Confessions of a Pokemon Addict

Yesterday the latest iteration of the Pokemon series, Pokemon Platinum, was released. Even though I own Pokemon Pearl (Platinum is basically the same game as Pearl with a few minor (yet exciting) additions) I had to pick it up today. Ever since I bought Pokemon Pearl in April of 2007 I have become addicted to Pokemon. I have played Pokemon Pearl for over 220 hours and have put as many hours if not more playing the other Pokemon games I have (Platinum is my 9th Pokemon game).

Even though I love playing Pokemon games I am somewhat ashamed to admit it. I think it is safe to say that many people think that Pokemon games are for young children. Even my 11 year old nephew thinks he is too old for Pokemon games. Admittedly, on their face Pokemon are rather cute and childish looking. The games, unlike some other RPGs, are very simple to pick up and play.

Yet behind this simple and cute exterior lies a game that is very complex and difficult to master. My countless hours that I have spent playing the Pokemon games has gotten me very close to my initial goal of achieving the motto of Pokemon: Gotta Catch 'Em All. It has only been recently, as I neared what I initially envisioned would be the end of playing Pokemon, that I began to scratch the surface of a much deeper experience. I have begun to collect rare event Pokemon from other countries and raising Pokemon that can battle competitively. Understanding competitive battling requires and understanding of extremely complicated game mechanics that are largely hidden from view unless you seek them out. It also takes an extreme amount of patience and hard work to obtain a Pokemon with good stats and then to raise it the precise way to capitalize on those stats.

I think it is precisely this dichotomy of being easy to pick up and play while also be incredibly complicated if one chooses that makes Pokemon such a great game. Anyone from the casual player to the extremely competitive player can enjoy the same game. Pokemon is the quintessential Nintendo game for this very reason.