Nyc (AP) ?a "Pokemon" has been online almost as long as Attacking young boys have been alive. Among a certain demographic, the fierce little "pocket monsters" generate the form of obsessive fandom available to the largest entertainment icons, whether they are the hottest new toys or dreamiest teen crooners.
The vast "Pokemon" empire is about to get a great deal larger with Sunday's launch of two new video gaming to the handheld Nintendo DS. Simply called "Pokemon Black Version" and "Pokemon White Version," they sell for $35 each.
The "Pokemon" games target catching, battling and trading the a huge selection of colorful characters which are from the same name. As always, both the new games are slightly different in order that players can find one and trade Pokemon characters with others to strive toward collecting all.
The new games add more than 150 creatures to get the total to a lot more than 640, starting from the purple cat creature Purrloin to dinosaur-inspired Haxorus. The latest games let players battle not simply people they understand, much like previous versions, but strangers through random matches with all the DS's Wi-Fi connection.
"Black Version" and "White Version" would be the latest for your kid-centric empire that has managed to outlive video game icons for instance "Guitar Hero" and outsell big shots for instance "Call of Duty." The games are rated "E'' for everybody and have a broad appeal that goes well beyond grade school kids.
"I like the community feel," said Tiffany Stanley, 17, who competes in "Pokemon" tournaments along with her brother, Trey, 11. "The people who play 'Pokemon' would be the nicest and most intelligent people I have ever met."
Playing the game, she added, requires creativity and originality, as well as math and strategy skills to perform well.
The "Pokemon" franchise is the second-biggest computer game property for Nintendo Co. along with the globe, not to near behind the iconic "Mario Bros." games. Worldwide, the action who has sold about 215 million copies, compared with Mario's 250 million, Nintendo says.
But "Pokemon" did so in 20 years. Mario took several years longer.
It will help that the primary system to experience "Pokemon" games is the handheld Nintendo ds lite, earth's best-selling game machine. Through the end of December 2010, Nintendo sold nearly 145 million DS systems in several iterations, compared with 85 million units from the Nintendo wii game console.
Over the years, related "Pokemon" products have popped up, including cartoons, trading cards, comics and toys. The organization that licenses the brand, Pokemon Co. International, is privately operated and won't disclose revenue figures, apart from, in years when there exists a new game, it's inside billions of dollars.
"It's like crack to kids," said Darrin Duber-Smith, professor of selling in the Metropolitan State College of Denver.
Very good of "Pokemon," he added, has spread by word of mouth marketing greater than through traditional marketing. That is section of its genius.
"We employ a strong community of 'Pokemon' fans," said J.C. Smith, consumer marketing director at Pokemon Co. International. These fans can be relied on to spread the word about "Pokemon" on offline playgrounds and also on social networks including Twitter.
"Pokemon" took its come from 1996 from the company called Game Freak ?a a group of guys who wrote fan magazines for games and decided to make their very own, Smith said. The very first game was for your original Nintendo Game Boy, and yes it let players connect to one another simply by using a cable that plugged into their friend's Game Boy. The cartoon series came one year later in Japan, as well as the games launched in 1998 within the U.S. and Europe.
Area of the game's staying power have been which it was built from the start as social. Within this chronilogical age of nonstop interactivity, the games that were typically the most popular have been those that let players interact, whether that's on Facebook playing "FarmVille" or in your own home scheming against a standard enemy on "Call of Duty."
"It's an incredibly addictive game that's approachable by any age," said Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. "It's E-rated fun that's challenging. It's actually a well-constructed game. Hardcore gamers adore it and parents don't mind it."
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