So, I was very young. I had the exact game identified in another thread, but it was actually a Hot Wheels game of all things. There was a time when I just knew video games as an extension of properties I already loved, so licensed games were my life.
That’s what got me to OWN my first system ever. What got me to LOVE it and appreciate video games as a whole was this gem right here:
I understand now that it’s off putting for long time fans how this game FORCES its generation and world on you. I get that. But, as a first game?! Holy moly, it was seven worlds beyond anything and everything I had been playing until then. The time you could spend in this world was truly special, and I was lonely around the time, so this game kept me company a lot.
Pokémon Black taught me what video games are, beyond just being interactive recreations of movies and shows I loved. It showed me how you can create an original world, characters, and how gameplay can change all that. It showed me the magic of online connectivity, getting me to beg my parents for some wi-fi dongle that I could use to connect my DS to the internet.
I have vivid memories of cramming my DS next to this tiny dongle connected to our PC that still ran XP (this is 2012. Parents, what the heck?), connecting online for the first time, and trading with a guy online. And I got an Arcanine from China. Somebody out there, a real person, across the entire planet, just sent me their Pokémon and I sent them mine.
My life was changed forever. It’s funny how a piece of media can do that if it’s profound enough.