One word: Pokemon

[Glenn47]

So I guess I have completely idiotic friends, because at one point one comes up to me and says "Dude. I did it." "Did what?" "I bought Pokemon Sapphire."
And so he convinced me to buy Emerald, and another guy to buy Ruby. I figured it'd be the same exact thing all the way through, but I was (sorta) wrong. Two-on-two battles, some new pokemon that can actually be pretty cool, new moves that kick some ass, and PLOT! That's right, you do basically just go through the game battling, catching, thwarting plots of evil gangs (not team rocket, thank god), collecting badges, and becoming pokemon champion by defeating the elite four, but this time they can actually make things interesting with well-made characters (at times), sweet bonus things (on Emerald only apparently, hehe) and two actual cinema scenes.
I recommend some of you buy this game. It's still pokemon, and still really gay at times ("I've learned that you need a good heart to raise pokemon"/"pokemon bond with their trainer" and all that crap), but it was a good 30+ hours of gameplay for 30 bucks. And I rush through these games anyway. At the end I had 40 pokemon. Yay.
Well that's my little dealio on pokemon. I think it's worth some time. Get some nerdy friends to buy it with you though, cuz otherwise who would you talk to about pokemon? Oh, and do it in secret. That's just my advice.

[Teenr0cker]

Already got one of those friends who does that. He got emerald a while ago, back in April or something. I resist the pokemon cravings. I will catch them all if so inclined, and trust me, I will be inclined. The line stops at pokemon stadium, though.

[Sarcasm]

INFIDEL! RED IS THE ONE TRUE GAME!
*PWNs j00 \/\/17h /\/\3\/\/2!!!!!!!!!!!1111111!!!!*

Damn kids and their new fake pokemon . . . 1

Heh, that was a good trip down memory lane . . .

the first series (red, blue, green, and yellow) were awesome MCRPG games, but I simply couldn't stand the rest after seeing the taint pokemon has caused after it got popular.

[BustroQuick]

I originally clicked on no, but decided on the third choice shortly after, and then proceeded to miss the bullet with my mouse and hit Submit instead.

Anyway, on topic. In my mind the Pokemon games, while their concept is rather childish, are actually some of the most well-designed and fun games ever created. I can't say if that aspect has remained constant with the new versions, but I'd be interested in finding out.

[War]

Why would you buy it when there are already great roms of them out?

[Fitz Tayo]

I've played through Red, Yellow, Silver, Saphire then Emerald in that order. I still occasionally feel like playing it. Because who can face it? It is a pretty enjoyable game. And it gives you that feeling your save is unlike anybody elses, which it is. I like that feeling.

[Teenr0cker]

1. Roms can be a huge pain in the ass to find sometimes, depending on how new it is and how willing you are to get the damn thing, cos some of them have loop holes and treasure maps you gotta find to get the damn rom finally.


2. Portability: Honestly, 2 AA batteries for a GBA will last a ton longer than the battery in your laptop, and its a bit smaller. Nobody honestly buys the Flash drives because you honestly cannot trust them to work for more than a few hours. It's sort of a policy to not buy anything that is advertised in popups and sketchy banners, flash cartridges not excluded.

3. The least likely...Encouragement: If sales for Golden Sun were absolute crap, there would most likely be no sequel, the profit wouldn't be large enough for Nintendo to bother. Therefore, every time there's a good sequel, I thank whatever god there is that the sales were satisfactory enough for them to make the next sequel. If only one person buys the game, then obviously Nintendo loses money. I think a little responsibility is due when it comes to certain levels of devotion to a game series. I, personally, respect certain bands too much to just download their music, so I go out and buy the albums if I can. I don't do this for every single band mind you, but if I support their music, I can obviously show it by buying a damn CD.

[Glenn47]

So Teen, would you buy any more Pokemon merchandise?
Also, Blue is better than Red.
Also, Roms suck when you don't have a mouse, and I was so greatful to have it on my trip to Winona, Minnesota from here (6 hours) and then I got sick on the trip and we had to go back (6 hours). So thank god for Pokemon.
Also, with Gold I thought that. "Shit! The pokemon are gay now!" But you just gotta play the game, and the pokemon surprisingly blend together to create an awesome experience. Give it a shot. I wanna make Pokemon some more money.

[Impossible]

3. The least likely...Encouragement: If sales for Golden Sun were absolute crap, there would most likely be no sequel, the profit wouldn't be large enough for Nintendo to bother. Therefore, every time there's a good sequel, I thank whatever god there is that the sales were satisfactory enough for them to make the next sequel. If only one person buys the game, then obviously Nintendo loses money.

LOL, Nintendo don't need us to buy Pokemon games for them to profit make any more. They're going to sell in the millions no matter what we do.

R/S/E added a lot more variety and fixed a lot of the flaws in the series, but unfortunately, most of the Pokemon after the G/S/C era suck horribly, and the new ones look even worse. And the battle screen in the DS games is STILL the same static crap that we had ten years ago.

By the way, you all need Phoenix Wright.

[Teenr0cker]

I used to have them all in the card set. Couldn't tell you the first fucking thing about how to play them though.

Yeah, I have red, blue, Yellow (first game I preordered), silver, crystal, ruby, and I'm considering Emerald.

LOL, Nintendo don't need us to buy Pokemon games for them to profit make any more. They're going to sell in the millions no matter what we do.

yeah, well I was thinking more in-theory-ish, like "what if we all (god forbid) had the same mindset as war and only one person bought the damn thing because everyone is a leet haxxor and we all refuse to buy the damn game". Its a very extreme what-if, but that was generally my point.

And didn't they discontinue that game? I thought it costs like 60 bucks now!

Uhp! Looks like they'verestarted production of it. It's back in business on Aug 10th for that same delicious 30 dollar price. I shall butter it and consume it promptly then. Such a tasty looking morsel.

[Sarcasm]

I refuse to accept non drug induced Pokemon as real (and yes, that's a fact, the guy that has thought up the idea and made them all was a semi-druggy, if you had any doubts)

So, Yellow is the best of the non-fakes (Charizard with Fly, w00t )

G&S were decent, though disappointing, their one saving factor was
you having to fight Red (who was a weakling for some odd reason) at the end of the game, though they are still not anywhere near as good as Yellow was.

R&S are a crime against gaming, I refuse to touch them with a ten feet pole.

Fire Red and Leaf Green were rather awesome though.

[Forerunner]

I also thought that being able to teach Charizard fly in Yellow was the coolest thing ever. I played Blue and Red on PC and just being able to play pokemon seemed infintely awesome.
I also got Silver, just because I thought Lugia was cool. Kind of a shit game, but the extra final boss dude was a nice feature.
I didn't bother with Saphire, because the new pokemon in Silver were gay, and from the sounds of it most of the pokemon in R/S were new.

fr/lg are good though. I don't know the plot of any of them except the first lot, and I assume the latest are basically the same. New graphics and double battling is cool. But I never actually try to finished them properly. I just catch a variety of pokemon I suspect will turn out nicely. Raise them up the whole game. Then own the Elite four. I've never bothered getting all the pokemon or TM's, or any other side quests.

In short, they're a nice disraction, for a little bit. Maybe worthy of a second playthrough if you're bored, but nothing to get excited over.

[Strayed Wanderer]

I probably haven't played any Pokémon game since Silver.

[Flibbo]

I'm getting either Diamond or Pearl. The last pokemon game i played was silver so it'll be fun getting swamped by new features.

[Sarcasm]

I demand a yellow remake with the Tales Of battle system, dam it!