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.
