Pokemania: A Retrospective
May 04 '00
Now that Pokemania has finally slowed to generally manageable levels, I thought that now would be a good time to take a look back at the addiction that was (or in some cases, still is). In retrospect, as disruptive as Pokemon had been in some cases, it can be viewed as Nintendo's savior as the franchise resurrected the struggling game company and captivated millions of young people worldwide.
I worked in retail this past holiday season, and Pokemon was on everyone's mind... parents, grandparents, kids... it was quite a sight. In my 20 years of video gaming experience, I had never seen anything quite like this. The merchandising was everywhere, with Pokemon clothes, cards, stationery, food, toys, and more items than I can list here. Kids wanted everything, but the games and the cards were the most scarce. Due to unknown circumstances, Game Boy Color units rapidly became scarce, and Pokemon games were just as hard to find. When Nintendo released its Game Boy Color and Pokemon Yellow combo, it became so rare that people were selling them outright for up to 4 times its worth. As for the cards, daily limits were placed almost everywhere, and various events like theft, assault, shoplifting, and others became as synonymous with Pokemon cards as Pikachu. Kids would spend their entire allowances and sometimes more just on Pokemon cards. One child dropped 50 dollars-- he had been saving for weeks-- on Pokemon cards.
Along with the cards comes the addiction and gambling aspect; were the cards instruments of indirect gambling? The answer is unclear. It does seem as though an implication of gambling could be made as there are odds for finding premium cards in small print on each wrapper. The premium cards, or foil cards as they are more commonly known, were the big draw. The kids' reactions when they opened a pack of cards and pulled out a Charizard foil card ranged from funny to ridiculous. One child ran around the store over and over, exclaiming that he "won Charizard". Another broke into tears, saying that it was "the best moment of his life." Scary, isn't it? In order to get a foil card, you just had to be lucky... or spend a lot of money. I personally do not think that the gambling aspect was intended, but the argument can be made with some plausibility that there was some gambling involved. Actions such as theft and assault should not be associated with cute-looking cards, but these crimes will always be in some way associated with Pokemon, and that's unfortunate.
As Pokemania subsides, it makes way for the next big fad. Hopefully the inventor and distributor of this next phenomenon will learn from the trials of Pokemon while building on its successes. This also will eventually push Nintendo out of the spotlight at a bad time for them. Nintendo must now rely on other means to right their ship and regain their confident swagger... those hopes may rest on a 128-bit machine that we know as Dolphin, but that's another story.
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Member: Peter Skerritt, Jr.
Location: West Springfield, MA
Reviews written: 141
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About Me:
I am an avid video game player with 30 years of gaming experience.
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