On February 27, 1996, 25 years ago now, Nintendo laid the first stone in the Pokémon saga with the launch of the first Game Boy video games on the Japanese market.
It originated in lead designer Satoshi Tajiri's idea of bringing his favorite childhood pastime, collecting insects, to consoles.
Almost instantaneously, millions of people set out to catch and train 151 creatures, then began competing against other trainers.
The first editions of the video game (Green, Red, Blue and Yellow) laid the foundations for a phenomenon that has evolved to become the entertainment intellectual property with the highest turnover in history.
"The Pokémon license has been able to adapt to several generations; regardless of their culture or gender," Sergio Carlos González explains to
Verne
.
The author of
Pokémon: History and Evolution of a Phenomenon
and director of the podcast on Pokémon
Wheat Connection
, believes that the Game Freak studio has known how to adapt to the technical limitations of each platform and get the most out of them.
To achieve this, each Nintendo portable console has had its own generation of Pokémon.
But, for González, that would not have been enough: "new mechanics, small structural changes, trying to understand how to dazzle new types of public have also been necessary."
In this way, in each generation there has been a "restart" of the saga, something essential to reach new players without losing the faithful.
"Applying changes little by little, modifications in small doses, has allowed the transitions to be sweet and the maturation of the series has been over low heat," explained Sergio.
González has also coined the term "Pokémon language" to try to answer the reason for its popularity over so many years: "The most difficult thing is not to reach the peak, touch the sky and be the reference point for tens of millions of people, but stay cool. "
For this, some of the keys, according to the journalist, have been the exchange of creatures, keeping the players connected with each other, the feeling of constant progress and, especially, making these beings the protagonists of the journey.
"That trip, always unique and different for each game, is what has ended up being key over the years and what has defined its influence," admitted Sergio.
The original Pokémon.
Nintendo.es
To know the footprint of Pokémon in different generations, we have asked different players about their memories and their experiences related to the saga:
DayoScript (youtuber): "The launch of Pokémon caught me as a child, and I remember seeing these strange creatures in the commercials and thinking about how they would talk. Geodude, for example, believed that he would have a woman's voice and would scream with great force. At that time, anime was not so widespread in Spain. But at my grandparents' house they caught a German channel where they put
One Piece
,
Digimon
,
Pokémon
, etc. So I started giving German nicknames to Pokémon. Or at least, names that They sounded like German. With the evolution of the saga I feel that my more
boomer
side is coming out
. The game wants to be accessible and reach more people and the idea is fine, but then I think 'How is there someone in the middle of the cave to heal your team ?! What impudence! They have these children between cotton wool '. It's a generational clash. "
Noa GG (content creator): "With the first editions, I remember still not reading particularly well, and things like Pidgey pronounced 'Pízjei'. And the most curious thing I 'could do' in a Pokémon video game, although it sounds strange I don't know how the hell it happened, but somehow it
completely
glittered
and all the shapes on the map were distorted: what had to be the wall of a house, could be transformed quietly into a piece of tree, or into a piece of grass ".
Lucía Herrero (communicator and content creator): "Every year that there was a new edition, they gave it to me for my birthday. Even
Pokémon Sword
gave it to me when it came out, as a tradition in my family. Although I have the impression that the the last installments have lost their essence a bit. You can see that they have tried to renew by adding new things but they look totally empty and without the added value that the first games did have. "
Juan Tomás Salas (journalist and communicator): "I remember going with my mother to a neighborhood electronics store to get my birthday present and leaving there with a Green Color GameBoy and
Red Pokémon
. I also remember being with other compis of the school playing
Yellow Pokémon
at recess in the dining room, heating the batteries in the radiator to squeeze them to the maximum and have a few more minutes of play ".
MartaCR (illustrator and comic artist): "The games I used to play were platforms and puzzles. I had no idea that there were RPGs with a plot and for me Pokémon was a discovery. The whole game itself was fascinating and I I loved it. Now that I'm an adult (and an old dog), the game becomes easy and it gets boring ... But recently I raised the Pokémon Arceus to level 100 to give it to my little cousin so that he could play with his friends in the school".
Geloniano (editor): "I was lucky enough to find the
Pokémon Red
cartridge for
sale in Tenerife days before the official launch date, so when I got to class, already in my hometown, the novelty helped me start friendship with my colleagues ".
Cristina Coll (web designer and journalist): "These games have been with me since I was little. It is a saga that has grown with me. If I think about the first video games, I remember commenting on them at school, giving us tips to move forward, sharing theories (the port truck, MissingNo, Mew, clone Pokémon ...), etc. It was a collective experience. "
Ina Ayanami (
community manager
at Badland Publishing): "As soon as I saw it, I knew instantly that I needed that game with all my might. I still have my cups. I remember perfectly when, inadvertently, I got off the SS Anne and the ship left. As the man waiting at the dock told you that 'The SS Anne visits the city every year', I waited a year in real life for the ship to return. Obviously it did not return and I had to restart the game "
Alex Borreguero (user experience and gamification designer and video game developer): "I think that games have opted for an evolution that has corrected certain aspects that made the experience more tedious, simplifying elements such as movement learning, which, For older fans, it has meant a decrease in the difficulty of the game. The carousel of emotions that games take you through has been narrowed towards offering a more harmless, cheerful, jovial and childish experience. However, they have managed to maintain a spirit: that of adventure, hope and friendship ".
Emmapache: "The plot has matured, the game is adapting to new generations where the bad guys deal with more political issues. It seems to me a jewel that still needs to be polished a bit, but I think it is a necessary change, as has happened in
The Legend of Zelda. Breath of the Wild
. I have my whole family hooked on
Pokémon Go
. Along with my mother, 76 years old, and my brothers, over 50, we have a group called 'Pokefamilia' where we are dedicated to preparing for raids, events and festivals. Pokémon unites us even though some relatives are more than 600 kilometers away. "
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