{"id":609,"date":"2021-11-19T22:58:22","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T22:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/theragingtwenties\/?p=609"},"modified":"2021-12-02T17:53:13","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T17:53:13","slug":"pokemon-jn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/theragingtwenties\/2021\/11\/19\/pokemon-jn\/","title":{"rendered":"Yearning for nostalgia, authenticity at a midnight Pok\u00e9mon launch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text]\n

Ben Mungham is ready for the Pok\u00e9mon launch at GameStop in Ottawa on Thursday night, sporting Pok\u00e9balls and a Lucario on his shoulder. Picture by Jaimie Nackan.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The air buzzed with excitement Thursday evening as the sound of Pok\u00e9mon music greeted people at the door of GameStop inside the Billings Bridge Shopping Centre for the midnight launch of the video games Pok\u00e9mon Brilliant Diamond<\/em> and Pok\u00e9mon Shining Pearl<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original versions of these games were released 15 years ago back in 2006 for the handheld Nintendo DS console. This year also marks the 25 anniversary of the Pok\u00e9mon franchise.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One attendee, Alexis Fee, sat just outside the store shuffling through a stack of Pok\u00e9mon cards, each carefully wrapped in their own protective sleeve. Fee said that not only was Diamond<\/em> their introduction to Pok\u00e9mon, but it was also their first-ever video game, and they were looking forward to reliving it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI come to the store every one to two days. I come here often enough and thought it would be fun to come and get excited about the game,\u201d Fee said. As they never got to attend the first launch, Fee thought it would be fitting to come and celebrate the game that got them into Pok\u00e9mon in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diamond<\/em> and Pearl<\/em> were the first Pok\u00e9mon games released for the Nintendo DS. The games utilized new features for the time, like Wi-Fi connection which allowed for online multiplayer gaming. This provided players with an easier and more accessible way to trade Pok\u00e9mon with friends or battle with other players across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The community aspect inherent to the games was seen again on launch night, Thursday, as people sat outside casually trading Pok\u00e9mon cards with each other while waiting for midnight to strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eager players circled the store, wearing their favourite Pok\u00e9mon attire. Some highlights included a Pikachu inspired Christmas sweater, a Jigglypuff hat, and a Lugia plushie attached to one individual\u2019s hood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amanda Tessier, the GameStop store manager, said it is usually older people who show more excitement for game releases like these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are picking up Diamond<\/em> and Pearl<\/em> because they\u2019re nostalgic. They\u2019re like, \u2018I played that game when I was five, when I was six, and I can\u2019t wait to play it again with better graphics,\u2019\u201d Tessier said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Michael Iantorno, a PhD candidate in communication studies at Concordia University, the emphasis on nostalgia is something that comes up a lot in Nintendo remakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iantorno explores what happens to games after their original commercial lifespan in his research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He drew on the similarities between the newer Pok\u00e9mon games released on Thursday and the recent remaster of The Legend of Zelda: Link\u2019s Awakening<\/em>. \u201cIt had a very similar rhetoric around where it\u2019s like an old game brought to new hardware, which is still authentic to the old, but it\u2019s still gifted with new features and new graphics and things that set it apart from the old version,\u201d Iantorno said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both games have a new \u201cchibi\u201d style of artwork, a style characterized by overexaggerated, short and cute figures, which Iantorno said may help to mimic the older sprite style artwork. These upgrades bring a fresh feel to the graphics without making it unrecognizable, which helps to retain the sentimental feel of the old 2D pixel art style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some fans place a high level of importance on preserving the look and feel of old games as new ones are released. After the 2019 release of Pok\u00e9mon Sword <\/em>and Pok\u00e9mon Shield,<\/em> fans were disappointed that old Pok\u00e9mon were left out of these games, so they found ways to hack them in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was really intriguing to me, because there was a sort of idea of what a Pok\u00e9mon game should be. And since it didn\u2019t abide by that idea, a lot of fans took it into their own hands,\u201d Iantorno said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Iantorno, while the remakes are not a one-to-one conversion, they act as something emblematic of the entire Pok\u00e9mon series. \u201cIt takes the old experience of the original title, and then makes it match the experience of the newer Pok\u00e9mon games and finds this authenticity, as a sort of pastiche.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Thursday night wore on, the line in front of the GameStop continued to grow. One of the first people there was a man with a Pok\u00e9mon tattoo sleeve who brought along his young child who was carrying a Nintendo Switch Lite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To kill time before the launch, the boy went into the store to play some Pok\u00e9mon games. After catching a Bidoof inside the store, he named it GameStop and proudly showed it to Tessier. <\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pok\u00e9mon fans celebrate the release of a new iteration of the classic and celebrated Pok\u00e9mon Diamond and Pearl games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"\n

Ben Mungham is ready for the Pok\u00e9mon launch at GameStop in Ottawa on Thursday night, sporting Pok\u00e9balls and a Lucario on his shoulder. Picture by Jaimie Nackan.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The air buzzed with excitement Thursday evening as the sound of Pok\u00e9mon music greeted people at the door of GameStop inside the Billings Bridge Shopping Centre for the midnight launch of the video games Pok\u00e9mon Brilliant Diamond<\/em> and Pok\u00e9mon Shining Pearl<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original versions of these games were released 15 years ago back in 2006 for the handheld Nintendo DS console. This year also marks the 25 anniversary of the Pok\u00e9mon franchise.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One attendee, Alexis Fee, sat just outside the store shuffling through a stack of Pok\u00e9mon cards, each carefully wrapped in their own protective sleeve. Fee said that not only was Diamond<\/em> their introduction to Pok\u00e9mon, but it was also their first-ever video game, and they were looking forward to reliving it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI come to the store every one to two days. I come here often enough and thought it would be fun to come and get excited about the game,\u201d Fee said. As they never got to attend the first launch, Fee thought it would be fitting to come and celebrate the game that got them into Pok\u00e9mon in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diamond<\/em> and Pearl<\/em> were the first Pok\u00e9mon games released for the Nintendo DS. The games utilized new features for the time, like Wi-Fi connection which allowed for online multiplayer gaming. This provided players with an easier and more accessible way to trade Pok\u00e9mon with friends or battle with other players across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The community aspect inherent to the games was seen again on launch night, Thursday, as people sat outside casually trading Pok\u00e9mon cards with each other while waiting for midnight to strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eager players circled the store, wearing their favourite Pok\u00e9mon attire. Some highlights included a Pikachu inspired Christmas sweater, a Jigglypuff hat, and a Lugia plushie attached to one individual\u2019s hood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amanda Tessier, the GameStop store manager, said it is usually older people who show more excitement for game releases like these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are picking up Diamond<\/em> and Pearl<\/em> because they\u2019re nostalgic. They\u2019re like, \u2018I played that game when I was five, when I was six, and I can\u2019t wait to play it again with better graphics,\u2019\u201d Tessier said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Michael Iantorno, a PhD candidate in communication studies at Concordia University, the emphasis on nostalgia is something that comes up a lot in Nintendo remakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iantorno explores what happens to games after their original commercial lifespan in his research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He drew on the similarities between the newer Pok\u00e9mon games released on Thursday and the recent remaster of The Legend of Zelda: Link\u2019s Awakening<\/em>. \u201cIt had a very similar rhetoric around where it\u2019s like an old game brought to new hardware, which is still authentic to the old, but it\u2019s still gifted with new features and new graphics and things that set it apart from the old version,\u201d Iantorno said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both games have a new \u201cchibi\u201d style of artwork, a style characterized by overexaggerated, short and cute figures, which Iantorno said may help to mimic the older sprite style artwork. These upgrades bring a fresh feel to the graphics without making it unrecognizable, which helps to retain the sentimental feel of the old 2D pixel art style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some fans place a high level of importance on preserving the look and feel of old games as new ones are released. After the 2019 release of Pok\u00e9mon Sword <\/em>and Pok\u00e9mon Shield,<\/em> fans were disappointed that old Pok\u00e9mon were left out of these games, so they found ways to hack them in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was really intriguing to me, because there was a sort of idea of what a Pok\u00e9mon game should be. And since it didn\u2019t abide by that idea, a lot of fans took it into their own hands,\u201d Iantorno said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Iantorno, while the remakes are not a one-to-one conversion, they act as something emblematic of the entire Pok\u00e9mon series. \u201cIt takes the old experience of the original title, and then makes it match the experience of the newer Pok\u00e9mon games and finds this authenticity, as a sort of pastiche.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Thursday night wore on, the line in front of the GameStop continued to grow. One of the first people there was a man with a Pok\u00e9mon tattoo sleeve who brought along his young child who was carrying a Nintendo Switch Lite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To kill time before the launch, the boy went into the store to play some Pok\u00e9mon games. After catching a Bidoof inside the store, he named it GameStop and proudly showed it to Tessier. <\/p>\n","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Ben Mungham is ready for the Pok\u00e9mon launch at GameStop in Ottawa on Thursday night, sporting Pok\u00e9balls and a Lucario on his shoulder. Picture by Jaimie Nackan","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,126,8],"tags":[49,63,48,46,47],"class_list":["post-609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-1","category-living","category-news","tag-gaming","tag-issue-1","tag-nintendo","tag-pokemon","tag-video-games"],"yoast_head":"\nYearning for nostalgia, authenticity at a midnight Pok\u00e9mon launch - The Raging Twenties<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/theragingtwenties\/2021\/11\/19\/pokemon-jn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yearning for nostalgia, authenticity at a midnight Pok\u00e9mon launch - 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