Am I too old to get into Pokemon?

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

So I recently bought Pokemon Stadium on N64 and I'm playing it a ton. But I'm 27, and when Pokemon came out, I was not into it. I remember the show, I remember a lot of the pokemon, but i wasn't an insane pokemon kid.

[JSoup]

Depends on what you mean by "get into", really. There are various levels of liking something, ranging from basic to 'in need of an intervention'.
But to attack the question directly, are you too old to enjoy a game or series of games? That's really up to you, but I'd think not. A game is meant to be enjoyed and if you enjoy it, you enjoy it. I'm 29 and I still play the series, although not as much as I once did.

[isufje]

[GhostDog]

So I recently bought Pokemon Stadium on N64 and I'm playing it a ton. But I'm 27, and when Pokemon came out, I was not into it. I remember the show, I remember a lot of the pokemon, but i wasn't an insane pokemon kid.

I'm the same age and when I was 12 back in 1998 when the Pokemon craze hit I was so confused on why people were so into it. It just seemed so freakin' stupid and annoying to me and I was 12. Even if I was a little kid I know I still wouldn't like Pokemon. It's crazy how popular the Pokemon series really was. I think many kids felt a social obligation in order to fit in to like that stuff. However, by 12 I was way past that and it seemed like kiddy stuff but yet there were many kids my age that liked it. I was all into trying to be like a teenager when I was 12 to even worry about Pokemon which seemed like elementary school stuff and I was in middle school already and there were lockers so I knew I was grown up.

[PizzaKat]

nah, who cares. If its feels good do it. I played Pokemon Yellow on the gameboy. Didnt get far but it wasnt a big deal. Id probably try again sometime.

[Rickstilwell1]

I'm almost 27 as well and I shamelessly play Pokémon games or anything else for that matter. To me it's just another RPG and has an easy to understand battle system plus more characters than any other RPG could ever give you to use in battle.

As we speak I am playing the hardest modes of a Power Rangers fighting game on Genesis. Am I told old for that? No, it's a fast paced fighter that takes some skill and is more fun than a lot of other games at this high difficulty setting.

[Niku-Sama]

29 and just bought X

[Satoshi_Matrix]

One can never be too old to get into Pokemon.

The series is deceptively deep. Sure, on the surface its a kid-friendly game with cute and color creatures and one dimensional bad guys who exist solely to teach morals to children, but under that you have an absolutely massively customizable RPG with a social component behind it. Trading, battling and meeting others through forums and conventions and such is one of the most rewarding experiences.

The games are about exploration, discovery, and the thrill of random chance, as there are very rare shiny Pokemon for example, and really, no two people who play Pokemon will end up with the same experience. The monsters you raise are uniquely yours.

I'd say to give it a shot.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

I'm the same age and when I was 12 back in 1998 when the Pokemon craze hit I was so confused on why people were so into it. It just seemed so freakin' stupid and annoying to me and I was 12. Even if I was a little kid I know I still wouldn't like Pokemon. It's crazy how popular the Pokemon series really was. I think many kids felt a social obligation in order to fit in to like that stuff. However, by 12 I was way past that and it seemed like kiddy stuff but yet there were many kids my age that liked it. I was all into trying to be like a teenager when I was 12 to even worry about Pokemon which seemed like elementary school stuff and I was in middle school already and there were lockers so I knew I was grown up.

Exactly. My younger brother was the one playing pokemon on gameboy color and collecting trading cards. I was too old. I remember seeing the show back then too, the original, and since they put it up on Netflix I've been watching it again and getting real sucked in now. My roommate has hundreds of pokemon cards and some of them r super rare and expensive. Her whole collection is worth prolly $30,000. These sell for ridiculous prices, I thought collecting video games was expensive lol.

Yea Pokemon Stadiums awesome. I just wonder why they never made a whole story-based RPG for a home console. It makes no sense why.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I just wonder why they never made a whole story-based RPG for a home console. It makes no sense why.

Two thoughts.

1) Pokemon games were and still are cash cows because they're portable. The original game design was conceived around the Game Link Cable entirely, with trading and battling other humans an integral part of the experience. A story-based console RPG Pokemon game would lack this element, and therefore sell considerably worse.

Want proof? Just look at Pokemon XD for the GameCube. It was exactly what you describe - a console based, story-driven single player Pokemon game. and guess what? It didn't even sell a third the copies Pokemon Stadium and its sequel did. It wasn't that people didn't have GameCubes, its that people didn't want to play Pokemon that wans't on a handheld and couldn't have the social aspects to it.


2) With that said, truly understanding why that didn't happen is a futile effort. This is Nintendo you're talking about. They are the kids of strange decisions dating back to the N64 sticking with cartridges in the face of literally everyone else going CD, and since then it's just been a continual story of this is what Sony and Microsoft are doing......and oh, over there, there's what Nintendo is doing completely off in their old little world.

[Niku-Sama]

yea XD was ok. the cool thing was interfacing with the handheld games to trade pokemon and such but it was basicly final fantasy with catchables.
its worth having, I bought the XD game cube bundle when it first came out

[JSoup]

Want proof? Just look at Pokemon XD for the GameCube. It was exactly what you describe - a console based, story-driven single player Pokemon game. and guess what? It didn't even sell a third the copies Pokemon Stadium and its sequel did. It wasn't that people didn't have GameCubes, its that people didn't want to play Pokemon that wans't on a handheld and couldn't have the social aspects to it.

Which is too bad, really. Colosseum and XD were really good games. Likable characters, decent story, really nice OST and an actually challenging single player adventure.

[Atarileaf]

I'm the same age and when I was 12 back in 1998 when the Pokemon craze hit I was so confused on why people were so into it. It just seemed so freakin' stupid and annoying to me and I was 12. Even if I was a little kid I know I still wouldn't like Pokemon. It's crazy how popular the Pokemon series really was. I think many kids felt a social obligation in order to fit in to like that stuff. However, by 12 I was way past that and it seemed like kiddy stuff but yet there were many kids my age that liked it. I was all into trying to be like a teenager when I was 12 to even worry about Pokemon which seemed like elementary school stuff and I was in middle school already and there were lockers so I knew I was grown up.

I never understood the appeal and never will. Of course I'm almost 45 so that probably has something to do with it. I truly doubt it would have appealed to me as a kid either. Of course I don't understand the appeal of death metal, American Idol or Two and a Half Men either.

[Tanooki]

I think with Pokemon you get out of it what you put into it, but it's best to go in from the start with some kind of objective. If you go into it for the 'gotta catch em all' angle then yeah anyone who isn't in elementary school pretty much is too damn old because of how long it takes to find, catch, and raise hundreds of the damn things can take a 'morrowind' type games amount of hours of commitment. Now if you go into it just to experience the story and do enough to keep a party that can survive, grab a few more along the way maybe for fun just to stuff in a PC, then you're getting into the realm of an everymans game. The latest release of X and Y has this really life saving mechanic in the game where it shares ALL XP gained in a battle among your party in your pocket. If you use that in X/Y you'll really never need to sit in an area at all to grind wasting a ton of hours boosting each critter to a level that it can survive the place as you'll share enough taking down nosey trainers in the wild that pick fights with you.

I bought it, and the book, but I have probably no intent on ever finishing it. I've never been able to outside of YELLOW way back when as it's just overkill, but I like the battles and the basic story, so I enjoy just screwing around and picking away at things here and there. I may ignore it a month or six months but I'll come back and get another badge or push it an area or two farther and I'm fine with that. I'm finally enjoying pokemon not taking it seriously as something to finish and I'm in my 30s.

[Rickstilwell1]

The more hours you put into a game, the more money's worth you're getting out of your investment in it by playing it more instead of buying something else. Pokémon can make a little bit go a long way.

[kupomogli]

It's not whether you're too old to play Pokemon but whether you're going to put time into doing anything but the single player. The gameplay is rather weak if you put time into single player alone because of the brain dead difficulty of literally every game in the series, but the gameplay is actually kind of deep, so if you ever get into the pvp aspect with friends then it can be a lot better. It depends if you want to devote that much time into Pokemon or not.

I personally think Pokemon is a poor series because it's one you have to actually devote a lot of time into before it actually gets good. Hours upon hours of breeding and hatcing eggs to get good IVs for each Pokemon on your team, catching the Pokemon you want and before doing that a lot of the time will be researching max stats, skills they can use, etc, and putting together a good team on paper not even playing the game.

I'm one to rather have a game start off as an enjoyable experience, not put around 30 hours into it before I get to the part where I can start actually enjoying the game.

[fairyland]

I was considering on getting the new Pokemon X or Y game and I'm old enough to remember buying Atari 2600 games brand new from Montgomery Wards, but then again I've not played Pokemon since Emerald and I found that one to be basically like the prior games...I've already done this stuff before in blue, yellow, silver, leafgreen then emerald and I got really tired of it all. I imagine the newer games to be mostly the same thing all over again with very little difference so I never bothered with them. I do have unplayed copies of Diamond, Pearl and Platinum and I guess I should try one of those out before considering buying an X or Y. I've heard they came a long ways since Emerald, but I've never really been that excited to re-collect them all.

You could become a Skylanders fan and spend over $500 a year in toys and the game. It's almost like Pokemon with collecting them all and leveling them up. That's what I got myself into recently and it seems just as childish as Pokemon. It's just more fun for me than Pokemon, as I love the Gauntlet Legends style of game play and being able to put whatever character I like into the game with the portal.

[Tanooki]

I see your point Kupo, problem is I got started when there was no breeding or IVs or any other weird stuff added since for competition sake. I play my runs of it 8bit style really. Small party, few pick ups, kill all trainers and gym leaders, buy items I may need and just move the story. I will never play someone else, I don't find gaming like that fun in the least bit because there will always be a million other consumers fare more into it and frothing mad like those into FPS games only, those buying the teeniest boost of car parts in reality (or gran turismo) and so on. I just go after the story and pick at it, and X/Y with that all team XP booster makes it fun as it's not a slow drag anymore as you can just walk it out.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

Two thoughts.

1) Pokemon games were and still are cash cows because they're portable. The original game design was conceived around the Game Link Cable entirely, with trading and battling other humans an integral part of the experience. A story-based console RPG Pokemon game would lack this element, and therefore sell considerably worse.

Want proof? Just look at Pokemon XD for the GameCube. It was exactly what you describe - a console based, story-driven single player Pokemon game. and guess what? It didn't even sell a third the copies Pokemon Stadium and its sequel did. It wasn't that people didn't have GameCubes, its that people didn't want to play Pokemon that wans't on a handheld and couldn't have the social aspects to it.


2) With that said, truly understanding why that didn't happen is a futile effort. This is Nintendo you're talking about. They are the kids of strange decisions dating back to the N64 sticking with cartridges in the face of literally everyone else going CD, and since then it's just been a continual story of this is what Sony and Microsoft are doing......and oh, over there, there's what Nintendo is doing completely off in their old little world.

I'm definately no expert on Pokemon, my friend told me it hasn't been done, and he's always wanted one. I thought it'd be cool, the cartoon show is like that, why not a video game? I'm a real noob tho with Pokemon, I've only played Stadium, and I've seen a lot of the show. But I do get a little spark of nostalgia from Bulbasaur and Pidgeoto and stuff, for some reason. Oh well...

Anyone ever notice how incredibly weird Pokemon really are? I mean, beyond the basics like Charmander and Picachu, look some of these things, they're so frikkin weird. I really don't know where the Japanese come up with half the shit they do sometimes. REAL weird. But I like weird stuff, so I approve. But, really, look real hard at some of these things and tell me they're not truely bizarre things.

As for Nintendo, that's all very true, they've done their own thing for years now, but oddly, whatever they seem to do, it's oddly fantastic, either way. The Wii is a prime example. I was so skeptic of this thing, cuz it's weird, but Nintendo just nailed it with this thing. Play Twilight Princess with the wiimote and nunchuck, they pulled off some risky controls so so well. By the way, why is it called a nunchuck..? This always threw me for a loop. Another weird, risky design, the wiimote and nunchuck, but it feels great. It feels like someone chopped off the the Z button on an N64 controller and attached it to my TV remote, but in games like Mariokart, it just feels right, idk. The toggle stick is in under ur left thumb, right where u'd want it if it was a regular controler.

Idc what people say, the world needs Nintendo.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Anyone ever notice how incredibly weird Pokemon really are? I mean, beyond the basics like Charmander and Picachu, look some of these things, they're so frikkin weird. I really don't know where the Japanese come up with half the shit they do sometimes. REAL weird. But I like weird stuff, so I approve. But, really, look real hard at some of these things and tell me they're not truly bizarre things.

Pokemon are based on several insperational concepts:

real world animals - These obviously make up the bulk of all Pokemon. Charmander is a lizard, Squirtle is a turtle, Pidgey is a bird, and Butterfree is a butterfly, and so on.

Inanimate objects - These take a lot of imagination and are usually my favorite catigory of Pokemon. It takes a special kind of mind to look at a common object and think what it might look like if it was a kid-friendly monster. Here you've got Geodude, a living rock, Muk, a living pile of sludge, and Magnemite, a steel orb with screws and electromagnets.

Human-shape - There are a surprising number of Pokemon that are basically stand-ins for humans. Most fighting Pokemon for example fit here, like Machoke, or others like Jynx. Most human-shape Pokemon are stand-ins for professions, like how Hitmonchan is a boxer and Mr. Mime is... well, a mime.

Mythological creatures - Mythology is rife with stories of monsters to begin with, so its an easy target to base Pokemon on. There are Pokemon based on myths from cultures spanning the globe. Some are obvious like Zapdos representing the Native American thundergod and Moltres a Phoenix, while others are rather obscure references. For example, one Pokemon, Snorunt, is based on a Yukinko - a Japanese good luck spirit said to appear before the pure hearted when it snows according to ancient folk tales in Northern Japan.

One of the thrills I enjoy most about Pokemon is trying to figure out what each Pokemon are based on. They don't just make something up on the spot, all Pokemon have an origin story, starting with Bulbasaur being a bulb...as in, a plant bulb, plant as in, plant eater, herbivore....dinosaur...bulbasaur.

Of course, the Japanese names of Pokemon are usually clever too, but in different ways.