I’m going to make a confession here: I’ve never played a Pokémon game in my life.
That’s a pretty unusual statement from someone who actually spent about three years making a full-time living writing about video games. I acknowledge that. But I have reasons.
First off, when Pokémon first started getting big, I was 19 years old. I was old enough to be away from the influence of high school, so I wasn’t as aware of the culture as I would have been if I were just a year or two younger. Plus, at the time I was working a crappy warehouse job, so I was spending most my time hanging out with people twice my age. None of them were too eager to push something like Pokémon on me.
So the whole trend passed me by.
I spent a lot of time as an editor in the video game journalism industry, so I do have a pretty extensive knowledge about the series. And everything I’ve heard makes it sound like something I’d get really into.
I’ve just never had the time. With review deadlines and a massive backlog of interesting titles piling up around me, I simply can’t play everything I want to. Though I’ve done a pretty diligent job of catching up on most of the important stuff I’ve missed, there will forever be gigantic gaps in my game experience. Pokémon has been living in one of those gaps for as long as I can remember.
But I’ve managed to get my hands on a copy of Pokémon Y for the 3DS, and I’m thinking about finally giving it a go. I’m curious to see whether I’ll be swept up in it, or if my lack of nostalgia will keep me from fully enjoying it.
Either way, I’ll be sure to let you know.
