

Again, I must stress that I've very little with later generations so I could be wrong. But judging by the two pictures just above it seems about right.

I mean the top seems to be a leech-fish thing with arms, probably water? But looks like it'd have some sort of secondary type I honestly can't make out.

The other is a snake-bird thing? Flying most likely? And poison secondary? Or maybe flying secondary to something else?

 

[Darquenaut]

I was a Generation One fan and while I don't detest generation 2-5, it wasn't what I came in at. Looking at it from my own perspective (that being my opinion, not saying I'm right or wrong here), when Pokemon first appeared, it was something new and awesome.

There were 150 Pokemon, plus one mystery Pokemon (Mew)that added a little extra mystery/flair to the game. Plus, when the first games came out, the Pokemon TV show was brand new and it brought extra character to all of the extra critters that would otherwise be just pixels on a screen. For a lot of first generation fans, this was something new, especially for a western audience. When generation two and three came out, it felt less important. We already know these 150, why do we need to have more? Further, now that there were all of these new animals we never heard of before and new legendary Pokemon, the previous Legendaries and the previous mystery Pokemon lost a lot of its luster, and a lot of Gen-1 fans took it personally.

Further, with generation one, there was the set of rules you had to adhere to (Electricity beats Water, Water beats Fire, etc.) There IS that set of rules still of course, but it had grown and expanded to include different Pokemon types and for a lot of generation One fans, that killed the fun because, in our minds, they weren't just altering the rules, but throwing them all out and making us have to learn something else.

So, without going on forever, it is essentially the usual rote of "I was here first, how dare you change things on me!" kind of mentality.

 

[Weaver]

I'm wondering how many people actually care? I played Gen 1 and a few of the later gens; I thought Gen 1 was better in terms of design, and I'd sort of playfully rib on the new pokemon generations but I never actually cared to any degree.