I don’t remember where I first learned about Pokémon, but I assume it was from one of the many gaming magazines I subscribed to. The Pokémon phenomena seemingly came out of nowhere and before I knew it, I was sucked into the vortex. This made me wonder– when did the US first know about/tell gamers about Pokémon? I set out to find the first published info on the game and anime and turned up some interesting info. After a small article in a magazine, news of Pokémon seemed to flow freely and more and more magazines were picking up the story. I will go through all of the info published about Pokémon before it was officially released here in the US and provide commentary and insight as I go. First up: the first ever article–

Nintendo Power Issue 104: January 1998

The first mention of Pokémon for US audiences was at the beginning of 1998– a full two years after the game was released in Japan. The game was discussed at Nintendo Space World ’97. Nintendo Space World was originally called Shoshinkai (初心会 – roughly translates to Beginner’s Party) and held its first show in 1989. The name was changed to Space World in 1997. The event lasted three days with day one being exclusively for the press and the subsequent two days reserved for the public. Space World was a trade show that highlighted not only the release of Nintendo first-party games, but introduced consoles and peripherals. At Space World ’97, a prototype of Pokémon Gold and Silver was shown. It was at this show that the Western press picked up on the game.

As you can see from this small blurb, Pokémon (or at this point Pocket Monsters) was seen as already having a HUGE fanbase in Japan (“…the show served as a Pocket Monsters convention for hordes of avid PM fans.”) and that the N64 would have a large role in the future of Pocket Monsters games. There was mention of the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive and this concept of “addition” (I take that as they were thinking of expansions as we know them today) would make games seem never-ending. I really think Yamauchi-san, president of Nintendo Co. Ltd. at the time was on to something: “The future market for games will be quite different from the past. Pocket Monsters and Tamagotchi are good examples of products that emphasize four important new aspects of game play: nurturing, trading, collecting, and adding.” Surely there were games before this time that involved collecting/adding (Megami Tensei anyone?), but he was right– this was going to be a new era of games like Pokémon, Harvest Moon, and Animal Crossing.

I can only imagine what it must have felt like to be a kid at Space World back in 1997 completing my Pokédex by downloading the 151st Pokémon Mew (or Myuu /ミュウ). I’m also reflecting on how, at the time of this article being written, the author could not have even come close to imagining the impact Pokémon would have on the US market for decades. They alluded to Pokémon Red and Blue (what was Red and Green for Japan) having updated graphics and sprites for some of the Pokémon. This was a definite improvement and made a lot of the sprites feel a bit more….enjoyable? The original Japanese version of Gen 1 Pokémon games had Pokémon sprites that always seem angry or deranged– not sure why– my guess would be that by the time Red and Blue came out here in the US it allowed for more time to polish the original version. There was a two and a half year gap between the release of Red and Green in Japan and Red and Blue in the US. Also, they discussed the upcoming N64DD (which would never come to be) and how one could connect their Game Boy game to the N64 controller to presumably use Pokémon one caught and raised in Red or Blue in Pokémon Stadium. This is definitely for another post, but I didn’t realize how much hype the N64DD got in 1997.

Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue 102: January 1998

Again in this write up in Electronic Gaming Monthly, there is mention of the N64DD as well as a new “Pak” for the N64 controller to allow gamers to send and receive data from Game Boy cartridges. There is not as much coverage here for the Pokémon franchise, but there is a mention of Pocket Monsters Gold and Silver. It makes sense that Nintendo Power would have more coverage, but I’m surprised that EGM did not have more initial coverage. I feel like EGM never really focused on handheld systems back in the day. Not to say that they didn’t cover them at all, but whenever I remember reading EGM it was geared towards PSX and Saturn games of the time period.

GamePro Issue 113: February 1998

GamePro also had a small feature in their February 1998 issue. They had a bit more coverage than EGM, but just like EGM (and Nintendo Power for that matter) it wasn’t too much. I like how they called it Pocket Monster (and not Monsters). I do like how they describe Pokémon as Tamagotchi meets Monster Rancher– although really, is it a good comparison? I feel like at the time there were very little “care/nurturing” features in Pokémon Red and Blue– yes, you leveled and raised your Pokémon, but you did not feed them nor did they need to be disciplined/paid attention to for them to survive. In later Pokémon games, yes– there were definitely Tamagotchi-like features. I think it’s interesting to me that even though they did not have it fully implemented at the time, Nintendo/Game Freak were already conceptualizing how Pokémon would evolve (no pun intended). Also, LOL at the write up for Pokémon Snap: “This should be great for keeping track of high scores.” Ahhh the world before the internet as we know it today.

Nintendo Power Issue 108: May 1998

This was it. This was when Nintendo Power opened the floodgates. They had a several page spread that would explore every facet of the game as well as merchandise, Pokémon TCG, and the TV show. Nintendo Power did a really great job of hyping the franchise and while I don’t remember how I first heard about Pokémon, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was in this very magazine. I’ll provide images of the rest of the write-up as I would like Nintendo Power’s coverage to speak for itself. I don’t want to just regurgitate what they have written, but I do have some commentary. First, I really appreciate how Nintendo Power covered the collecting aspect of the game. I guess we don’t know if this info came from a press kit they were given by Game Freak or if this was a write up done by someone coming across the Pokémon games for the first time, but they’ve done a phenomenal job highlighting the core aspects of the game. Additionally, there is a nice write-up on the importance of gaming with a friend both for battles and for trade evolutions. Nowadays, I trade with myself, but back then as a teenager, I couldn’t afford two Gameboys and two cartridges. I don’t remember trading with friends actually, but I was one of the few friends that played Pokémon so I guess the opportunity did not present itself back then. Finally, the hype around the TCG, TV series, and merchandise is great. I remember when the TV series first aired– it was early in the morning and my friend and I would watch together on the phone before school. We were in high school at the time and would make a list of the “Who’s that Pokémon?” at the end of the show– we were trying to “collect them all” as we watched the show. Anyhow, below you will find images of the entire article below(click on each image to enlarge it):

Nintendo Power Issue 109: June 1998

The write-up for the June 1998 issue of Nintendo Power was short, but sweet– it did reveal another Pokémon adjacent piece of merchandise: the Pokéwalker featuring Pikachu. I remember owning one of these at the time and LOVED being able to take Pikachu with me everywhere I went. This device also was riding the wave that was the Tamagotchi craze the began a year prior in 1997. You can find one on eBay for a hefty sum if you want the English version (average price of $150), but if you’re willing to settle for a Japanese version, you can find them for $50 to $75 used.

Nintendo Power Issue 112: September 1998

In the September 1998 issue of Nintendo Power, we get a short press release-style Pokémon write-up which is quite hilarious (especially so since they called Pokémon Pokéman). If we take it at face value, it seems like a wacky way to introduce the series to the US. If we dig a bit deeper and discover who Gail Tilden is and her role in bringing Pokémon to the West, we realize how much was being worked out behind the scenes of the US Pokémon craze. Polygon did an amazing write-up of this story, but I’ll highlight the main points (sourced from Polygon’s article).

At the time, Nintendo of America was unsure if Pokémon would catch on here in the US as they felt an RPG for Gameboy was more of a Japanese cultural phenomenon. Gail Tilden stated that, “the reason kids like it in Japan is they like RPGs a lot more, it’s on Gameboy, it’s in black and white, very complicated.” Nintendo of America worried that American kids would not have the “attention span for a franchise so labryrinthine.” As NoA and team went back and forth trying to figure out how they could adapt Pokémon to be more appealing for the US market, the Pokémon train was still barreling down the tracks. They considered changing up the graphics, and the character designs to make things “edgier.” As NoA continued their debate, Pokémon was becoming bigger and bigger overseas in Japan and at that point, they couldn’t change the design of the game. Also, in order for the game to have a chance at success here in the US, it was suggested by Nintendo of Japan to simultaneously release the merchandise and TV series along with the game. Hence the media blitz of Pikachu-dressed VW Bugs driving around the nation in the summer of 1998. I really encourage you to check out the above linked Polygon article as they did a wonderful job writing up the whole story.

Nintendo Power Issue 113: October 1998

And here we have it. The first review of Pokémon Red and Blue. To be honest, this review sucked. I’m not talking about the score, I’m talking about the write-up itself. I’m actually quite surprised that this is the review that was printed in Nintendo Power. As we will see below, reviews from other magazines were much more through and less dismissive feeling. I mean COME ON: “Sound: The music is cute but appropriate.” WTF is that? It’s also interesting to see that they framed it as a game for kids which, at the time, makes sense, but yeah. This review did the game no service in selling it to the masses. I also think it’s interesting they used screen grabs from the Gameboy cartridge being playing in a Super Gameboy device for Super Nintendo. Other reviews did this as well. A score of 7.2 is abysmal, but I do think that it deserved a higher score than that– then again, I have the knowledge that the reviewer didn’t have at the time– just how revolutionary Pokémon would be.

GamePro Issue 122: November 1998

GamePro’s review is FAR better than Nintendo Power’s review. It does a good job describing what Pokémon actually is, is fair with its ranking, and even has gameplay tips. The reviewer does make mention of playing the game on a Gameboy Color or with the Super Gameboy to make its graphics more appealing. It’s also not lost on me that the writer discusses the other fads at the time: Tamagotchi, Digimon, and Giga Pets– we were all in to nurturing/taking care of virtual pets in the late 90s. After reading this, I actually WANT to play the game. A score of 4.25/5.0 is actually quite on target for what I’d give it. If we were on a scale of 1-10, I’d give it an 8.5 myself.

Well, there you have it– how the US was told about Pokémon. A few noticeable things: Electronic Gaming Monthly didn’t really seem to care about the franchise at all. I’m wondering what the story was behind that. I mean it was the more “adult” video gaming magazine at the time, but still– they missed out. It’s also interesting to see how Nintendo Power really hyped the game and then totally dumped on it when it came time to review it. It seemed like herculean task to bring Pokémon stateside and I’d think that they person reviewing the game would have been a bit more generous. One thing I didn’t mention is that in the summer of 1998, Nintendo Power had an insert in six of their magazines leading up to the release of Pokémon. It was called Pokémon Power and had a comic, some fun write-ups about the game itself, and a strategy guide (which would eventually get made into a Nintendo Power published guide). I plan on making blog entries about each of these at some point because they are a super rad example of how gaming companies advertised and promoted their products (something we don’t see much of anymore these days). Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this write-up as much as I enjoyed researching/writing it!