Even for fans like me, Pokemon 30th anniversary “stuff” is a lot | games

IIt had been nearly impossible to escape from Pokemon over the past few weeks. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original games, The Pokémon Company has been on an unprecedented promotional nostalgia trip all month: there was a campaign that had celebrities talking about their favorite Pokémon, giving us an unforgettable scene of Lady Gaga singing with Jigglypuff, and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (a fantastic re-release of the original 1996 Game Boy Advance games) were re-released on the Nintendo Switch. The Natural History Museum in London opened a pop-up Pokemon store, and a limited edition gray plush Pikachu toy sold out in about three seconds (and they’ll earn more, much to the disappointment of scalpers everywhere).

And it’s all just the beginning. We’ve seen the opening of a Pokémon theme park in Tokyo, the announcement of a little Game Boy-shaped music player that plays game soundtracks, a collaboration with high-end fashion brand JimmyPaul that had its own fashion show… it was endless. Regular readers will know that I’m specifically the target audience for this festival of Pokemon nostalgia: the first generation of Pokemon kids who are now turning 40. However I was unaffected by most of this, even a little annoyed by it.

This is because most of these Pokemon celebrations are fair Things. Expensive stuff, at that. I look at this £579.99 Lego set featuring Charizard, Venusaur and Blastoise and think: this economy? I’m fully aware that I’m now approaching a peak nostalgia period in my life, where every company will try to sell me things based on my childhood favorites to buy with my (theoretically) disposable income. All of my Gen

No one is above this taste of nostalgia, least of all me. There are several unnecessary pieces of video game merchandise in my house, including a Bulbasaur-themed sweater I wore on my book tour. But I at least want to pose claim Resistance to this relentless and ever-expanding commodification. The ad for Pokémon Lego shows a bored and tired millennial man in a gray suit looking through bills before donning his trainer’s hat, expressing surprise, and joining his friends outside. “Your time has come! Fate doesn’t care about lower back pain!” The ad says. Aaaargh! It’s so insultingly transparent! I feel cared for both and He called. Pokemon Go far.

You could say that “things” It’s been a staple of Pokémania since the turn of the millennium: cards, toys, and clothing, all of which came along with the TV show and games when they were in their first wave of popularity, and Pokémon Center stores have been feeding a voracious appetite for the merchandise ever since. The games themselves are about acquisition, after all: you have to catch them all!

However, that’s not how I saw Pokémon. For me, this was never a game about collecting all Pokémon is about forming attachments to the very specific creatures you’ve made part of your team. Pokemon is a series that connects people. the expertise Playing Pokemon is what I remember from my childhood, not tattoos. It made me feel free and empowered, like a child in charge of my own destiny.

Which is why, at the end of this physical month of Pokemon festivities, I was thrilled when they actually announced some new games. Pokémon Winds and Waves takes place in a new region inspired by Indonesia: the trailer conjures fresh air, sea breezes and a holiday world full of Pokémon and possibilities. The creatures roam the open plains and swim peacefully underwater. I saved it to watch with my Pokemon-obsessed son after school, and he was thrilled when three new Pokemon appeared, one of whom is basically just a puppy. (There’s also a serious-looking bird and a proud aquatic gecko.) I looked at it then and thought: Oh, there’s this sense of wonder.

Winds and Waves won’t be released until 2027. The five-year gap between the mainline Pokémon games is unprecedented – but given that the last two games, Scarlet and Violet, were released in a state, it’s clear that the developers at Game Freak need more time to make the next ones stand out. Maybe all this endless merchandise is to free up these creators to spend that extra time, rather than getting new Pokemon entries every year or two to maximize profits. If so, I might look at the vast amount of Pokemon stuff a little more kindly. I hope my kids and I have something cool to play.

What are you playing?

If 2027 seems too far away, give it a shot Pokemon Bucopia Go. This is a spin-off collaboration between Game Freak and Koei Tecmo, and is a gently grinding game in which you reclaim the beauty of a barren wasteland, taking the form of an anthropomorphic mutant Ditto. I was really surprised by how much I liked this, and how easily I was drawn into watering the lawn, building little houses for the bulbasaur, and chasing Pokemon after creating their very specific environments.

Think Animal Crossing meets Viva Piñata and Dragon Quest Builders (with which Pokopia is a co-developer). It’s also a new expression of Pokémon’s inherent environmentalism.

Available on: Nintendo Switch 2
Estimated playing time: More than 30 hours

What are you reading?

• Another classic Nintendo game celebrated a big birthday recently: Legend of Zelda He turned forty years old. Mark Normandin writes at the AV Club about how the first NES game brought elements of the once impenetrable 1980s computer role-playing scene to the masses. It gives great context to Zelda’s early history.

• In less positive news, Wildlight Entertainment announced yesterday that it is a hero shooter for the live service Haygard It will close for good next week… just two months after it was released to admittedly mixed reviews. Keith wrote about the game’s surprising and strange launch in this newsletter back in January.

• Bloomberg reports that before Sony shut down popular remake-focused studio Bluepoint last month, it had showcased a remake of the classic PlayStation 4 game Bloodborne – But the idea was rejected by the game’s original director, Hidetaka Miyazaki. The report also contains some interesting inside details about the God of War spin-off that Bluepoint has been working on for the past few years.

What to click on

Question block

This week’s question from a regular reader Ian:

“I’ve been playing video games since the early 80s (I’m almost 80). I have a collection of what I consider to be the best in every type of game. With very few exceptions, I don’t see the point in investing in new games when I could go back and play Mass Effect, Dark Souls, Skyrim, etc. Am I depriving myself of new gaming experiences?”

When you have a taste for anything, you become very demanding; Your quality bar is high. The desire for innovation sometimes does not outweigh the desire for quality. It’s like choosing restaurants: Do you go to a place you know you like, or do you go to a place that’s unproven? Investing time, energy and money is sometimes not worth it when there is a possibility of disappointment.

But then, as with the restaurant, so might that new game you’re trying becomes favorite. Driven by an insatiable desire for innovation (and professional necessity), I play through probably 50 games a year, because a few of them will be things I’ll be telling others about for years. But just as many people get a little stuck in the music of their youth, they can get stuck in familiar games as well.

A friend of mine calls these games “home” – like Destiny, Dark Souls, or Skyrim, a game that feels safe and takes up most of your time. So we might look at new games as trips, day trips or vacations. Set aside a few hours or days for them. After that, you can always go home. The great thing about video games is that people do too always Do new things with them; There is never a shortage of attractive destinations.

If you have a question about the Question Pack – or anything else to say about the newsletter – hit reply or email us at pushbuttons@theguardian.com.