15 years ago, a phenomenon was unleashed into the western world, hailing from Japan and coming onto Nintendo’s small handheld platform, the Gameboy. Two games began one of the most important series in video game history, that inspired a multi-media empire that remains strong throughout the world to this day, with a show, a trading card game, and various products that ranged from toys to band aids. This series is none other than the legendary RPG series, Pokémon.
A game series that evolved into a cultural force, Pokémon has taken world by storm in ways that very few other game series have managed to emulate. There may be non-gamers who know the faces of Link or Sonic the Hedgehog, but you’d be hard pressed to find a series that has quite gotten the mainstream attention that Pokemon has, and despite its connation to children, has a very wide fan base across all ages. With the release of the most recent games in the series, Pokemon X and Y, it seems like a great time to look at some of the fans that have stuck through this series for so many years.
“[I’ve been into Pokemon] since I first played Blue back in 1998.” Jon Rosink ’14 said. “the series is extremely memorable, with its simple gameplay, great soundtrack, and one of the first games I ever owned.” Jon managed to embody the attitude that fans (including this reporter) all seem to share: “[Pokemon] is like chocolate: You keep going back for more even if your full.”
Some fans aren’t quite the lifelong dedicates that Jon is, but have found the series, fallen in love, and never looked back, like Chris Thompson ’15, who had only began to identify as a fan just 4 years ago.
“ I saw commercials for the games Heart Gold and Soul Silver and wanted to give them a try.” Chris said. “The games have great replay value, and the communication leaps have allowed for one to communicate with friends around the world.”
Other fans take their passion to the next level, like Khamruz Zaman ’14. Khamruz runs the super popular Pokemon Parody twitter page, with nearly 75,000 followers, along with a shop dedicated to Pokemon paraphernalia.
“[I’ve been a fan] since I was a little kid. I know basically everything there is to know about the series, have seen all the movies, and played all the games,” Zaman said, pride gleaming off of his face as he listed off his experience with the series. “Pokemon was a big part of my childhood, and you just can’t let that go.”
Like it says on his twitter page, “You’re never too old for Pokemon.”
With such a dedicated fan base, it’s easy to see how Pokemon has been able to outlast and outshine so many of its contemporaries. Whatever the future holds for this franchise, you can guarantee that fans like these will continue with and help pass it down through the generations.
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