"The Japanese pocket monsters, which star in video games, TV series and tradable playing cards, have made an estimated $115bn since 1996. Is this a sign of the lamentable infantilisation of postmodern society? Not a bit of it, argues Keza MacDonald, the Guardian's video games editor, in her winsomely enthusiastic biography of Nintendo, the company that had become an eponym for electronic entertainment long before anyone had heard the words PlayStation or Xbox."
"Yes, Pokemon is mostly a children's pursuit, but a sophisticated one: Like Harry Potter, the Famous Five and Narnia, she observes, it offers a powerful fantasy of self-determination, set in a world almost totally free of adult supervision. And in its complicated scoring system, it got millions of kids voluntarily doing a kind of algebra. Meanwhile, a lot of adults participated in the 2016 summer craze for Pokemon Go, the phone app that led people to walk around looking for imaginary monsters in real places."
Pokemon has generated an estimated $115bn since 1996 and spans video games, television and tradable cards. The franchise combines child-friendly appeal with sophisticated game design and fosters a fantasy of self-determination in worlds largely free of adult supervision. Its scoring and mechanics encouraged millions of children to engage in strategic thinking akin to algebra. The 2016 app Pokemon Go prompted adults to walk through real places seeking virtual creatures. Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold 45 million copies in 2020 and enabled remote socializing during pandemic lockdowns. Mario, introduced in Donkey Kong (1981), remains central and aesthetically consistent for Nintendo.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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