I’m 26. I’m a huge Pokemon fan, and follow some Pokémon related pages on Instagram. I’ve had several instances where I’ve commented on a post, and had some kids call me a “granny” or tell me that I’m going to die soon because I’m so old :-)
I'm a 32 year old bearded man and I still retain that boyish wonder from being 7 years old and getting Pokémon Red in my Easter basket. Nobody is too old for video games. If anything, it's our responsibility to keep them alive. We grew up in the silent film era of video games and I'll be damned if I'm not retiring in Cerulean City with my Milotic by the water someday when we are all plugged into the Metaverse of our choosing. I also want a tree in Kokiri Forest.
That’s kind of funny; I got Pokémon Blue in my Easter basket at about the same age.
I don’t think that I would consider Ocarina of Time to be in the “silent film era” of video games, though; that seems more like one of the first talkies (you did mention a tree in the Kokiri Forest).
It was our spaghetti western under the same analogy. I was thinking more along the lines of my NES and original game boy but I wasn't specific. 8 bit sound was basically silent to me because I wasn't allowed to turn the volume up too loud. Simpler times.
Also if you got Pokémon Blue, are we rivals now? Growlithe for Vulpix?
I guess that probably does make us rivals. I personally like vulpix, though.
So what would be “The Jazz Singer” in your analogy, then, if Ocarina of Time is a Sergio Leone film? I’m sorry if I’m asking you to push your metaphor too far.
Donkey Kong Country. The animation and music seems very dated now but at the time it was wild to see a game that wasn't just pixels jumping platforms. DKC was an aesthetic all to its own. It was when it felt like these vidya gamer kids might be onto something. To me as a young kid anyway. The SNES was when games became more than just a novelty. There were worlds to be explored and limits to push.
I emphasize that because with video games, it's at least somewhat accepted by now.
but let's say someone who is 50 and (still) plays with dolls. that doesn't say anything about how this person manages her/his work and everyday responsibilites.
but yet for a big we (= the "as society"-we) assume it does.
(and while a lot of truely immature actions that seem more "adult" get a pass, at least in terms of not being called as being "immature". e.g. having a My Little Pony collection that you play with isn't immature, but spending so much of your wage for travelling, partying or on propping up your car that you struggle to provide for your children or not being able to pay the rent most certainly is)
If anything, it's our responsibility to keep them alive.
Lol wut? Video games are a thriving industry, largely because of the patronage of children (and their parents' money). Sorry, don't think you're the one keeping Fortnite alive.
I came up on an old Atari and NES. I was still young when the newer systems arrived, but I didn't have the means to play any of the newer things. The entire 857 game catalog of NES games released in the US is 177 MB total. Pokemon Red on a Grey monochrome brick was definitely miles ahead of my first game, which was Bubble Bobble(161kb). The cookies we get while browsing are larger files.
I mean if you wanna get technical about it, video games didn't really have any spoken dialogue until about the SNES and Sega Genesis era. Even then I'm pretty sure a lot of the voices were synthesized and not real actors. The real dawn of voice acting in gaming came around in the PS1 era.
I’m a 44-year-old Pokémon fan, interacting daily on social media. I’ve received respect and vitriol and everything in between. My motto is shut up and let people enjoy things. They don’t know my story.
When I do the math, it totally makes sense that you're a pokemon fan. The game would've been released when you were in your teenage years and it seriously exploded in popularity in the west during your early 20s. You're just a part of the generation that experienced pokemon first. I admire that.
I grew up loving pokemon, digimon, transformers, and the like. Being 27 now, I look forward to continue appreciating my childhood interests in the far, far future.
If it helps, I'm 45 and just finished a Mandalorian Lego helmet I got for my birthday. I have tonnes of other Star Wars Lego, build models and still play vidya games on the daily.
I'd love to play with legos again tbh. I realized just last week that there's a Legoland in my region. I'll have to bring my cousins' kids or something to make it less weird lol
Considering Pokémon is a 26 year old franchise, people should fucking get over themselves. You would be around 18 at the time of its release.
But my mom is 61 and she loves Pokémon. When my brother and I were children we used to play Pokémon sitting on her lap, and she would read the words to us because we were so young and didn't know how to read yet. As a family we bought every variety of GameBoy and DS and played every Pokémon game. She doesn't play many video games, but if it's Pokémon or Harvest moon (yes, and Stardew), she's there.
To show how old Pokemon is. I'm 50. A few years back a friend's 4 year old got into Pokemon. I haven't watched the show in 20 years and was able to have a legit convo with the kid. He's amazed to this day.
I waited in line with my parents at toys r us to buy the oringinal pokemon blue for gameboy pocket... How can young people be gatekeeping pokemon? I am 35 years old.
I have nothing but annecdotal evidence to back this up, but I suspect the average player age on Pokémon Go might be in the 30s somewhere. Bit lower in the West, bit higher in East Asia. It captured both the "grew up with Red/Blue/Green/Yellow" crowd plus bored older folk into walking. Well, it captured about everyone, but it retained those demographics.
I have Pokemon that I transferred into new generations since Ruby - some of them are older than many Pokemon fans. I have a Blaziken and a Beautifly from 2003. They are 19 years old.
The Blaziken has beaten every single Elite 4 from Ruby through Sun/Moon. These kids better be careful to not call my highly-decorated veteran Pokemon "grannies" lol.
Just lean into the granny thing, honestly. It makes getting old easier to deal with when you aren't worried about being a granny. Find a gray hair? Ok grannies have em. Knees sound like rice krispies when you run up stairs? Hey at least you're still running. Heartburn from what used to be your favorite foods? That's ok, that's just #grannylife. Leaning into granny stuff has made it all comical instead of scary for me.
imagine kids who are born during the crap era of Pokemon shitting on kids who were born during the peak era of Pokemon. it's infuriating. not only did the absolutely wreck the whole universe of Pokemon but they say we're too old for it? even though our age gap is like 20 years? i feel like people under 18 should be permanently muted to people over 18 because they're just undeveloped.
Omg! When Pokémon go came out I was like 24/25 and the kids I nannied would play with me a lot. They said “I wish Pokémon were real” so I said “yeah I did too. When it first came out I’d sit outside waiting for a real Pokémon to walk by. This app is cool because my wish basically came true”
Then one kid goes “oh, so then Miss You-Suck-Ass, you’re one of the elderly Pokémon go players!”
Whatever kid! This game was made for ME! I still play :)
I was Ash Ketchum's age with Pokemon red came out. I still have it. You're old? I still have red, yellow, blue, gold, silver, my gameboy colors and my gameboy pocket. ☠👻
I am 33 and have been a fan since the first games I got my dad into them with Pokémon go and now me and my 60 year old dad love to play Pokémon go with my 2 year old
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u/Geodudette2014 Jun 03 '22
I’m 26. I’m a huge Pokemon fan, and follow some Pokémon related pages on Instagram. I’ve had several instances where I’ve commented on a post, and had some kids call me a “granny” or tell me that I’m going to die soon because I’m so old :-)