Emiya You Know I Had to Do It to Em
For '90s kids, information technology may come equally a daze to learn that Pokémon turns 25 this twelvemonth. Back on Feb 27th, 1996, Game Freak's showtime installments in the Pocket Monsters (hence Pokémon) video game series debuted in Japan. When these games proved pop, they were released overseas, and, after an initial, massive surge in popularity, Pokémonhas steadily earned the title of the highest-grossing multimedia franchise in history.
That's right — in history. Fifty-fifty if you don't have that "Gotta Catch 'Em All" mentality, there'southward no denying Pokémon's success, which, fiscally speaking, has eclipsed the revenue of other big-name backdrop, including Mickey Mouse, Star Wars, Marvel Comics, and Hi Kitty. September 12th, 2021 is National Video Games Mean solar day in America. Permit'south accept a look at some of the franchise's biggest moments, and uncover only how Pokémon became the beloved, generation-defining cornerstone we know and love.
Pokémon'southward Origins: Red + Blue Version
Created by Satoshi Tajiri, the first games in the franchise, Pocket Monsters Red and Green, were released in Japan for Nintendo'southward Game Boy. Only when the games' popularity swelled, Game Freak retooled the games for a wider release. Enter Pokémon Cherry and Pokémon Blue — the must-have portable role-playing games of the '90s. Shortly thereafter, Game Freak added a Pikachu-centric iteration — the aptly named Pokémon Yellow — to the line up, and, in doing then, harnessed the (and then-impressive) color palette of the newly released Game Male child Colour.
Co-ordinate to the 2009 version of the Guinness Book of World Records, these offset Pokémon games are the best-selling role-playing games (RPGs) of all fourth dimension. Equally of March 2020, the Pokémon series has sold over 368 million units worldwide, across a staggering 76 titles, making information technology the third best-selling video game franchise of all time, just behind Nintendo's Mario series and the ever-popular Tetris.
Never played a core Pokémon game? We'll catch you upward to speed. From an overhead perspective, the player controls the game's protagonist, a young Pokémon trainer who travels the world capturing the titular creatures in order to battle other trainers' Pokémon. The short-term goal? Boxing a lot so that your Pokémon level up and gain new skills. A few of the foes you'll encounter, known as Gym Leaders, award yous with badges if you beat them; one time you've collected all 8 badges, yous're granted access to the "Pokémon League" — a collection of aristocracy trainers who run across if you've got what information technology takes to be crowned a Pokémon Main. All in all, information technology's a pretty straightforward game with a lot of replay value, especially because there are 150 unique types of Pokémon to collect and train.
With each new generation of Nintendo handhelds comes a new core Pokémon title. As of 2021, Nintendo'south on its eighth generation of core games — and that's not fifty-fifty counting remakes. Often, games in this core line introduce new regions for players to explore; rosters of new Poké pals; and ways to play across the traditional trainer battles. Of grade, gamers have also enjoyed hits outside the main series, including Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Snap, both of which launched on the Nintendo 64, likewise as puzzlers, trading card game sims, pinball games and fifty-fifty digital pet titles, like Hey You, Pikachu!
Merely before Yu-Gi-Oh! striking the scene, baseball cards were utterly displaced by a bunch of cute monsters and brightly colored trading cards. If you lot were a '90s kid — or if you knew a '90s kid — y'all'll probable recall the Pokémon Trading Menu Game (PTCG) fad. The excitement that came from ownership a pack of randomized cards was unparalleled. Because maybe, just maybe, y'all'd score that rare, holographic card missing from your drove, or, better yet, you'd tear open a pack to find your favorite Pokémon inside.
For more casual fans, swapping cards with pals was a source of playground fun, non unlike trading baseball game cards. But, for others, the main goal of PTCG was to collect all 150 original Pokémon as well equally the elemental and item cards — and so, of course, all of those variants and special edition releases. Taking a cue from the video game series, the actual card game allows players to initiate head-to-head battles using the team of Pokémon they've collected.
While tournaments became popular (and continue to be popular), Pokémon cards are perhaps even more notable for ushering in the general blast in themed trade. After all, as of March 2020, PTCG has sold over thirty.4 billion cards worldwide, which, according to Medium, translates into roughly $10.853 billion in revenue. Meanwhile, all that licensed trade, from plushies and activity figures to apparel and home goods, has garnered a staggering $64.1 billion.
The Pokémon Anime Is "Super Effective"
In the wake of the immensely successful games and trading cards came the Pokémon anime serial. Starting time debuting in 1997, the series has been running continuously for over two decades and, as of 2021, has an impressive 23 seasons under its belt. Home entertainment sales have generated over $863 million in revenue, and the current run of Pokémon is one of Netflix's most popular kids' series.
But the anime series is more than but one of the most successful video game adaptations of all fourth dimension. In fact, Pokémon is often credited with helping anime accomplish such a high level of success, and visibility, around the earth. It really wanted to brand good on that title vocal promise — to exist the very best, like no one always was.
Each series follows the adventures of Ash Ketchum, a fledgling Pokémon trainer who'south hoping to attain the title of Pokémon Chief i 24-hour interval. Joined by his first-ever Pokémon, the electric mouse Pikachu, and a rotating cast of human characters, Ash gets into a lot of hijinks on his road to the Pokémon League tournament. Simply his journey also reaffirms the importance of friendship and perseverance.
Pokémon Goes to the Movies
If your animated serial is a hit, the next logical step is to crank out a pic, right? Well, the folks backside Pokémon did more than just a straight-to-VHS spinoff. In fact, the first film in the Pokémon serial, Pokémon: The First Motion picture—Mewtwo Strikes Dorsum (1998), was a box role success when it hit screens in North America in 1999.
In the United states, it sold 10 million habitation video copies, earning $58.8 million by 2000, and, perhaps even more than impressively, it earned a whopping $172 million at the worldwide box office. In fact, several of the top-grossing anime films of all time are Pokémon movies. As of 2020, there have been 23 blithe films and one alive-action pic, 2019's urban fantasy mystery Detective Pikachu.
Twitch Plays Pokémon
Chances are you first heard most the streaming platform Twitch thank you to the viral awareness Twitch Plays Pokémon — livestream of a crowdsourced attempt to play through Pokémon Red with the help of a system that translated conversation commands into game controls. Accessible, addicting and universally dearest, Pokémon seems similar an obvious choice for a stream, just information technology was the crowdsourced attempt to complete the game that made the Twitch stream stand out.
Halfway through Feb, the channel surged to over 6.5 million full views. On average, lx,000 or 70,000 viewers were watching live at any given time, with roughly 10% of those viewers inputting commands and participating in the game. Matthew DiPietro, Twitch's then-VP of Marketing, noted that Twitch Plays Pokémon represented the mode in which video games have get both entertaining and creative in a manner that goes beyond the games' creators' original intent.
"By merging a video game, live video and a participatory feel, the broadcaster has created an entertainment hybrid custom fabricated for the Twitch community," DiPietro said. "This is a wonderful proof of concept that we promise to see more than of in the future." In the cease, an estimated one.sixteen meg people participated, and the social experiment garnered 55 million views. It even spawned a faith — sort of.
"Pokémon Go" Proves Innovation Sustains a Legacy
A constant theme in Pokémon's legacy seems to exist innovation, whether it be the phenomenal cantankerous-promotion efforts of a concurrent game, anime series and trading card fad, or simply the attempt to combine Pokémon and new technologies. (Hey You, Pikachu! anyone?) Few entries in the $100 billion-franchise underscore this more Niantic's 2016 sleeper hit Pokémon Get.
The augmented reality mobile game allows players to do exactly what so many of us have wanted to do since the '90s: Walk around the world and stumble upon Pokémon. Using GPS, the game allows players to navigate their varying real-world environments to notice items; catch and railroad train creatures; and battle other players. Although the game launched with the 150 original species of Pokémon, that number increased to well-nigh 600 unique characters by 2020. Hailed as the "greatest unintentional health fad ever" (via Vox), Pokémon GO has garnered around 11 1000000 active players and, despite existence free to play, has reeled in over $894 million in revenue for Niantic.
Pokémon at 25: Celebrations, Concerts, New Games and More
In the lead upwards to Pokémon Day, Pokémon Presents revealed a bunch of 25th Ceremony events and releases. Start up, are a host of special in-game events and offers, including a new Max Raid Battle in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield besides equally special raids for Pokémon GO players.
Additionally, The Pokémon Visitor presented gameplay footage of the highly anticipated New Pokémon Snap (Nintendo Switch, April xxx), and revealed the titles of core game remakes Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl. Perhaps most exciting of all, The Pokémon Company announced the Diamond and Pearl prequel game, Pokémon Legends Arceus. In what the company has deemed "a new era" for the franchise, players will navigate a pre-modern Poké-world — and the gameplay manner volition shift appropriately.
If virtual, in-game events and new titles weren't enough, The Pokémon Company announced a slew of new merchandise — and McDonald's is adding anniversary-themed cards to its Happy Meals. Additionally, throughout the year, Katy Perry and other Universal Music Group musicians volition help create special Pokémon-themed music. And on Pokémon Twenty-four hours itself, the franchise volition celebrate its birthday with a virtual Postal service Malone concert. (It'south no Jigglypuff sleeper hitting, but nosotros'll take information technology.)
For a full list of events, announcements and ways to celebrate the franchise's 25th ceremony, check out the dedicated website. At that place'due south and so much to meet and do — and yous'll want to catch 'em all.
Source: https://www.ask.com/entertainment/pokemon-25-retrospective?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740004%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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