Chapter Four:

Okay, I admit it, I live life as a Pokémon maniac. I run a web site, write Pokénews, watch it on TV, saw the move in theaters the day it came out (even though the ending made no sense), talk the Pokétalk and walk the Pokéwalk.

My history with Pokémon started very innocently. Back in December of 1997, I read about a little incident in Japan. Okay, so maybe it wasn't little. About 700 kids got sent to the hospital while watching a show called Pocket Monsters. Apparently, the show involved about 150 or so creatures, which children memorized and repeated at school during recess. During an episode, rapidly flashing colors caused epileptic seizures (yet anther argument against sitting too close to the TV). My reactions ranged from, "well, that fad's dead," to, "that kind of popularity could never happen here." What little I knew

. A few months went by. A survey appeared on Nintendo's website. The question? Based on pictures, name the hero and villain of a game. I forget what I voted for. A few months later, I saw a preview of a game called Pokémon. Possessing a decidedly backwards interface and odd character art, it resembled no game I had ever seen or heard, what with its dated sound and music. When it came out a few months later, I bought it. Even so, I doubted it would succeed. Oops.

In the following months, Pokémon grew bigger and bigger. Eventually,I got a chance to watch the TV show. After watching the video seven zillion times, I dismissed it as junk. Six months later, my mind would completely change after listening to the 2.B.A. Master CD, and for the life of me I cant figure out how, but it caused me to go into a total Pokéstate with Pokéfriends and Pokéfun (I maintain that if you have to ask what Pokémon is all about, I can't tell you). Life rules!

My Nintendo fascination dates back to the 1980's (Nintendo itself dates back to the late 1800's, where it made playing cards in Japan). This, of course, is in reference to the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System. I got one for my sixth birthday. It's also one of the few video game systems not acquired with my own money. The money for my SNES, N64, Game Boy Pocket, Game.com and Virtual Boy all came out of my pocket. My Game Boy and Game Boy Color both came out of someone else's pocket.

To people of the Nintendo faith, the quintessential movie is The Wizard. Released in 1989, this movie helped Super Mario Bros. sell 17 million copies. It showed an emotionally disturbed kid who won a big video game championship. I never saw it in theaters, but my dad was alert enough to rent, then buy it. Amazingly, I never told him about it on video (must be one of those parent senses). This movie ranks higher on my list than any other in my life.

Nintendo went through bad times, too. The darkest of these periods, of course, starts at 1996 and goes until 1998, were it seemed like Nintendo got swept under the rug by Sony's Playstation. One always heard about how in Japan, the N64 sold like frozen mold. Then again, you also heard about how the Game Boys flew off shelves, and eventually, word leaked out that the game that sold the handhelds went by the name Pocket Monsters. Funny how things work.