wraggster
March 19th, 2009, 16:55
We are not Pokemon experts here, but we know an important discovery when we spot one. A code for Pokemon Rotom bundled with “Pokemon Platinum” is giant news, yes? Maybe?
***
Tracey John and I strive to understand as many video games that people play as we can. That even includes the sometimes-befuddling “Pokemon” series, which will have a new “Pokemon Platinum” released on Sunday in the United States.
But some time ago, I started dipping into “Pokemon” games and nearly drowning. There are not just so many types of Pokemon, but there are more side-games and sub-games and meta-games than I can comprehend. Stuff about berries and fashion shows and so much else that I’d love to understand if I had the time. Instead, I still can’t remember whether it’s wise or unwise to pit an electric Pokemon against a fire Pokemon. It’s like trying to remember not just that “rock” beats “scissors” but where “potato” and “screwdriver” fit into that.
Today Tracey and I opened our early copes of “Pokemon Platinum” and found the pamphlets shown above, our eyes being caught by the “Pokemon News Flash” alert. Inside the pamphlet is yet another daunting, detailed element of Pokemon lore: in this case detailed instructions about how to transform the Pokemon called Rotom. As if it’s a big deal, the pamphlet indicates: “Rotom changes form in Pokemon Platinum Version!”
Ah, but to make this important transformation occurs, “Platinum” players need to got their DS online, answer some opinion questions (Nintendo helpfully provides the answers) and then do other stuff. And/or you can go to PokemonPlatinum.com/Rotom, which isn’t live yet, and punch in one of five codes. My pamphlet, which seemed designed to turn Rotom into a lawnmower, included the code 7W6O3M5. Tracey’s pamphlet involves turning Rotom into a dishwasher and offers a different code. The pamphlet exhorts players to “talk to your friends to find all 5!”
It’s all overwhelming in its density and oddness, but consistent with the core “Pokemon” design, which seems to have always involved getting one player with the game to somehow engage at least one other player with the game.
Is “Pokemon,” like “Madden,” a series dependent on players who have developed the skills and knowledge to play it from previous editions of the game? Or is it just a cheerful, sweet thing offering us a dazzling number of ways to engage it? We’re intimidated. We cannot lie.
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/03/18/pokemon-platinum-rotom-code-apparently-is-a-big-deal/
***
Tracey John and I strive to understand as many video games that people play as we can. That even includes the sometimes-befuddling “Pokemon” series, which will have a new “Pokemon Platinum” released on Sunday in the United States.
But some time ago, I started dipping into “Pokemon” games and nearly drowning. There are not just so many types of Pokemon, but there are more side-games and sub-games and meta-games than I can comprehend. Stuff about berries and fashion shows and so much else that I’d love to understand if I had the time. Instead, I still can’t remember whether it’s wise or unwise to pit an electric Pokemon against a fire Pokemon. It’s like trying to remember not just that “rock” beats “scissors” but where “potato” and “screwdriver” fit into that.
Today Tracey and I opened our early copes of “Pokemon Platinum” and found the pamphlets shown above, our eyes being caught by the “Pokemon News Flash” alert. Inside the pamphlet is yet another daunting, detailed element of Pokemon lore: in this case detailed instructions about how to transform the Pokemon called Rotom. As if it’s a big deal, the pamphlet indicates: “Rotom changes form in Pokemon Platinum Version!”
Ah, but to make this important transformation occurs, “Platinum” players need to got their DS online, answer some opinion questions (Nintendo helpfully provides the answers) and then do other stuff. And/or you can go to PokemonPlatinum.com/Rotom, which isn’t live yet, and punch in one of five codes. My pamphlet, which seemed designed to turn Rotom into a lawnmower, included the code 7W6O3M5. Tracey’s pamphlet involves turning Rotom into a dishwasher and offers a different code. The pamphlet exhorts players to “talk to your friends to find all 5!”
It’s all overwhelming in its density and oddness, but consistent with the core “Pokemon” design, which seems to have always involved getting one player with the game to somehow engage at least one other player with the game.
Is “Pokemon,” like “Madden,” a series dependent on players who have developed the skills and knowledge to play it from previous editions of the game? Or is it just a cheerful, sweet thing offering us a dazzling number of ways to engage it? We’re intimidated. We cannot lie.
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/03/18/pokemon-platinum-rotom-code-apparently-is-a-big-deal/