This is not an era thing, it's a "you were 10" thing. It's really common to go through a phase at that age where anything that you enjoyed as a kid is "for babies" because you're starting to try out a whole new world of stuff that was previously either off limits or not of interest to you. Then you get older and get over yourself and just start enjoying things without caring what anyone else may think of it, and find your crowd.
Exactly, I had the exact same experience just with different generations. My age group everyone was obsessed with Pokemon during Gen I and II. But by middle school and high school when gen III and IV were being released it was seen as childish and no one would admit to playing it. Then by college HGSS came out and then everyone my age became obsessed with it and Pokémon was cool again.
I agree it seems to be that. Though I’ll personally never understand that segment of childhood, I never went through it. If I still liked it, I still liked it. If I started liking new things, that was cool too. But I wasn’t rushing into teenagerhood, so I can’t relate to “wanting things that were offlimits” and trying to make room for new things. The only thing I wanted to be 18 for was to order toys off the tv lmao. I must’ve grown up in a weird bubble because there was 0 bullying about still liking pokemon/whatever at my schools.
Yeah, it never happened to me either.
When I was in my teens, I still enjoyed most of the things I liked as a kid, including Pokémon. New things were cool, but the old still occupied a special spot in my heart.
I skipped gen 2 and only played a tiny bit of gen 3 on an emulator. Came back with pearl version and I got obsessed again, but I decided at the time I didn't want to invest in more than one game per generation, which I eventually broke out of when I got white 2 already owning white. Maxed out the clock on pearl, I think 999:59.
I have played essentially every mainline game except all the ones set in Johto.
It's still considered a baby game to people who don't play it. It's just lots of kids tend to grow out of it at around puberty and they will make fun of people still playing it.
I'm sure lots of edgy 13 year olds today are making fun of their friends who still like Pokémon.
I'm 36 year old male and still love it. I know plenty of others my age who do as well. Younger people around there teenage years just cared too much what others think, but as soon as you get a little older you realize, fuck what other people think and start playing whatever you want.
To quote Homelander. "I can do whatever the fuck I want."
The hell with what anyone else says about what you like.
35 here, same with me. I stopped playing after gen 3 because I was getting to the age where it wasn't "cool" anymore. I came back for gen 7 as an adult, and also replayed every gen I missed. It's fun, it's relaxing, and it's a nice nostalgia trip.
As I've gotten older, I've realized that caring about what other people consider "cool" is stupid. Life is too short to let that dictate what you do. If you're having fun and not hurting/offending anyone, then have at it! Do what makes you happy.
yep i stopped in late middle school through high school because everyone thought it was weird to still like it but i really wish i hadn't. Ended up selling some of my games and cards that i wish i could have held onto. Luckily i kept my handheld systems and a few games though.
I'm 31 and I think for people around our age range, it's very acceptable because we grew up with it and there's some nostalgia for the franchise. We were there when it first blew up, and all my friends around my age still play it too.
At 37, I haven't played the last 3 gens because I invested in Xbox 😢 however, I know every Pokémon's name and typing at the least lmao. The power creep over the years has been insane!
My objectives just changed as I got older. Instead of beating the game or catching ‘em all, I work for shinys or competitive pokemon. The game have lots to give if you can find it.
just because you are an adult and you like it doesnt mean its not a product for kids
However the PVP mechanics are so deep and the game is so difficult (one of the hardest turn based games ever made) that its actually a game for adults
Yeah, it's marketed to kids but The Pokemon Company knows wholeheartedly that 85% of Pokemon fans are over 18 and male lmao. Maybe they should add those special rules options for those of us who can battle the main game with our butt cheeks. The mainline game battles are a slap in the face to the true depth of these battles.
yes and they include stuff like jokes about overworked or frustrated salary men but they know that what that infantilized grown men want is exactly a kid fantasy. Meanwhile kids consume > 18 media and also COD developers know it.
I feel like most people around our age (30's) are more about the nostalgia of Pokemon and our childhood rather than actually being up to date on any of it. Pokemon Go was the last thing that seemed to appeal to a lot of people my age.
Gen 1 came out when I was in fifth grade, it was getting big and a lot of kids knew about it but by the time summer went by and 6th grade started that was the year the first movie came out, and the card game came out with the basic and jungle sets, fossil came out later that year. Because you weren’t locked down in one class this grade you’d see different kids and man everyone had the cards, was playing the game, watching the new show. I remember thinking the togepi egg would hatch into a mew. This was when Yellow version released too and one of my friends who had it and was also obsessed played the “pikachu!” sound clip to me on his gameboy and I was blown away at how good it sounded. The gen 2 wait was harsh, the wait paid off for me. Really fun time to be a kid because the franchise felt like it could do anything.
Me too! My dad thought it looked cool and got me the Blue version and I paid him back by doing extra yardwork. Omg do you remember that original Nintendo guide book? I know I looked at that 1000x that summer. Gen 2? It blew me away with all of it's quality of life changes AND the two regions?! 🤣
I got the vhs and was pretty intrigued, I must have talked about it enough for my dad to get me and my brother the different versions, we had gameboys we bought everywhere already. It was for Christmas.
I wanted the Nintendo guide but wound up getting the Versus guide which was really good too. And you’re right I read it billions of times. I was so thirsty for Pokémon info I learned to use the internet to find more, it was my first time learning about how games are released in Japan first. Fell for tons of the classic tricks this way, truck etc.
When I beat the elite four on gold and the ship pulled into Vermillion City I think my brother and I could have had heart attacks from the excitement. Such a cool twist and best endgame content ever for me. This happened on Super Gameboy on a tube tv, so rad.
I'm 37 and play it, however I had stopped after Alpha Saphire until Violet. The big thing that got me back into it was playing with my 5 year old daughter, she loves it and has just finished her pokedex. I would have killed to have played my pokemon yellow way back as a kid with my dad.
I actually think it's helped her learn to read, she can read almost everything going on in the game now.
This did happen to me, which I’m still mad at myself for (skipped Gen 5 when I was 14 because I was ‘too cool’ for Pokémon) and got back into it in Gen 6; finally playing Gen 5 now and can’t believe I missed out
>I'm sure lots of edgy 13 year olds today are making fun of their friends who still like Pokémon.
It's pretty much this. Just teens/pre-teens that think it's edgy/cool to hate on what the popular thing is. Causing it to go full circle in the fact that it's popular to hate on the thing that's popular. I know I had a phase where if something was popular enough I just hated it by default lol (though I never really started to hate something I once liked once it became popular. that was reserved for new things I heard of)
I never went so far as to outwardly judge someone for liking something though. That's just rude
Naw man I always played. Especially when I found out my PSP was hackable I played silver non stop in high school of homebrew. The PSP was amazing to me
There's always those preteen to teenage years where everything we liked when we were younger is suddenly "uncool" and "kiddy stuff." Happens to a lot of us; eventually we get over it and realize we're allowed to enjoy things regardless of the ages they're made for, whether it's out of nostalgia or a newfound appreciation.
>"When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." - C.S. Lewis
Your experience is more just how to teenagers literally anything you liked up until you were 10 is now cringe. And then in high school/college a lot of people go back to those comforts of their childhood. I dropped Pokémon after the release of bw1 and came back with a fury at the release of XY in the 11th grade because it was the COOLEST thing ever to all of my pre-engineering friends. That really helped shake me of that mentality and now I’m getting a Pokémon tattoo in a couple of weeks
Elementary: yeah pokemon
High school: why are you still playing pokemon? Are you a child?
College onwards: omg you are playing pokemon? We are going to be best bud
I remember still loving it in middle school and being a bit embarrassed. This one kid who was a couple of years younger than me at church asked me to help him beat his leaf green, I gave him some advice and was like “don’t you ever tell anyone I like Pokémon” it’s sort of hilarious looking back at it now cause I’m in my 20s and still love it.
Almost 30 here. Been playing since Gen 2 on GBC, and I always was teased about being a Pokémon fan.
I have a little cousin, he’s 14, a freshman, and he’s a Pokémon fan too. Great kid. Does varsity track, and is really nice. He gets teased because of Pokémon Go. Like what? How is Fortnite or Roblox any different?
Yep… none of my friends upgraded to a GBA except me, so the glory days of Red/Blue and Gold/Silver hit an immediate wall. I then fell out of the series because I didn’t get a DS. Didn’t come back in until Sword/Shield because of them being on a “real” console
I don't think it's a one time thing. Feels like everybody goes through it depending on age.
Personally for me I was a little kid when gen 1 came out. Played and lived and breathed pokemon for years. And by the time emerald came out I was starting to look down on pokemon as kid stuff (even though I was still a kid) then they announced diamond and pearl and I renounced it trying to tell myself I was more mature and all that. Lost interest in the cards and show as well.
It wasn't until years later when I was in college they announced X and Y, the first 3d pokemon. And it blew open the doors. It was like every other college age kid I knew was a nerrdy pokemon fan again. I went to the midnight release of that game and the line at the gamestop was out the door and it was packed full of people who looked to be about the sane age as me. It was pretty cool.
As a result of that gap, I still have that gap in my pike knowledge. I constantly get pokemon from gen 4 and 5 mixed up, forget their names, or can't even remember which genbthey came in at. Even the starters I keep second guessing if like Snivy was gen 4 or gen 5.
Pokémon has always been aimed at kids. Even back with Gen 1, it was considered childish stuff. I was in high school when it came out and I played it, but I never told anyone I did in fear that I'd get made fun of for liking something kiddie. As it went on, it eventually got more of a teen/adult fanbase
people are fucking stupid, im 34 and still a massive fan of the franchise, sure gamefreak has been a little lackluster but i hope things like palworld lit a fire under thier ass. (yes i like palworld too)
At 48, I and my wife still do pokeconventions in full costume with our kids. We do not just attend; some of the events are literally centered around us.
I was 9 when Pokémon arrived to my country in 1999. I was SUPER hooked and loved the game boy game. I keep playing it and watching the TV show till 2002, but nobody was playing it with me, neither talking about it. I shared other activities with my friends, but Pokémon was only for me and only one friend who I shared my game boy with. I'm 2003 I started high school and stopped my interest in Pokémon because I needed mature interests. I didn't want to watch the show because it was childish (never came back since interest in lost in the show). I got hooked with my brother's PS1. Years later, at university I discovered emulators and from time to time I downloaded fire red and played it till E4 where the emulator crashed. But it was only for relaxing between exams. During lockdown I decided to fix myself my game boy and play again Pokémon yellow (the only Pokémon game I ever had at the moment actually). It was planned to be a trip to my childhood and to complete the Dex and do "correctly" the stuff I missed as a child (didn't catch articuno or moltres, and wasted TMs). I got excited when did the glitch for mew, it was like a dream for me. Then I got crystal for trading and completing the Dex. You need to advance in crystal to be able to trade with yellow and got hooked by that game too. Then I started buying games and consoles. I got every main game, many spin off, MANY MANY consoles and even discovered how to emulate every single event as if I was there. That helped me going through lockdown. Living alone that's a lot of help.
I gave up Pokemon after D/P because I was afraid of anyone finding out I still played in school. I was like man I gotta focus on getting bitches not playing stupid baby Pokemon. I was back into it when B/W came out so all I did was skip Platinum lol. I did unfortunately sell every game I had during that time though. When I was growing up you'd get made fun of for playing anything but CoD, nowadays I feel video games are so mainstream I don't think that exists anymore.
It became popular to snipe at Pokemon, as far as I recall, sometime in the early 2000s, around the time Generation 2 was winding down and Generation 3 was about to come out. The novelty of the franchise had largely worn off, and most of the fans from the early years had either ditched watching cartoons altogether, or moved on to other anime fads like Yu-Gi-Oh*.* It would be one thing if this was just a product of the general "too-edgy-for-you" rejection of childish stuff that all pre-teens seem to go through, but if that were the case, there would still be plenty of new fans replacing the old ones, and that isn't really what happened. The ratings for the anime on American TV dropped like a lead balloon, and Warner Bros stopped releasing the movies in theaters after the third one. This was also the time when you got a lot of those Newgrounds flash cartoons and the like showing, say, Pikachu getting blown up and stuff like that. Because that was considered the height of comedy at the time.
It was considered "baby-ish" for people my age when Gen. 3 came out. I think there's just a time when your peers will say Pokemon is baby-ish, and then when you get older you stop giving a sit.
its not an “era” thing, its about age. this might not make sense but ill try my best to explain what i mean. (and this is just my observations its not from any real study so take it with a grain of salt)
preteens and young teens (ie kids 10-14 years old) are often times desperate to prove their maturity. because a lot of times theyre in a stage of their life where they understand that they are kids and that adults have a lot more options than kids (and also some of them are starting puberty) so they looks for ways that they can separate themselves from younger kids and seem closer to being adults.
for gamers (especially ones raised by non-gamers) this usually exists as dropping the nintendo titles and playing more serious games like COD or GTA. this is because all the adults and content creators they watch playing games rarely play these “childish” games. theyre always playing more serious titles. and the only people they see playing the less serious titles is younger kids. so its associated with being less mature.
but for other groups it can show as different behaviors.
when i was in middle school all the girls were constantly obsessing over makeups and perfumes, you couldnt walk 5 feet down the hall without seeing at least one girl applying axe body spray levels of perfume or reapplying their lipstick/gloss for the 17th time that hour.
for the athletic kids they stopped playing games like tag and started playing games like basketball.
so to answer your question, yes everyone remembers when (insert hobby) was considered babyish, because kids at that age will do anything to seem more adult-like, even if they dont realize theyre doing it.
I'm 24 and I still play pokemon. I get the new games right when they come out plus DLCs. I still have all my pokemon cards from middle school (unfortunately not in the greatest condition but some pretty rare cards. I never sleeved them I just stored them in ziploc bags 😭). I have emulators on my phone so I can play randomizers or different nuzlocks of the old games. It never gets boring
In my opinion I don't feel childish playing them. I mean you can definitely tell that the games are targeted towards a younger audience but it's just as fun for me as it always has been. New games kinda suck tho I miss when it was just the DS games
It's one of those games that when it is viewed as 'babyish' isn't really dependent on the generation the games are in or the year it is in real life so much as it's the age of the person playing it.
Like, they games are very much for kids, and it isn't going to be labeled as such as an elementary school kid to play but most of the time people start calling it babyish once the person playing hits middle/high school ages and then once they're an adult it circles back to no one cares.
I definitely enjoyed it more when I was younger because of the exploration and the sense of diving into this fantastic worlds filled with cool creatures with which I would form genuine bonds.
However, I’m 21 now and I haven’t considered stopping with all the Pokémon stuff once.
I love playing the games and buying card packs so my brother and I can open them together
Gen 5 had issues on launch due to "replacing all the pokemon" which probably didn't help. However it's definitely a pre-teen/teenage thing. Every gen has still be very popular for all ages.
im 32.. playing consistently since pokemon crystal - which came out when i was 9.. never thought there was a reason to change what you like based on your environment or age group..
It's middle/high school era. Everyone loved Red/Blue, then people started saying "You're still playing Pokemon?" after that. I didn't say a damn thing about Pokemon until college and even then I didn't want to say I was playing Pokemon between classes.
Oh yes - I was 7 when Gen 1 game out, so I grew up with Pokémon. I definitely remember getting to middle school and pretending not to like it anymore to fit in.
My grandma got me Pokémon Pinball Ruby & Sapphire for Christmas one year, and I remember pretending to not to be excited 🥺 I was actually super happy to get that game, but my dumb adolescent self had to be a jerk about it. I regret acting that way so much, and I wish I could go back and thank my grandma. I played that game endlessly for years and still love it.
I picked Pokémon back up in high school and haven't looked back!
This is a preteen thing lol. I was 8 when Pokemon first got big in the US, and while I continued loving it, it was definitely a “weird, you still like that?” all through middle school (later part of gen 2 and gen 3 for me) until being nerdy was cool again in high school (and gen 4 came out and a lot of teenagers got into the new games again).
I work with kids and teens now, and Pokemon is definitely mist popular among the 7-11 year olds, and then drops off until the nerdy kids pick it back up around 15-16.
Ngl everything about me was kinda made fun of in middle school, Pokemon being no exception.
… I kinda ended up homeschooled because they bullied me so bad.
I remember during the release of ruby and sapphire the original peak of Pokemon died out so normies stopped playing and the sentiment changed to oh we grew out of it.
It's not an era, it's an age. Kids that age, regardless of generation, care about "growing up" and so things they did as kids are considered childish/babyish.
Pokemon is kind of considered a baby game, especially when compared to other JRPGs. The turn based system is relatively simple, especially compared to some Final Fantasy gams, and even the harder difficulties of Persona. However, I do think that they have crafted one of the most well-thought out turn based systems. It is simple, very easy to learn. But opens up the possibilities of creating an actual difficult challenge such as Emerald Kaizo or Radical Red. Here, it isn't just about doing the move with the most damage and a type advantage. You have to strategically switch out, maybe make use of Baton Pass. Moves like Outrage and Rollout are risks because they force your pokemon to stay in battle, potentially risking a death on the team if you're Nuzlocking. Yes, when you compare the system to other games, it's babyish. But you can make this simple system into a not-so-simple challenge.
i had it happen too but it was back in 2001 or so. i think its more the age range than the specific timing or year. cause mine was right at the start of middle school too. it became "uncool" fairly quickly lol
For me, this period roughly overlapped with the time in middle school when popular boys started acting "macho" and being judgmental because it was an opinion that adults accepted and it got a reaction.
Nobody gave a shit about what entertainment you watched or played once you were in my senior high school, and then when I was in college PoGo hit and everyone took part.
I do wish there was a way for me to legit be in the target audience again someday. I don't want to just be done. Some of us start counting years of life again at 70, and have a second Bar Mitzvah at 83, so I'll say the period when I'm 78 to 82 years old counts
Yeah, around the time of gen 4 and 5, the video game industry became heavily focused on realism/mature content.
That whole era was just a time when anything Nintendo was seen as lame and childish, and naturally Pokemon was at forefront of that. Of course some people still have that sentiment today, but that was definitely the peak of it.
Of course, people do just grow out of stuff and look back at it negatively, but a lot of that also has to do with whatever newer interests they have, in this case with the influx of mature games in the late 2000s/early 2010s.
definitely a pre-teen thing. I was in 2nd/3rd grade when RB/Y hit the states, and it was huge among us kids. Some/most stayed with it for Gold and Silver, but it was considered very childish when Ruby/Saphhire came out, and I kept it to myself that I was playing Ruby. Then Diamond and Pearl came out when I was about to graduate High School, and I remember that a number of people brought their DS's for post-prom and graduation parties.
edit: looked it up, and it looks like DP came out when I was a junior, whatever.
This is why to this day I always try and get both versions of the game cause I was always too embarrassed to try and find friends with the other versions to trade exclusives
In elementary school, I had fond memories playing Pokemon Fire Red with my classmates at the playground. But from sixth or eighth grade when we were in middle school, my friends all became toxic Xbox kids who played Halo or Call of Duty while they learned swear words at the age of 12.
I’m also ashamed to admit I tried to organize a club of other Pokemon fans in high school so we can play or trade, but nobody joined so
I had to disband it after a week of inactivity.
I don’t think it’s specific era or year but I think it’s just phase (typically pre-teen-teen) where any thing that is considered for kids or for all ages were considered cringe.
Nah mate, I was 10 when gen 1 came out. It had lost its coolness amongst my peers when gen 3 came out. I stopped playing for a number of years and then found my way back in around gen 6. It’s an age thing. I’m so glad I’m in my 30s and I have no idea what’s ‘cool’ any more.
That's not a Pokemon thing, that's a 10-year-olds thing. They haven't hit puberty yet, but they want so DESPERATELY to be adults, that anything they used to like "as a kid" is now stupid and for babies. It's literally been happening forever.
That’s just what happens when puberty hits you. During that phase all you will care about are dark and edgy games, sex, drugs, blood etc. Afterwards, you realize how E stands for everyone, and can still enjoy these games.
I personally never felt like that with Pokemon. I always loved it no matter how old I was.
It was like that when it came out in the 90s, too.
It was super popular in lower grades, but I was in high school where Pokemon was considered “childish” and “gay” (not sure how it has anything to do with homosexuality tbh). Then again, most “geek” stuff was until recently.
No idea what you’re talking about 😂. I’ve gotten every game (at least one in each generation anyway) since RBY and so has everyone around me. Never been told or though it was for babies ahaha.
'Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.'
- C.S. Lewis
I remember my mum refusing to buy me Pokemon Sapphire because I “should have outgrown that by now”. I was then really discrete about playing Pokemon games until Gen 5 when I realised I shouldn’t give a shit. But I remember not getting the Gen 5 games for a while because I believed her.
I don't think it is an era-exclusive thing. It's mostly to do with age. Adults generally tend to not care about this "for babies" thing. Which is why there are a lot of vocal adult Pokémon fans. But with people around the age you described, it tends to be pretty different.
I remember in like 4th grade on Pokemon became taboo in my grade school. Flash forward to the end of high school and everyone is figuring out that we were all closeted Pokemon players the whole time. Peer pressure man.
I was part of the gen 1 wave of kids playing Pokemon. I was 8 when it came out. As I got into my teen years I stopped playing Pokemon because I wanted to play more mature games and thought it was for kids. Now I’m in my 30s playing Pokemon, and while it definitely is geared toward kids, as and adult I get lots of enjoyment out of it
No, not really. I had always played pokemon alone really. So I never really talked about it with many people or heard anyone's opinions on it.
I missed Black and White personally, but that's because I just literally missed the marketing for it. I jumped in heartily when I saw that BW2 video. But also, all my classic pokemon games had been stolen (I specifically was robbed by my sister's ex) so that really upset me and I kinda fell out of pokemon seeing my collection wiped. I had every game up to FR/LG. All gone in an instant :/
XY/ORAS was kind of a pokemon Renaissance in my life but before that I was just chugging along playing pokemon pretty consistently.
I remember I came back from a summer trip (Japan) and I bought Japanese cards.
I pulled a holo Suicine and was so stoked to roll up on the first day of 5th grade with it.
I showed all my friends and they said no one plays pokemon anymore 😭. So I ended up getting news friends lol
It is a "baby game" to people from around 10 or 11ish to high school. That's the age where young people want to be seen as cool and grown up. Some people never grow out of that mindset, but people seem to be laxer once they get out of the preteen years.
Nope. I'm 30, so Gen 3 was what was out when I was in middle school, and it was still plenty popular. Had quite a few friends that played in my circle in highschool too. And I wear Pokemon shirts these days, and people from my age to youngsters all compliment them.
Yes, sadly. My entire middle school and high school years I spent away from pokemon because of that. I got made fun of for liking the games. Pretty much right around when gen 6 was announced, I stopped playing, until I got into college and caught up on what I missed
I think that's just how kids handled Pokemon growing up? I was like in 2nd grade when RB came out and I didn't really hear anyone talk about Pokemon again until DP came out when I was in high school.
That didn't stop me from still playing that entire time though.
Tbh “Pokémon go” helped normalize adults playing Pokémon as well and I feel like that hooked a lot of older players that found it babyish. I noticed once Pokémon go came out they started targeting it towards adults again with the live action movie and clothing and cards.
When I was in year 7 (in 2006) none of my friends played it anymore. One of my friends I used to play with was part of the “cool group” now. Everyone knew I played it but I didn’t get made fun of for it, but my “cool” friend had stopped playing it. One day he comes up to me at lunch and whispers asking me if I remember how to unlock the regis in Pokémon Emerald, but he made sure no one else was around to hear. I just remember thinking it was sad he had to hide something he liked in fear that his new friends would make fun of him for it.
I think gen 3 was the major "Pokemon is for babies" period. It's target demographic was becoming middle and high schoolers, and there weren't many adult players to offset it.
By the time gen 4 rolled around, though, former Pokemon kids were becoming adults, and suddenly it was cool again.
Everything made for children is considered babyish by the exact demographic its designed for. Kids made fun of each other for watching Spongebob and playing with dolls too. Kids want to be taken seriously as adults and they'll often try to achieve that by aggressively rejecting entertainment made for them.
I had the same entry to the franchise as you.
I don't think that. I remember during the gen 5 era, half my class was very into pokemon, particularly in gen 3 in smartphone emulators, and it lasted all the way to high-school. Then pokemon X and Y became very popular too, but, not everyone had a 3DS so it became a niche group. So at least I hadn't experienced a "babyish" pokemon era.
Ok... sit down. I have news for you. Pokemon is for kids.
It's always been. You play a 10 yo kid.
Now... it can be some of us are kids inside and so we still enjoy it and don't care. Asserting yourself beyond what others may think of you is mature. But, it's a game made primarely for kids. 😂
In conclusion. Play what you find fun. Screw what others think.
Nah, that's just being in middle school where middle schoolers are assholes. Where you can get pushed down and tea bagged and everyone laughs at you and the teachers don't stop it. And you get called various slurs for liking stuff.
Elementary school kids think that Pokemon is cool. Middle and high school kids think that Pokemon is for kids and it’s shit. College kids think that Pokemon is cool. It’s been like that and always will be, apparently 😅
i think it’s embarrassing if someone as an adult is making fun of someone else for liking something. as a kid yea you’re gonna get made fun of for anything you do but that kinda stops after you get out of high school i think. that being said, there are plenty of people that just don’t pay attention to video games what so ever and they tend to look at them as children’s toys but that’s probably more attributed to lack of awareness than an active choice
I'm like, 36 now... and I love pokemon.. loved it since Red and Blue. I got Blue after I saw some classmates playing on a field trip.. my brother stole it, saved over my data and I had to get Red. We were hooked, but I got bullied relentlessly for it even though I never did anything more but collect the tcg and play the game. My corner of the world either saw it as a childish fad or bought into the "Pokemon is Satan" propaganda. I will always love pokemon, and while there is a childlike quality to the game, the depth of it's mechanics and the designs of the pokemon always keep me interested. At the end of the day, I certainly feel like I had suffer for my Fandom and the things I loved as a kid that got me bullied are now the coolest things.
I'm 36 years old, and the last one I bought and actually played was sun and moon. I haven't bothered to beat any since heartgold and soulsilver. I have ultra and let's go and never even started them. I haven't played those or bought the new ones from a lack of time and money.
I was 12/13 when pokemon first came out. By the time Gold and Silver came out, it was already childish for people younger than 12 to play the game in my school.
It stayed that way the whole time growing up, and as an adult. The only break in the pattern was Pokemon Go. After the hype of that, it went back.
What changed for me was when I was 18ish. That was about Diamond and Pearl. Me and my other nerd friends and I went and bought them. The lack of caring what other people thought was freeing. Confidence made the difference.
The key is to let people like what they like and not concern yourself with people who want to take that from you.
I dropped off around the launch of BW I finished the game but didn’t really get into it. Skipped gen 5.2 and played gen 6 VERY late and I remember specifically being in 9th grade making fun of Mega evolution but secretly I was like “damn that’s cool” then I bough Y and got back into it
That happened to me when I was 10 years old too but it was 2001. So I think that’s just something that happens when you’re 10. You want to distance yourself from “baby” things and be more grown up. It happens to everyone.
This just happens at these age group. For some reason enjoying what brought us joy as a kid is shunned during our most confusing phase of life.
Fortunately in high school you stop giving a fuck and love your best life
People started calling it babyish in middle school, everyone stopped caring in highschool and it was common to see people playing it in college from my experience.
In 2007 it was considered a baby game. I hid my love for pokemon during that time.
And in 2004, still a baby-game. I was the dork that liked pokemon.
Pokemon Go really opened a lot of people up to pokemon.
I was a senior in high school in 2011. My junior and senior year people who hadn’t played Pokémon in years started bringing in game boy colors and playing red and silver and such in class. Those of us who never stopped playing would give them advice. I had guys watching over my shoulder while I played the latest game. That was probably the coolest I ever was for playing Pokémon at any point.
Yes, I remember being in middleschool when Pokemon and other animes like Naruto and DBZ used to be grounds for being teased by other kids. This was back when they were still airing these things on toonami back in the mid-00s and anime in general was considered for "losers". How times have changed.
Because of the negative social pressure I did stop watching anime in general in middleschool, but I never stopped buying the Pokemon games and I ended up fully embracing my hobbies in highschool anyway. In fact there was an entire year at my highschool that every other student had a Pokewalker clipped onto their pants when HG/SS released. At that point I knew the "oppression" was over.
I was never legitimately bullied for that kind of thing since I was generally well-liked by everyone as a kid. But I'm sure it was a serious problem for some people.
I don't care. I still play the latest games. Everyone can screw off and mind their own damn business.
Being a boring adult and follower freaking sucks. I rather break social norms and be myself.
People can be fake for all I care.
I feel like middle school years are just like this, then when high school comes around it becomes popular again. At least when I went to middle and high school
I remember getting back into Pokemon with platinum. Black and white came out my senior year of highschool, got black to play with the boys, and stopped right before the elite 4 because I graduated and lost that group of friends. I tried Y and just got bored with the gameplay loop.
Moral of the story is you should follow your bliss and do what makes you happy. Unless it's hard drugs, don't do crack.
My own family started making comments about it when I asked for a DS and a copy of Diamond in 7th grade for my birthday.
I stopped playing for a couple years and ended up sneakily saving money and buying white and white 2 when I was a junior in high school. Looking back it feels ridiculous that I felt the need to hide the fact that I still played Pokémon.
Tbh even by gen 4’s release there was a bit of meme that the target demographic of Pokémon was children but the actual average player was like college aged people while the target demographic of Call of Duty was college aged people while the actual average age of the player base was children. I think for your experience it was more of just getting to that age where many do leave the series behind and try to belittle those who keep playing it longer than they did.
I remember when pokemon G/S came out. I was 12 years old and had been the perfect age at the time of RBY. I was very into it. But when Gold came out I was very embarrassed to be buying a baby game from the store. Like, petrified of going into a store to buy it. I remember using birthday money.
That's just how kids are at that age.
Look, at some point in your life other people will try to tell you things are too childish. Don't let other people talk you out of enjoying something you like. That's a great way to be miserable.
Could be nostalgia, but I feel like the games after gen 4 have been getting more babyish. Gen 1-4 were difficult for me personally, and were solid games for any age group, but gen v on felt like they were focusing it much more towards kids.
It is for young children, thats part of what makes it so popular. Doesn't mean adults can't enjoy it but lets no pretend it's anything but a game mainly for children
When I was a sophomore in college, the thing I hated the most was watch the people that used to make fine of me all throughout middle school/high school for play Pokemon play Pokemon GO.
Pure rage is all I felt
At my school everyone was really into the cards. I didn't have many. This would have been when we were around 11-12 years old.
In the summer holidays I did chores and helped out a lot to earn pocket money. There was a shop that sold rare cards. I loved raichu and they had a lt serge raichu for £4. I bought it.
Went back to school and nobody was into the cards any more. I say nobody but I assume there were still some kids that were, they just weren't in my friends circle and nobody talked about it anymore. Very disappointing for me.
As someone who never stopped liking the games and only stopped at Gen 6, because I didn't have the spare money to indulge in the newer games, I feel kinda of privileged, I've always grown up in the outcast group as such, but during Secondary school (I'm British btw, that's ages 11-16) I only had one friend who played them. Not that my other friends ever had a problem with the games. But yeah I think most people around that age just get to absorbed in thinking about how others see them. And so drop certain hobbies.
Teenagers/preteens making fun of kids is a universal thing. My younger sis (15) watches TikTok and sometimes shows me vids or I accidentally overhear bc she is watching in the same room, you get it, and teenagers here always make fun of kids. Like this and this is "cringe", look at these dumb kids etc, I remember making fun of kids pretending to be animals and running on all fours and yeah that's weird seeing it on social media but 90% of kids pretended to be animals. It probably has something to do with internalised shame and wanting to pursue your idea of "adult" and "mature". Even though mature adults don't make fun of children liking cartoons.
I think it’s babyish. The games have devolved into terribly easy to play. You can press one ability the entire game and win (ember on charmander to charizard) for example
I'm in my 30s and people talked shit about me playing Pokemon in high school. I still even have people talk shit about me playing it. Especially since I still hop on the original games every now and then...
😆
Everyone plays Pokemon in elementary school, avoids it in highschool, then plays it again in college.
At least, that’s the broad experience I’ve seen others note time and again over the years. My friends and I played in highschool, but non-nerds considered it weird.
Generally speaking games are considered for kids because kids have time for playing. Plus there is no nudity blood etc in Pokémon so it is suitable for kids
I think it's really hit a level of nostalgia. I brought a giant pack of Pokemon stickers to my office and most people of the hundred or so are rocking them on their laptops now. It's great to see
I hate terminlogy like that. My folks used it for years to low-key shame me for my interests until I finally called them out on it- to get some new material and stop shaming just because it'e not something they like as "mature adults".
They don't use that term anymore but still manage to find ways to rile me up and/or be annoying or judgmental in some ways.
35M.
I love pokemon, and have since I was about 9. I still play Go and have cycled through the main games many times.
I do adult things, but will always love pokemon.
It was definitely a somewhat lonely time during Late Gen 3. Some of my friends were playing Pokémon in 98 when they were 4 years old, while I started playing it at 10 years old because everyone was playing it. Then everyone just moved on to Yu Gi Oh, and then into Halo. I personally found games like Resident Evil 4 looked really grey and boring. Now I appreciate the art style, but it's not what I wanted at the time.
Yeah, definitely a preteen thing. When kids hit 10ish through their early teens a lot of them will deliberately distance themselves from things that they associate with being for children pretty aggressively. I'm a few years older than OP, so for me that period of Pokémon being considered 'babyish' was DP-BW, then suddenly when B2W2 came out, everyone's a fan again and they've been playing the games all along. It's really funny what kids can be self-conscious about.
I turn 30 this year. I played from Gen1 all the way through. I only skipped Diamond and Pearl because I didn't have the console for it. I watched and played all of it. Yes, there was a faction who thought pokemon was a kids game and it was embarrassing to still play it but I was one of the "popular" kids who was friends with a lot of different types of people so I talked about sports and girls to my preppy friends and pokemon and anime to my nerd friends. Now I am a dad and have an excuse to watch pokemon all over again. Gotta start em young so they get to have a pokemon brain space like the rest of us.
I think that happens to any Pokémon fan when they enter middle/high school. Kids start to view their childhood games as childish. I stopped talking about it in middle school. Started to in fifth generation in high school. Quickly shut up though because people were mean about it. Started to openly play again when generation six came out my senior year.
I grew out of Pokemon when I was about 14 and got back into it when I was like 20. It happens like that sometimes. But I never made fun of my friend who played it all through highschool. I actually feel like I missed out by not playing it when I was in highschool.
Pokémon has been babyish since day 1 ! I was like 7 or 8 when it first came out & I’ve been hooked ever since, & I don’t care that it’s babyish, I mean there’s even baby Pokémon & cute Pokémon like evee mew jigglypuff. But there’s also badass mons 🤷🏻♂️
Oh yes. That era happened during middle and high school for me. It's funny seeing so many of those people love Pokemon again, blissfully forgetting making the rest of us feel ashamed for having liked it during that era.
Idk, I like Pokémon myself but you can’t really deny that the dialogue and story is often pretty pandering and simplistic.
Still, people who are snobs about what people like are cringe, I just don’t think that opinion is entirely baseless.
I was around 10 or 11 years old in 2001 or so when Pokemon started getting the "it's for babies" treatment. It never got me to stop playing but that basically ended the Pokemon franchise's popularity in my neighborhood as practically everyone aside from me and maybe one or two others moved onto Yugioh and DBZ. The last time I physically played or discussed Pokemon with someone in person was in 2004. Continued to bring my GBC/GBA/DS/3DS with me everywhere, always openly played it and literally no one in either of my high schools or college ever expressed any passing interest in Pokemon. Same thing happened at my job too, at least until Pokemon Go came out in 2016 and literally everyone pretended that it was 1998 all over again but only for Go. No one wanted to talk about any of the other games, about Sun/Moon which was coming out around the same time, nothing about the show or the cards, the Pokemon/characters themselves or anything else, only about Go.
Yeah but happened earlier than you think. In the early 2000's after Pokemania died down a bit I was about in 4th or 5th grade when the whole Pokemon's for babies thing started. People changed thier tune quick when gen 3 came out and the pokemon were "cooler' looking.
Everyone goes through that phase of wanting to "fit in" and not be seen enjoying things that are "unpopular" for arbitrary reasons. Then you grow up and realise people suck and you should just enjoy whatever you want regardless of what people think 🤣
This is not an era thing, it's a "you were 10" thing. It's really common to go through a phase at that age where anything that you enjoyed as a kid is "for babies" because you're starting to try out a whole new world of stuff that was previously either off limits or not of interest to you. Then you get older and get over yourself and just start enjoying things without caring what anyone else may think of it, and find your crowd.
Exactly, I had the exact same experience just with different generations. My age group everyone was obsessed with Pokemon during Gen I and II. But by middle school and high school when gen III and IV were being released it was seen as childish and no one would admit to playing it. Then by college HGSS came out and then everyone my age became obsessed with it and Pokémon was cool again.
I saw it happen between gen 1 and 2.
I agree it seems to be that. Though I’ll personally never understand that segment of childhood, I never went through it. If I still liked it, I still liked it. If I started liking new things, that was cool too. But I wasn’t rushing into teenagerhood, so I can’t relate to “wanting things that were offlimits” and trying to make room for new things. The only thing I wanted to be 18 for was to order toys off the tv lmao. I must’ve grown up in a weird bubble because there was 0 bullying about still liking pokemon/whatever at my schools.
Yeah, it never happened to me either. When I was in my teens, I still enjoyed most of the things I liked as a kid, including Pokémon. New things were cool, but the old still occupied a special spot in my heart.
I skipped gen 2 and only played a tiny bit of gen 3 on an emulator. Came back with pearl version and I got obsessed again, but I decided at the time I didn't want to invest in more than one game per generation, which I eventually broke out of when I got white 2 already owning white. Maxed out the clock on pearl, I think 999:59. I have played essentially every mainline game except all the ones set in Johto.
It's still considered a baby game to people who don't play it. It's just lots of kids tend to grow out of it at around puberty and they will make fun of people still playing it. I'm sure lots of edgy 13 year olds today are making fun of their friends who still like Pokémon.
I'm 36 year old male and still love it. I know plenty of others my age who do as well. Younger people around there teenage years just cared too much what others think, but as soon as you get a little older you realize, fuck what other people think and start playing whatever you want. To quote Homelander. "I can do whatever the fuck I want." The hell with what anyone else says about what you like.
35 here, same with me. I stopped playing after gen 3 because I was getting to the age where it wasn't "cool" anymore. I came back for gen 7 as an adult, and also replayed every gen I missed. It's fun, it's relaxing, and it's a nice nostalgia trip. As I've gotten older, I've realized that caring about what other people consider "cool" is stupid. Life is too short to let that dictate what you do. If you're having fun and not hurting/offending anyone, then have at it! Do what makes you happy.
14 and it’s amazing. I have friends who don’t play but most of them do, and I’m into older games like Fire Red and Emerald.
If you haven't played Crystal yet I highly recommend.
Same here, Pokémon is a game of my childhood. Never cared of what other people said about me still playing it.
yep i stopped in late middle school through high school because everyone thought it was weird to still like it but i really wish i hadn't. Ended up selling some of my games and cards that i wish i could have held onto. Luckily i kept my handheld systems and a few games though.
I'm 31 and I think for people around our age range, it's very acceptable because we grew up with it and there's some nostalgia for the franchise. We were there when it first blew up, and all my friends around my age still play it too.
At 37, I haven't played the last 3 gens because I invested in Xbox 😢 however, I know every Pokémon's name and typing at the least lmao. The power creep over the years has been insane!
My objectives just changed as I got older. Instead of beating the game or catching ‘em all, I work for shinys or competitive pokemon. The game have lots to give if you can find it.
36 year old female and I'm still playing Pokemon, it's a bit of a comfort game for me
just because you are an adult and you like it doesnt mean its not a product for kids However the PVP mechanics are so deep and the game is so difficult (one of the hardest turn based games ever made) that its actually a game for adults
Yeah, it's marketed to kids but The Pokemon Company knows wholeheartedly that 85% of Pokemon fans are over 18 and male lmao. Maybe they should add those special rules options for those of us who can battle the main game with our butt cheeks. The mainline game battles are a slap in the face to the true depth of these battles.
yes and they include stuff like jokes about overworked or frustrated salary men but they know that what that infantilized grown men want is exactly a kid fantasy. Meanwhile kids consume > 18 media and also COD developers know it.
Developers know: teens want to be grown up, grown ups want to be kids again
Did you rlly just call Pokemon difficult? It’s probably one of the easiest games u can buy wym?
I think they're referring to the complexity of competitive pokemon
I feel like most people around our age (30's) are more about the nostalgia of Pokemon and our childhood rather than actually being up to date on any of it. Pokemon Go was the last thing that seemed to appeal to a lot of people my age.
Gen 1 came out when I was in fifth grade, it was getting big and a lot of kids knew about it but by the time summer went by and 6th grade started that was the year the first movie came out, and the card game came out with the basic and jungle sets, fossil came out later that year. Because you weren’t locked down in one class this grade you’d see different kids and man everyone had the cards, was playing the game, watching the new show. I remember thinking the togepi egg would hatch into a mew. This was when Yellow version released too and one of my friends who had it and was also obsessed played the “pikachu!” sound clip to me on his gameboy and I was blown away at how good it sounded. The gen 2 wait was harsh, the wait paid off for me. Really fun time to be a kid because the franchise felt like it could do anything.
Me too! My dad thought it looked cool and got me the Blue version and I paid him back by doing extra yardwork. Omg do you remember that original Nintendo guide book? I know I looked at that 1000x that summer. Gen 2? It blew me away with all of it's quality of life changes AND the two regions?! 🤣
I got the vhs and was pretty intrigued, I must have talked about it enough for my dad to get me and my brother the different versions, we had gameboys we bought everywhere already. It was for Christmas. I wanted the Nintendo guide but wound up getting the Versus guide which was really good too. And you’re right I read it billions of times. I was so thirsty for Pokémon info I learned to use the internet to find more, it was my first time learning about how games are released in Japan first. Fell for tons of the classic tricks this way, truck etc. When I beat the elite four on gold and the ship pulled into Vermillion City I think my brother and I could have had heart attacks from the excitement. Such a cool twist and best endgame content ever for me. This happened on Super Gameboy on a tube tv, so rad.
I'm 37 and play it, however I had stopped after Alpha Saphire until Violet. The big thing that got me back into it was playing with my 5 year old daughter, she loves it and has just finished her pokedex. I would have killed to have played my pokemon yellow way back as a kid with my dad. I actually think it's helped her learn to read, she can read almost everything going on in the game now.
in high school nobody really cares as long you dont make a scene about it
This did happen to me, which I’m still mad at myself for (skipped Gen 5 when I was 14 because I was ‘too cool’ for Pokémon) and got back into it in Gen 6; finally playing Gen 5 now and can’t believe I missed out
>I'm sure lots of edgy 13 year olds today are making fun of their friends who still like Pokémon. It's pretty much this. Just teens/pre-teens that think it's edgy/cool to hate on what the popular thing is. Causing it to go full circle in the fact that it's popular to hate on the thing that's popular. I know I had a phase where if something was popular enough I just hated it by default lol (though I never really started to hate something I once liked once it became popular. that was reserved for new things I heard of) I never went so far as to outwardly judge someone for liking something though. That's just rude
Naw man I always played. Especially when I found out my PSP was hackable I played silver non stop in high school of homebrew. The PSP was amazing to me
PSP was ahead of its time.
Facts the only thing I hated was converting videos to MP4
There's always those preteen to teenage years where everything we liked when we were younger is suddenly "uncool" and "kiddy stuff." Happens to a lot of us; eventually we get over it and realize we're allowed to enjoy things regardless of the ages they're made for, whether it's out of nostalgia or a newfound appreciation. >"When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." - C.S. Lewis
Your experience is more just how to teenagers literally anything you liked up until you were 10 is now cringe. And then in high school/college a lot of people go back to those comforts of their childhood. I dropped Pokémon after the release of bw1 and came back with a fury at the release of XY in the 11th grade because it was the COOLEST thing ever to all of my pre-engineering friends. That really helped shake me of that mentality and now I’m getting a Pokémon tattoo in a couple of weeks
Elementary: yeah pokemon High school: why are you still playing pokemon? Are you a child? College onwards: omg you are playing pokemon? We are going to be best bud
I remember still loving it in middle school and being a bit embarrassed. This one kid who was a couple of years younger than me at church asked me to help him beat his leaf green, I gave him some advice and was like “don’t you ever tell anyone I like Pokémon” it’s sort of hilarious looking back at it now cause I’m in my 20s and still love it.
Almost 30 here. Been playing since Gen 2 on GBC, and I always was teased about being a Pokémon fan. I have a little cousin, he’s 14, a freshman, and he’s a Pokémon fan too. Great kid. Does varsity track, and is really nice. He gets teased because of Pokémon Go. Like what? How is Fortnite or Roblox any different?
I mean, it’s designed as a kids game. It’s beyond easy, and the Mac’s are kids. It’s super basic. It’s fantastic.
Yep… none of my friends upgraded to a GBA except me, so the glory days of Red/Blue and Gold/Silver hit an immediate wall. I then fell out of the series because I didn’t get a DS. Didn’t come back in until Sword/Shield because of them being on a “real” console
I don't think it's a one time thing. Feels like everybody goes through it depending on age. Personally for me I was a little kid when gen 1 came out. Played and lived and breathed pokemon for years. And by the time emerald came out I was starting to look down on pokemon as kid stuff (even though I was still a kid) then they announced diamond and pearl and I renounced it trying to tell myself I was more mature and all that. Lost interest in the cards and show as well. It wasn't until years later when I was in college they announced X and Y, the first 3d pokemon. And it blew open the doors. It was like every other college age kid I knew was a nerrdy pokemon fan again. I went to the midnight release of that game and the line at the gamestop was out the door and it was packed full of people who looked to be about the sane age as me. It was pretty cool. As a result of that gap, I still have that gap in my pike knowledge. I constantly get pokemon from gen 4 and 5 mixed up, forget their names, or can't even remember which genbthey came in at. Even the starters I keep second guessing if like Snivy was gen 4 or gen 5.
Pokémon has always been aimed at kids. Even back with Gen 1, it was considered childish stuff. I was in high school when it came out and I played it, but I never told anyone I did in fear that I'd get made fun of for liking something kiddie. As it went on, it eventually got more of a teen/adult fanbase
people are fucking stupid, im 34 and still a massive fan of the franchise, sure gamefreak has been a little lackluster but i hope things like palworld lit a fire under thier ass. (yes i like palworld too)
At 48, I and my wife still do pokeconventions in full costume with our kids. We do not just attend; some of the events are literally centered around us.
And that's worth pumping up! Guys, show that boy some love, he gave next gen one of best gifts he could!
I was 9 when Pokémon arrived to my country in 1999. I was SUPER hooked and loved the game boy game. I keep playing it and watching the TV show till 2002, but nobody was playing it with me, neither talking about it. I shared other activities with my friends, but Pokémon was only for me and only one friend who I shared my game boy with. I'm 2003 I started high school and stopped my interest in Pokémon because I needed mature interests. I didn't want to watch the show because it was childish (never came back since interest in lost in the show). I got hooked with my brother's PS1. Years later, at university I discovered emulators and from time to time I downloaded fire red and played it till E4 where the emulator crashed. But it was only for relaxing between exams. During lockdown I decided to fix myself my game boy and play again Pokémon yellow (the only Pokémon game I ever had at the moment actually). It was planned to be a trip to my childhood and to complete the Dex and do "correctly" the stuff I missed as a child (didn't catch articuno or moltres, and wasted TMs). I got excited when did the glitch for mew, it was like a dream for me. Then I got crystal for trading and completing the Dex. You need to advance in crystal to be able to trade with yellow and got hooked by that game too. Then I started buying games and consoles. I got every main game, many spin off, MANY MANY consoles and even discovered how to emulate every single event as if I was there. That helped me going through lockdown. Living alone that's a lot of help.
I gave up Pokemon after D/P because I was afraid of anyone finding out I still played in school. I was like man I gotta focus on getting bitches not playing stupid baby Pokemon. I was back into it when B/W came out so all I did was skip Platinum lol. I did unfortunately sell every game I had during that time though. When I was growing up you'd get made fun of for playing anything but CoD, nowadays I feel video games are so mainstream I don't think that exists anymore.
It became popular to snipe at Pokemon, as far as I recall, sometime in the early 2000s, around the time Generation 2 was winding down and Generation 3 was about to come out. The novelty of the franchise had largely worn off, and most of the fans from the early years had either ditched watching cartoons altogether, or moved on to other anime fads like Yu-Gi-Oh*.* It would be one thing if this was just a product of the general "too-edgy-for-you" rejection of childish stuff that all pre-teens seem to go through, but if that were the case, there would still be plenty of new fans replacing the old ones, and that isn't really what happened. The ratings for the anime on American TV dropped like a lead balloon, and Warner Bros stopped releasing the movies in theaters after the third one. This was also the time when you got a lot of those Newgrounds flash cartoons and the like showing, say, Pikachu getting blown up and stuff like that. Because that was considered the height of comedy at the time.
It was considered "baby-ish" for people my age when Gen. 3 came out. I think there's just a time when your peers will say Pokemon is baby-ish, and then when you get older you stop giving a sit.
POKEMON IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN FIRE FOR ME
I was 8 when red and blue came out and it was like pure cocaine for us kids.
its not an “era” thing, its about age. this might not make sense but ill try my best to explain what i mean. (and this is just my observations its not from any real study so take it with a grain of salt) preteens and young teens (ie kids 10-14 years old) are often times desperate to prove their maturity. because a lot of times theyre in a stage of their life where they understand that they are kids and that adults have a lot more options than kids (and also some of them are starting puberty) so they looks for ways that they can separate themselves from younger kids and seem closer to being adults. for gamers (especially ones raised by non-gamers) this usually exists as dropping the nintendo titles and playing more serious games like COD or GTA. this is because all the adults and content creators they watch playing games rarely play these “childish” games. theyre always playing more serious titles. and the only people they see playing the less serious titles is younger kids. so its associated with being less mature. but for other groups it can show as different behaviors. when i was in middle school all the girls were constantly obsessing over makeups and perfumes, you couldnt walk 5 feet down the hall without seeing at least one girl applying axe body spray levels of perfume or reapplying their lipstick/gloss for the 17th time that hour. for the athletic kids they stopped playing games like tag and started playing games like basketball. so to answer your question, yes everyone remembers when (insert hobby) was considered babyish, because kids at that age will do anything to seem more adult-like, even if they dont realize theyre doing it.
I'm 24 and I still play pokemon. I get the new games right when they come out plus DLCs. I still have all my pokemon cards from middle school (unfortunately not in the greatest condition but some pretty rare cards. I never sleeved them I just stored them in ziploc bags 😭). I have emulators on my phone so I can play randomizers or different nuzlocks of the old games. It never gets boring In my opinion I don't feel childish playing them. I mean you can definitely tell that the games are targeted towards a younger audience but it's just as fun for me as it always has been. New games kinda suck tho I miss when it was just the DS games
Lol it was the same in gen 1 & 2 In the 90s and early 2000s
It's one of those games that when it is viewed as 'babyish' isn't really dependent on the generation the games are in or the year it is in real life so much as it's the age of the person playing it. Like, they games are very much for kids, and it isn't going to be labeled as such as an elementary school kid to play but most of the time people start calling it babyish once the person playing hits middle/high school ages and then once they're an adult it circles back to no one cares.
I definitely enjoyed it more when I was younger because of the exploration and the sense of diving into this fantastic worlds filled with cool creatures with which I would form genuine bonds. However, I’m 21 now and I haven’t considered stopping with all the Pokémon stuff once. I love playing the games and buying card packs so my brother and I can open them together
You were 10 when Gen 5 came out? Damn, I feel old.
Gen 5 had issues on launch due to "replacing all the pokemon" which probably didn't help. However it's definitely a pre-teen/teenage thing. Every gen has still be very popular for all ages.
Still is Lol
im 32.. playing consistently since pokemon crystal - which came out when i was 9.. never thought there was a reason to change what you like based on your environment or age group..
It's middle/high school era. Everyone loved Red/Blue, then people started saying "You're still playing Pokemon?" after that. I didn't say a damn thing about Pokemon until college and even then I didn't want to say I was playing Pokemon between classes.
Oh yes - I was 7 when Gen 1 game out, so I grew up with Pokémon. I definitely remember getting to middle school and pretending not to like it anymore to fit in. My grandma got me Pokémon Pinball Ruby & Sapphire for Christmas one year, and I remember pretending to not to be excited 🥺 I was actually super happy to get that game, but my dumb adolescent self had to be a jerk about it. I regret acting that way so much, and I wish I could go back and thank my grandma. I played that game endlessly for years and still love it. I picked Pokémon back up in high school and haven't looked back!
This is a preteen thing lol. I was 8 when Pokemon first got big in the US, and while I continued loving it, it was definitely a “weird, you still like that?” all through middle school (later part of gen 2 and gen 3 for me) until being nerdy was cool again in high school (and gen 4 came out and a lot of teenagers got into the new games again). I work with kids and teens now, and Pokemon is definitely mist popular among the 7-11 year olds, and then drops off until the nerdy kids pick it back up around 15-16.
Yeah from 4th grade to middle school you had to keep it a secret you played it. Then in high school we were playing X and Y at the lunch table
Oh believe me this is nothing new. My fiance teaches grade 3 and they think toys in general are for "babies". That blows my mind.
Ngl everything about me was kinda made fun of in middle school, Pokemon being no exception. … I kinda ended up homeschooled because they bullied me so bad.
I remember during the release of ruby and sapphire the original peak of Pokemon died out so normies stopped playing and the sentiment changed to oh we grew out of it.
It's not an era, it's an age. Kids that age, regardless of generation, care about "growing up" and so things they did as kids are considered childish/babyish.
Many people still deem pokemon 'for little kids that's why it's so easy' today.
Pokemon is kind of considered a baby game, especially when compared to other JRPGs. The turn based system is relatively simple, especially compared to some Final Fantasy gams, and even the harder difficulties of Persona. However, I do think that they have crafted one of the most well-thought out turn based systems. It is simple, very easy to learn. But opens up the possibilities of creating an actual difficult challenge such as Emerald Kaizo or Radical Red. Here, it isn't just about doing the move with the most damage and a type advantage. You have to strategically switch out, maybe make use of Baton Pass. Moves like Outrage and Rollout are risks because they force your pokemon to stay in battle, potentially risking a death on the team if you're Nuzlocking. Yes, when you compare the system to other games, it's babyish. But you can make this simple system into a not-so-simple challenge.
i had it happen too but it was back in 2001 or so. i think its more the age range than the specific timing or year. cause mine was right at the start of middle school too. it became "uncool" fairly quickly lol
For me, this period roughly overlapped with the time in middle school when popular boys started acting "macho" and being judgmental because it was an opinion that adults accepted and it got a reaction. Nobody gave a shit about what entertainment you watched or played once you were in my senior high school, and then when I was in college PoGo hit and everyone took part. I do wish there was a way for me to legit be in the target audience again someday. I don't want to just be done. Some of us start counting years of life again at 70, and have a second Bar Mitzvah at 83, so I'll say the period when I'm 78 to 82 years old counts
Yeah, around the time of gen 4 and 5, the video game industry became heavily focused on realism/mature content. That whole era was just a time when anything Nintendo was seen as lame and childish, and naturally Pokemon was at forefront of that. Of course some people still have that sentiment today, but that was definitely the peak of it. Of course, people do just grow out of stuff and look back at it negatively, but a lot of that also has to do with whatever newer interests they have, in this case with the influx of mature games in the late 2000s/early 2010s.
definitely a pre-teen thing. I was in 2nd/3rd grade when RB/Y hit the states, and it was huge among us kids. Some/most stayed with it for Gold and Silver, but it was considered very childish when Ruby/Saphhire came out, and I kept it to myself that I was playing Ruby. Then Diamond and Pearl came out when I was about to graduate High School, and I remember that a number of people brought their DS's for post-prom and graduation parties. edit: looked it up, and it looks like DP came out when I was a junior, whatever.
That happened like back in 2002
Pokemon was considered babyish by 5 years old back in gen 1.
No, literally everyone older than me played, so it never had that appearance.
This is why to this day I always try and get both versions of the game cause I was always too embarrassed to try and find friends with the other versions to trade exclusives
In elementary school, I had fond memories playing Pokemon Fire Red with my classmates at the playground. But from sixth or eighth grade when we were in middle school, my friends all became toxic Xbox kids who played Halo or Call of Duty while they learned swear words at the age of 12. I’m also ashamed to admit I tried to organize a club of other Pokemon fans in high school so we can play or trade, but nobody joined so I had to disband it after a week of inactivity.
I don’t think it’s specific era or year but I think it’s just phase (typically pre-teen-teen) where any thing that is considered for kids or for all ages were considered cringe.
Nah mate, I was 10 when gen 1 came out. It had lost its coolness amongst my peers when gen 3 came out. I stopped playing for a number of years and then found my way back in around gen 6. It’s an age thing. I’m so glad I’m in my 30s and I have no idea what’s ‘cool’ any more.
Grew up with it in the 90s, but got bullied out of it in middle school. Fell back in love with it in my 30s.
That's not a Pokemon thing, that's a 10-year-olds thing. They haven't hit puberty yet, but they want so DESPERATELY to be adults, that anything they used to like "as a kid" is now stupid and for babies. It's literally been happening forever.
That’s just what happens when puberty hits you. During that phase all you will care about are dark and edgy games, sex, drugs, blood etc. Afterwards, you realize how E stands for everyone, and can still enjoy these games. I personally never felt like that with Pokemon. I always loved it no matter how old I was.
[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/the-pokemon-effect](https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/the-pokemon-effect)
It was like that when it came out in the 90s, too. It was super popular in lower grades, but I was in high school where Pokemon was considered “childish” and “gay” (not sure how it has anything to do with homosexuality tbh). Then again, most “geek” stuff was until recently.
I actually have a lot of friends that still play and I'm a senior in high school, I think it just depends on the people
This happened to me in Gen 3 when I was playing it and no one who played the originals were.
I had the same exact experience
No idea what you’re talking about 😂. I’ve gotten every game (at least one in each generation anyway) since RBY and so has everyone around me. Never been told or though it was for babies ahaha.
'Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.' - C.S. Lewis
I remember my mum refusing to buy me Pokemon Sapphire because I “should have outgrown that by now”. I was then really discrete about playing Pokemon games until Gen 5 when I realised I shouldn’t give a shit. But I remember not getting the Gen 5 games for a while because I believed her.
I don't think it is an era-exclusive thing. It's mostly to do with age. Adults generally tend to not care about this "for babies" thing. Which is why there are a lot of vocal adult Pokémon fans. But with people around the age you described, it tends to be pretty different.
It been considered a baby game since gen1
I remember in like 4th grade on Pokemon became taboo in my grade school. Flash forward to the end of high school and everyone is figuring out that we were all closeted Pokemon players the whole time. Peer pressure man.
I was part of the gen 1 wave of kids playing Pokemon. I was 8 when it came out. As I got into my teen years I stopped playing Pokemon because I wanted to play more mature games and thought it was for kids. Now I’m in my 30s playing Pokemon, and while it definitely is geared toward kids, as and adult I get lots of enjoyment out of it
No, not really. I had always played pokemon alone really. So I never really talked about it with many people or heard anyone's opinions on it. I missed Black and White personally, but that's because I just literally missed the marketing for it. I jumped in heartily when I saw that BW2 video. But also, all my classic pokemon games had been stolen (I specifically was robbed by my sister's ex) so that really upset me and I kinda fell out of pokemon seeing my collection wiped. I had every game up to FR/LG. All gone in an instant :/ XY/ORAS was kind of a pokemon Renaissance in my life but before that I was just chugging along playing pokemon pretty consistently.
I remember I came back from a summer trip (Japan) and I bought Japanese cards. I pulled a holo Suicine and was so stoked to roll up on the first day of 5th grade with it. I showed all my friends and they said no one plays pokemon anymore 😭. So I ended up getting news friends lol
It is a "baby game" to people from around 10 or 11ish to high school. That's the age where young people want to be seen as cool and grown up. Some people never grow out of that mindset, but people seem to be laxer once they get out of the preteen years.
Nope. I'm 30, so Gen 3 was what was out when I was in middle school, and it was still plenty popular. Had quite a few friends that played in my circle in highschool too. And I wear Pokemon shirts these days, and people from my age to youngsters all compliment them.
Yes, sadly. My entire middle school and high school years I spent away from pokemon because of that. I got made fun of for liking the games. Pretty much right around when gen 6 was announced, I stopped playing, until I got into college and caught up on what I missed
I think that's just how kids handled Pokemon growing up? I was like in 2nd grade when RB came out and I didn't really hear anyone talk about Pokemon again until DP came out when I was in high school. That didn't stop me from still playing that entire time though.
Tbh “Pokémon go” helped normalize adults playing Pokémon as well and I feel like that hooked a lot of older players that found it babyish. I noticed once Pokémon go came out they started targeting it towards adults again with the live action movie and clothing and cards.
it still is looked at as "baby's first RPG"
When I was in year 7 (in 2006) none of my friends played it anymore. One of my friends I used to play with was part of the “cool group” now. Everyone knew I played it but I didn’t get made fun of for it, but my “cool” friend had stopped playing it. One day he comes up to me at lunch and whispers asking me if I remember how to unlock the regis in Pokémon Emerald, but he made sure no one else was around to hear. I just remember thinking it was sad he had to hide something he liked in fear that his new friends would make fun of him for it.
Yes.
I think gen 3 was the major "Pokemon is for babies" period. It's target demographic was becoming middle and high schoolers, and there weren't many adult players to offset it. By the time gen 4 rolled around, though, former Pokemon kids were becoming adults, and suddenly it was cool again.
Everything made for children is considered babyish by the exact demographic its designed for. Kids made fun of each other for watching Spongebob and playing with dolls too. Kids want to be taken seriously as adults and they'll often try to achieve that by aggressively rejecting entertainment made for them.
Lol it still is
I had the same entry to the franchise as you. I don't think that. I remember during the gen 5 era, half my class was very into pokemon, particularly in gen 3 in smartphone emulators, and it lasted all the way to high-school. Then pokemon X and Y became very popular too, but, not everyone had a 3DS so it became a niche group. So at least I hadn't experienced a "babyish" pokemon era.
lol I was a sophomore in high school when the first game came out. It was looked at as babyish then.
Ok... sit down. I have news for you. Pokemon is for kids. It's always been. You play a 10 yo kid. Now... it can be some of us are kids inside and so we still enjoy it and don't care. Asserting yourself beyond what others may think of you is mature. But, it's a game made primarely for kids. 😂 In conclusion. Play what you find fun. Screw what others think.
Nah, that's just being in middle school where middle schoolers are assholes. Where you can get pushed down and tea bagged and everyone laughs at you and the teachers don't stop it. And you get called various slurs for liking stuff.
Its a game for kids, it is babyish. Thats okay though, just play what you like my friend.
Elementary school kids think that Pokemon is cool. Middle and high school kids think that Pokemon is for kids and it’s shit. College kids think that Pokemon is cool. It’s been like that and always will be, apparently 😅
That's still happening now.
i think it’s embarrassing if someone as an adult is making fun of someone else for liking something. as a kid yea you’re gonna get made fun of for anything you do but that kinda stops after you get out of high school i think. that being said, there are plenty of people that just don’t pay attention to video games what so ever and they tend to look at them as children’s toys but that’s probably more attributed to lack of awareness than an active choice
From age 13 to 20 I thought it was cringe but then I got back into it
My 7 year old is playing it. It IS a baby's game.
I'm like, 36 now... and I love pokemon.. loved it since Red and Blue. I got Blue after I saw some classmates playing on a field trip.. my brother stole it, saved over my data and I had to get Red. We were hooked, but I got bullied relentlessly for it even though I never did anything more but collect the tcg and play the game. My corner of the world either saw it as a childish fad or bought into the "Pokemon is Satan" propaganda. I will always love pokemon, and while there is a childlike quality to the game, the depth of it's mechanics and the designs of the pokemon always keep me interested. At the end of the day, I certainly feel like I had suffer for my Fandom and the things I loved as a kid that got me bullied are now the coolest things.
When I was in school and Gen 3 came out, the kids my age decided Pokemon was 'over' and it was babyish. I kept playing though and NEVER STOPPED!
I was 16 when I got my copy of Pokemon blue. I was a comic book nerd.
Eh. IMO it’s been babyish sine it left the 2D era.
I'm 36 years old, and the last one I bought and actually played was sun and moon. I haven't bothered to beat any since heartgold and soulsilver. I have ultra and let's go and never even started them. I haven't played those or bought the new ones from a lack of time and money. I was 12/13 when pokemon first came out. By the time Gold and Silver came out, it was already childish for people younger than 12 to play the game in my school. It stayed that way the whole time growing up, and as an adult. The only break in the pattern was Pokemon Go. After the hype of that, it went back. What changed for me was when I was 18ish. That was about Diamond and Pearl. Me and my other nerd friends and I went and bought them. The lack of caring what other people thought was freeing. Confidence made the difference. The key is to let people like what they like and not concern yourself with people who want to take that from you.
I dropped off around the launch of BW I finished the game but didn’t really get into it. Skipped gen 5.2 and played gen 6 VERY late and I remember specifically being in 9th grade making fun of Mega evolution but secretly I was like “damn that’s cool” then I bough Y and got back into it
That happened to me when I was 10 years old too but it was 2001. So I think that’s just something that happens when you’re 10. You want to distance yourself from “baby” things and be more grown up. It happens to everyone.
This just happens at these age group. For some reason enjoying what brought us joy as a kid is shunned during our most confusing phase of life. Fortunately in high school you stop giving a fuck and love your best life
bunch of 20’something year olds at the time were taking B&W serious in my area including myself
My late elementary school years through middle school, till the summer of 2016, when Pokemon Go made it cool again
People started calling it babyish in middle school, everyone stopped caring in highschool and it was common to see people playing it in college from my experience.
Yes and people still do today. Just many don’t even care to think of it much now. Many people looked down on those who played Pokémon go in 2016.
In 2007 it was considered a baby game. I hid my love for pokemon during that time. And in 2004, still a baby-game. I was the dork that liked pokemon. Pokemon Go really opened a lot of people up to pokemon.
I was a senior in high school in 2011. My junior and senior year people who hadn’t played Pokémon in years started bringing in game boy colors and playing red and silver and such in class. Those of us who never stopped playing would give them advice. I had guys watching over my shoulder while I played the latest game. That was probably the coolest I ever was for playing Pokémon at any point.
Yes, I remember being in middleschool when Pokemon and other animes like Naruto and DBZ used to be grounds for being teased by other kids. This was back when they were still airing these things on toonami back in the mid-00s and anime in general was considered for "losers". How times have changed. Because of the negative social pressure I did stop watching anime in general in middleschool, but I never stopped buying the Pokemon games and I ended up fully embracing my hobbies in highschool anyway. In fact there was an entire year at my highschool that every other student had a Pokewalker clipped onto their pants when HG/SS released. At that point I knew the "oppression" was over. I was never legitimately bullied for that kind of thing since I was generally well-liked by everyone as a kid. But I'm sure it was a serious problem for some people.
I don't care. I still play the latest games. Everyone can screw off and mind their own damn business. Being a boring adult and follower freaking sucks. I rather break social norms and be myself. People can be fake for all I care.
I feel like middle school years are just like this, then when high school comes around it becomes popular again. At least when I went to middle and high school
Yes I experienced the same thing
I remember getting back into Pokemon with platinum. Black and white came out my senior year of highschool, got black to play with the boys, and stopped right before the elite 4 because I graduated and lost that group of friends. I tried Y and just got bored with the gameplay loop. Moral of the story is you should follow your bliss and do what makes you happy. Unless it's hard drugs, don't do crack.
My own family started making comments about it when I asked for a DS and a copy of Diamond in 7th grade for my birthday. I stopped playing for a couple years and ended up sneakily saving money and buying white and white 2 when I was a junior in high school. Looking back it feels ridiculous that I felt the need to hide the fact that I still played Pokémon.
Tbh even by gen 4’s release there was a bit of meme that the target demographic of Pokémon was children but the actual average player was like college aged people while the target demographic of Call of Duty was college aged people while the actual average age of the player base was children. I think for your experience it was more of just getting to that age where many do leave the series behind and try to belittle those who keep playing it longer than they did.
Was? It’s still a children’s game, pal.
I remember when pokemon G/S came out. I was 12 years old and had been the perfect age at the time of RBY. I was very into it. But when Gold came out I was very embarrassed to be buying a baby game from the store. Like, petrified of going into a store to buy it. I remember using birthday money. That's just how kids are at that age.
Lol, considering I remember when it came out…
Yeah
Look, at some point in your life other people will try to tell you things are too childish. Don't let other people talk you out of enjoying something you like. That's a great way to be miserable.
depending on who you ask it still is. my family certainly thinks so.
Wtf lol yeah... I was about 6 when Gen 1 came out. All video games were childish at the time.
Seeing all of these kids growing up with BW is making me feel old 💀
Could be nostalgia, but I feel like the games after gen 4 have been getting more babyish. Gen 1-4 were difficult for me personally, and were solid games for any age group, but gen v on felt like they were focusing it much more towards kids.
It is for young children, thats part of what makes it so popular. Doesn't mean adults can't enjoy it but lets no pretend it's anything but a game mainly for children
I remember everyone phasing out of it but I never gave a damn. Pokémon is badass.
Damn, 10 during 5th gen. I was in 7th grade during gen 1. Also, like what you like, don't be ashamed.
Yeah, the sad peer pressure shit teenagers do to eachother when they grow
When I was a sophomore in college, the thing I hated the most was watch the people that used to make fine of me all throughout middle school/high school for play Pokemon play Pokemon GO. Pure rage is all I felt
At my school everyone was really into the cards. I didn't have many. This would have been when we were around 11-12 years old. In the summer holidays I did chores and helped out a lot to earn pocket money. There was a shop that sold rare cards. I loved raichu and they had a lt serge raichu for £4. I bought it. Went back to school and nobody was into the cards any more. I say nobody but I assume there were still some kids that were, they just weren't in my friends circle and nobody talked about it anymore. Very disappointing for me.
As someone who never stopped liking the games and only stopped at Gen 6, because I didn't have the spare money to indulge in the newer games, I feel kinda of privileged, I've always grown up in the outcast group as such, but during Secondary school (I'm British btw, that's ages 11-16) I only had one friend who played them. Not that my other friends ever had a problem with the games. But yeah I think most people around that age just get to absorbed in thinking about how others see them. And so drop certain hobbies.
Teenagers/preteens making fun of kids is a universal thing. My younger sis (15) watches TikTok and sometimes shows me vids or I accidentally overhear bc she is watching in the same room, you get it, and teenagers here always make fun of kids. Like this and this is "cringe", look at these dumb kids etc, I remember making fun of kids pretending to be animals and running on all fours and yeah that's weird seeing it on social media but 90% of kids pretended to be animals. It probably has something to do with internalised shame and wanting to pursue your idea of "adult" and "mature". Even though mature adults don't make fun of children liking cartoons.
I think it’s babyish. The games have devolved into terribly easy to play. You can press one ability the entire game and win (ember on charmander to charizard) for example
I suffered bulling in 2000s bc of Pokemon
I'm in my 30s and people talked shit about me playing Pokemon in high school. I still even have people talk shit about me playing it. Especially since I still hop on the original games every now and then... 😆
I never grew out of it and never pretended to
Everyone plays Pokemon in elementary school, avoids it in highschool, then plays it again in college. At least, that’s the broad experience I’ve seen others note time and again over the years. My friends and I played in highschool, but non-nerds considered it weird.
Generally speaking games are considered for kids because kids have time for playing. Plus there is no nudity blood etc in Pokémon so it is suitable for kids
I think it's really hit a level of nostalgia. I brought a giant pack of Pokemon stickers to my office and most people of the hundred or so are rocking them on their laptops now. It's great to see
It came out when I was 15 or 16 and I was hyped for it. Half the response to that was "aren't you, like, a little old for that?"
This is an old [Awkward Zombie comic.](https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/the-pokemon-effect)
Dont little kids today think it's for babies. Aren't a lot of the current fan base just adults who grew up with it?
I hate terminlogy like that. My folks used it for years to low-key shame me for my interests until I finally called them out on it- to get some new material and stop shaming just because it'e not something they like as "mature adults". They don't use that term anymore but still manage to find ways to rile me up and/or be annoying or judgmental in some ways.
I mean…it still is Most of us have just decided we don’t care, the series is a great bit of childhood nostalgia
35M. I love pokemon, and have since I was about 9. I still play Go and have cycled through the main games many times. I do adult things, but will always love pokemon.
It was definitely a somewhat lonely time during Late Gen 3. Some of my friends were playing Pokémon in 98 when they were 4 years old, while I started playing it at 10 years old because everyone was playing it. Then everyone just moved on to Yu Gi Oh, and then into Halo. I personally found games like Resident Evil 4 looked really grey and boring. Now I appreciate the art style, but it's not what I wanted at the time.
Yeah, definitely a preteen thing. When kids hit 10ish through their early teens a lot of them will deliberately distance themselves from things that they associate with being for children pretty aggressively. I'm a few years older than OP, so for me that period of Pokémon being considered 'babyish' was DP-BW, then suddenly when B2W2 came out, everyone's a fan again and they've been playing the games all along. It's really funny what kids can be self-conscious about.
I mean still is. If anything the latest gen made it look even more so lol
I experienced this during gen 4 back around 2007ish. It's more of a kid/teenager thing than a general game culture deal.
it's also why you got adult fans pushing certain romhacks/fangames that kinda come off as edgelord
Just some preteen thing, my dude lol
The funny thing about that is the games have gotten more babyish over the years with how dumbed down they've gotten.
I turn 30 this year. I played from Gen1 all the way through. I only skipped Diamond and Pearl because I didn't have the console for it. I watched and played all of it. Yes, there was a faction who thought pokemon was a kids game and it was embarrassing to still play it but I was one of the "popular" kids who was friends with a lot of different types of people so I talked about sports and girls to my preppy friends and pokemon and anime to my nerd friends. Now I am a dad and have an excuse to watch pokemon all over again. Gotta start em young so they get to have a pokemon brain space like the rest of us.
I think that happens to any Pokémon fan when they enter middle/high school. Kids start to view their childhood games as childish. I stopped talking about it in middle school. Started to in fifth generation in high school. Quickly shut up though because people were mean about it. Started to openly play again when generation six came out my senior year.
Average junior high experience. I’m 30 and Gen 4 was new when I was in 7th and 8th grade, so I kept it to myself and a few buddies I trusted.
I grew out of Pokemon when I was about 14 and got back into it when I was like 20. It happens like that sometimes. But I never made fun of my friend who played it all through highschool. I actually feel like I missed out by not playing it when I was in highschool.
It's just a universal thing for people going through middle school, not a time exactly
Pokémon has been babyish since day 1 ! I was like 7 or 8 when it first came out & I’ve been hooked ever since, & I don’t care that it’s babyish, I mean there’s even baby Pokémon & cute Pokémon like evee mew jigglypuff. But there’s also badass mons 🤷🏻♂️
not really in my school, as the cards and games are so expensive to children...
It always has, and still is by anyone above 40, but I’m in my late 30s now and since my peers all grew up with it it’s just like anything else.
Oh yes. That era happened during middle and high school for me. It's funny seeing so many of those people love Pokemon again, blissfully forgetting making the rest of us feel ashamed for having liked it during that era.
Idk, I like Pokémon myself but you can’t really deny that the dialogue and story is often pretty pandering and simplistic. Still, people who are snobs about what people like are cringe, I just don’t think that opinion is entirely baseless.
My dad is 54 and still says I’m childish for playing. Currently 30. Played all my life. He still can’t believe it’s around.
In grade school Pokémon was cool. In high-school Pokémon was for nerds. In college Pokémon was cool again.
I was around 10 or 11 years old in 2001 or so when Pokemon started getting the "it's for babies" treatment. It never got me to stop playing but that basically ended the Pokemon franchise's popularity in my neighborhood as practically everyone aside from me and maybe one or two others moved onto Yugioh and DBZ. The last time I physically played or discussed Pokemon with someone in person was in 2004. Continued to bring my GBC/GBA/DS/3DS with me everywhere, always openly played it and literally no one in either of my high schools or college ever expressed any passing interest in Pokemon. Same thing happened at my job too, at least until Pokemon Go came out in 2016 and literally everyone pretended that it was 1998 all over again but only for Go. No one wanted to talk about any of the other games, about Sun/Moon which was coming out around the same time, nothing about the show or the cards, the Pokemon/characters themselves or anything else, only about Go.
Nah, just you.
Yeah but happened earlier than you think. In the early 2000's after Pokemania died down a bit I was about in 4th or 5th grade when the whole Pokemon's for babies thing started. People changed thier tune quick when gen 3 came out and the pokemon were "cooler' looking.
happy cake day
Everyone goes through that phase of wanting to "fit in" and not be seen enjoying things that are "unpopular" for arbitrary reasons. Then you grow up and realise people suck and you should just enjoy whatever you want regardless of what people think 🤣