PokŽtalk for August 8, 1999:
(Introduction sketch  featuring a Super Smash Bros. voice-over by Steven)

That recording took a lot of effort, but it was worth it! Hello! This is Steven Reich with
 PokŽtalk for Sunday, August 8th, 1999! I hope you all enjoy today's episode as much as 
last time's.

Yesterday, I went to see The Iron Giant, and, of course the PokŽmon trailer. For those of
 you who haven't seen it (and shame on you). It's about 30 seconds long, which is 
understandable considering it's still three months from release. It's really a shame 
that the high point of the trailer is hearing a brief snipped of the PokŽmon show theme.
 So if you're going just for the trailer, you're getting ripped off. That's not to say the 
Iron Giant isn't without merit, it was actually quite worthwhile. So if you haven't yet, 
go see it!

Also, readers of the newspaper comic Adam may have noticed a recent string of 
PokŽmon references. I would like much more to see a PokŽmon/Garfield crossover. 
Wouldn't you?

Opinion article: PokŽmon web sites.

As you might imagine, I've recently been looking at PokŽmon web sites, and I've noticed
 some disturbing trends. First of all, many of you are using minimal sizes for 
background patterns, resulting in very high processor demands. Also, I've noticed that 
some, heck, a lot of sites aren't readily viewable in 640*480 resolution. And if you 
think I'm the only person who would complain about that, you're forgetting about 
WebTV. Of course, if you're listening to this, you're probably not a WebTV user.

We'll be right back after this message!

Ad: Mario Cartoon Dance Mix

Announcer: Are you sick of music from musical groups you've never heard of?

Steve: N'Sync? Backstreet Boys? Britney Spears? Who are these people?

Announcer: Well, you could get a life, or you could get Mario Cartoon dance mix! It has 
the theme songs from all the Mario Cartoons!

Steve: Before I got Mario Cartoon Dance Mix, I had no life, no girlfriend, and no DVD 
player. I still don't have any of those things, but at least now I have Mario Cartoon 
Dance Mix!

Announcer: Mario Cartoon dance mix is only $6.99 for one tape, $7.99 for one CD, or 
$28.73 for 6,943 punch cards. Call 1-800-555-TOON! That's 1-800-555-8666!


(with sarcasm) I really want to call that number. Anyway, I'd like to comment on the 
various oddities in PokŽmon products. Now, lunch boxes I can understand, but book 
covers? At least there's no PokŽmon breakfast cereal. I can imagine it: PokŽmon: Gotta 
Eat em' All! It'd have PokŽball marshmallows and totally irrecognisible PokŽmon 
shapes. Just wait until they get a shoe deal. Can you imagine Air Ash? At least they'd 
still be cheaper than Air Jordans, and it sounds better than a lot of other Nike shoe 
names! That's about the only apparel item I'd ever wear.

Finally, I'd like to talk about some details that have emerged about PokŽmon Gold and 
Silver. First of all, it will feature a telephone which you can use to call quite a few 
people, and a radio that will inform you of upcoming events, using the game's battery-
backed clock. It will also include something called Pocketgear, which will apparently 
limit what you can carry. As if wasn't bad enough in the original PokŽmon.

Apparently, Nintendo is designing this game for PokŽmon freaks, not the person who 
doesn't know a Blastiose from a Dratini.

Well, that's about all for this edition of PokŽtalk, so I'll be seeing you next time.