Friday 29 November 2019

Understanding Popular Video Games


Since I was a child, there’s been one thing that’s been absolutely constant in my life: playing Pokemon on handheld Nintendo consoles. And for anyone that doesn’t believe me, I’m always able to conjure up some dusty old game cartridges that are still residing in storage, probably in some cheap moving boxes labeled “Electronics.” When most hear (or read, I suppose) this little tidbit about me, they often think “Isn’t Pokemon a child’s game?”


Having to answer this over and over can become a bit annoying, but there’s no harm in someone being genuinely curious about why I’d still play the games if they were marketed to children. And to be honest, they are marketed to kids. That’s just what sells the most for the franchise, especially because they make most of their money not on the video games but on the merchandise sold in conjunction with the games.

So, the short answer is yes, Pokemon games are meant for kids at the surface level. At least to make the company money, that is.

When you take a closer look at the core series games, however, you see a much different following: that of players between the ages of 25 and 40. What usually draws these fans into purchasing the games and playing is nostalgia more than anything. Since the original games came out over 20 years ago, it’s only natural to have fans between 25 and 40 coming back to play the new games simply because they’ve been along for the ride ever since the series began.

On top of this, there’s a significantly deep competitive aspect that goes on within the games that children would almost never be able to perform well at. I don’t mean this as a slight to any kids out there who do well at the games, but the vast majority of people who win Pokemon tournaments (both sanctioned and unsanctioned) are in the age range I keep mentioning. That’s because A) those players have been around since the beginning and know the majority of characters in the games and B) those players also study the competitive aspect of the games more than you’d realize.

So, as someone who falls into that age range and as someone who has a lot of old Pokemon games stashed away in cheap moving boxes in storage, it’s probably not surprising for you to hear that I’m also someone that plays competitively with friends and others in online communities dedicated to battling it out. At this point, it’s always been a part of my life and will continue to be.

No comments:

Post a Comment