It's now February 27th in Japan, and that marks the 18th anniversary of the initial release of Pokémon Red & Green, and thus the franchise.
While originally labelled as a fad, Pokémon has become one of the largest things to have ever happened to gaming in general. It has sold over 250 million units of games, across 66 titles (each pair listed separately so Red & Green count as two). It has a massively successful anime, which across five series (Original, Advance Generation, Diamond & Pearl, Best Wishes & XY) has over 800 combined episodes, as well as 17 movies. The TCG is still going strong with over 60 sets being released since 1997 and two successful arcade games in Japan (Battrio & Tretta). Their latest entries, Pokémon X & Y, went on to sell a massive 11.6 million units in just two and a half months.
The series is constantly evolving with 719 Pokémon officially known, and more to come, which is a big step up from the original amount. It shows no signs of stopping and I am really loving the creativity of some of the designs of late. The mechanics of the game have also evolved considerably beyond how they were in the initial games, while sticking to the formula.
Pokémon has drastically changed my life, for the better. Without it, I don't know where I'd be. Most of you guys know what I do, running one of the top Pokémon sites, and that it has spurred my career and I have met so many cool people because of it. Sure, covering games can be incredibly stressful due to people wanting information on them as soon as possible, but I wouldn't change it for anything.
What do you guys think of the series? Any favourite Pokémon? Favourite games? Cool memories?
While originally labelled as a fad, Pokémon has become one of the largest things to have ever happened to gaming in general. It has sold over 250 million units of games, across 66 titles (each pair listed separately so Red & Green count as two). It has a massively successful anime, which across five series (Original, Advance Generation, Diamond & Pearl, Best Wishes & XY) has over 800 combined episodes, as well as 17 movies. The TCG is still going strong with over 60 sets being released since 1997 and two successful arcade games in Japan (Battrio & Tretta). Their latest entries, Pokémon X & Y, went on to sell a massive 11.6 million units in just two and a half months.
The series is constantly evolving with 719 Pokémon officially known, and more to come, which is a big step up from the original amount. It shows no signs of stopping and I am really loving the creativity of some of the designs of late. The mechanics of the game have also evolved considerably beyond how they were in the initial games, while sticking to the formula.
Pokémon has drastically changed my life, for the better. Without it, I don't know where I'd be. Most of you guys know what I do, running one of the top Pokémon sites, and that it has spurred my career and I have met so many cool people because of it. Sure, covering games can be incredibly stressful due to people wanting information on them as soon as possible, but I wouldn't change it for anything.
What do you guys think of the series? Any favourite Pokémon? Favourite games? Cool memories?