Video games, for the past years, have been garnering attention as a potential study subject. While many seek out games like MMO’s or with heavily-focused narrative, few consider the so-called ‘childish’ games. Pokémon is a well-known childhood game for more than one generation. For some, the game is merely a transition to ‘adult’ games, a stepping stone towards the identity of ‘gamer’. Others, would disagree, working hard to become the strongest player in, thanks to technology, the world, playing against people of all ages. Although Pokémon is targeted towards children, the Pokémon community focuses on efficiency and knowledge in playstyle as the fan base has grown alongside the games. This essay will focus on how players identify themselves within the community, the age gaps in players, the game mechanics encouraging player …show more content…
As stated earlier, Pokémon is a franchise in which the games have been evolving for 20 years. Starting from their original games, Pokémon Red and Blue, players across the world buzzed in excitement for the newest games that came out last year, Pokemon Sun and Moon. The franchise is recognized as a children’s game, its advertisements displaying kids. In truth, the excitement from the newer games comes from fans who have played previous games, suggesting the overall age of the fan base being older than intended. Given how long the game series has existed, this is explainable by how Thierry Burger-Helmchen describes the average gamer as having “brand loyalty” (Burger-Helmchen 323). Therefore, while the game is seen by the general public and also encouraged by the company to be seen as a game targeted for kids, it is false. In reality, part of the branding the game for children is to gain more fans, while the main fan base remains from those who played the previous games and are no longer kids. An example that their newer