April 1997
Not much happened, especially when compared to May 1997 where everything freaking happened.
Except one thing, one of the most successful video gaming franchises of all time was launched. For the first time people in Japan turned on their Gameboys, either with a red or green cartridge in the back and saw Satoshi.
Satoshi, otherwise known as Ash in the rest of the world was also the name of the man responsible for the gaming equivilent of My Chemical Romance, loved and hated in equal measures (though the haters are far more vocal). Satoshi Tajari, a bug collector, got the idea for the game from his hobby. With link cable support for VS matches and trading inspired by bugs crawling along strings Satoshi approached Nintendo, formed Game Freak and secured himself a happy retirement.
Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Leaf Green, Fire Red are the 8 full games in the series. Released in pairs to encourage players to trade with each other and inevitably followed by a special edition version later the games took over the world. Help from Pinball, the Trading Card Game, 2 Stadium games, the invention of the N64 Transfer Pak and constant gameplay refinements have helped it stay popular and most importantly, stay good.
There are now over 450 of them, each with their own attacks, look, evolution chain, fans and number. From #1 (Bulbasaur) to the mythical #151 (Mew) all the way up to the new heights of #452 there is no denying the quality of the games, or their importance. Think about a world without them, no Transfer Pak, no GBA-GC link, no DS-Wii link. How about no Nintendo period? How important was it in holding up the company during the Gamecube years?
Love it, hate it, refuse-to-admit-it, I don't care but the gaming world would be so very different if 10 years ago those first 2 games hadn't come out.
HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY POKEMON!!
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