I've spend my childhood playing pokemon. Cards and stickers style rather than video games though, primarily because I don't think they've existed back then, or if they did, not in my country. I liked pokemon at the time and sometimes even went as far as to tune into the daily show, but I just didn't love it, later on in life I've managed to pick up a Sega Mega Drive which provided me with endless entertainment and forced me to stay at home in order to play it due to the lack of electricity sockets in outside worlds, or TVs compatible to play it while on the move, so I never really had a handheld device.

Now.. Pokemon Black and White are coming out, and as is the norm, there is an eclipse of pokemon fans lining up to pick up their copies or even more bragging to each other in regards to the achievements they've already accomplished on the Pokemon <insert colour here>. I never personally played any pokemon except on a rare occassion where a friend needed to take a bathroom break and I went on it to faint some pokemons up, mainly on NDS and PC emulations, I just couldn't get into the.. concept of it I guess?  I watched my friend play Black yesterday and I asked him what was the difference, he booted up Red from GBA and I honestly couldn't see the difference. It was the same stuff just Black was not as 2D I guess, so at the end of the day, here I am wondering what the appeal of Pokemon is, and whether anyone other than me is skeptical about buying it? I'd personally much rather dish out and get a game like Dragon Age 2/ME3/Halo Wars, basically any other console/handheld game. Do I have an anti pokemon implant of some sort?

P.S I remembered I did have a GBA, the games I've played it though were games like Max Payne and Spyro, so never really played Pokemon except on rare ocassions of snatching friends GBA/DS.

Disclaimer: I am not hating on Nintendo/Pokemon/Ash and his brigade/fluffy pokemons/any other type of pokemon that people like. Just genuinely trying to see what the appeal is.

iv been sitting here for 10 mins trying to think of a way to explain the "appeal" of pokemon is but i cant. idk its just super fun to catch pokemon and raise them and battle with them idk really

but you cant just randomly pick up someone elses DS and play there specific save game and like it, (especialy if its your first time playing a pokemon game) youll be totally lost and wont know what to do or whats goin on. you gota start from the start...start your own epic adventure catch your own pokemon and raise them

you should give it a try i think ull like it

:)

its simple. There are no messy tutorials, you have 6 they have 6. Its not like some games where there are bosses and etc plus they had the first achievement you have got to catch them all.

That and the show keeps it consistent for the younger gen

It's impossible to explain, but it's absolutely brillant.

Damnit, I entered this thread expecting some Pickachu on Mudkip action.

Disappointing.

I know the old Pokemon names, the ones that were on the cards and those circular cardboards that had picture of a pokeball on the back. And I have played the PC emulations of really old pokemons, I got to about 4-5 pokemons and about level ~9, but I just couldn't get into it for some reason, was just wondering whether anyone couldn't see the appeal of Pokemon either, because everyone I've encountered thus far just rave about it lol

It's impossible to really explain the appeal of Pokemon. And yes, Black is very similar to the original Red save for a few upgrades, but I'd really ask you to try the games, at the very least.

Thing is, though, I know exactly where you're coming from. I used to just like the anime and the TCG and crappy souvenirs that come inside packets of chips, too, almost unaware of the games 'cause they weren't available in my country. I must've played a proper Pokemon game for the first time in 2005 or so when I'd already enjoyed the show for several years and I've never looked back, ;).

Same. I was like "oh furries!" but to no avail. anywho, pokemon is just fun and simple. It's an open world RPG basically, which you don't see alot of and it's just simple and entertaining. I still play it to this day.

To appease the fans that were expecting NSFW in accordance with the thread title;

I've decided to borrow Red from a friend of mine and give it a go, but I am doubting whether I'll be interested in it or not :|

It's an RPG, an RPG of the most hardcore competitive design where I EV train my team and breed them for good IVs for hours just to get one up on my cousin's team.