Above: Promo for the next pokemon games, Pokemon Back 2 and Pokemon White 2.
Nintendo is one of the world’s three video game colossuses. Along with Sony and Microsoft, it vies for our home console space year after year, generation after generation. But Nintendo is leagues ahead of the competition, killing all hopes that hardcore video game fans outnumber spoiled children. I personally prefer Microsoft over the big N, but that’s a story for another day. As for my favorite videogames, RPG’s have my heart. Thus, I have decided to give all my RPG readers out there a little article by article guide to becoming an RPG master. I’ve decided to start with the RPG I’ll never lose faith in, Pokemon.
Pokemon exploded on the video game scene in 1996 with two simple concepts: Become #1, and let the inner perfectionist in you blossom. Back in 1996 on our Gameboy’s this wasn’t so hard, with only 150 Pokemon to catch. Now, over 15 years later, it’s quite the challenge. Pokemon is the second largest and most lucrative franchise in video game history, right after Mario. It has had five very successful generations, and has sold more than 200 million pieces merchandise worldwide.
The world is embracing Pokemon one method of transportation at a time.
Many hardcore RPG players look over Pokemon because of the simplicity and cartoonish nature of the game. DON’T! Pokemon has a shugar coating, but underneath lies a tough and gritty world full of number crunching, elaborate builds, combos, Random number generators, and 649 species of greatness. Some Pokemon pro lingo for the nonbelievers: My 4/252/252 Bold Wish Vaporeon’s Aqua Ring/Leftovers Combo lets it tank any 4/252/252 ChoiceTar’s Earthquake with ease. Needless to say that anyone willing to look under the surface will find a world so intricate it rivals that of TES series with ease. Pokemon tournaments and competitions have more security and regulation than an SAT exam.
Anyone who wants to can question the integrity of a gaming juggernaut like Pokemon, but it holds to a tried and tested formula year after year, and dosnt get bashed on Metacritic like a game who broke the world record in entertainment with its release last year.
