EXPERT PITCH: As Pikachu turns 30, a WVU gaming professional says Pokémon’s longevity is about characters, not competitors | WVU As we speak

A WVU professional on interactive media says, after 30 years of Pokémon, the franchise is headed in new instructions and shaping a brand new wave of sport designers.
(WVU Photo/Holly Leleux-Thubron)

The Pokémon universe celebrates its thirtieth anniversary on Friday (Feb. 27). According to a West Virginia University professional on sport design and interactive media, over these three many years, the Nintendo franchise has ceaselessly modified collectibles, augmented actuality gaming and online game character improvement.

Heather Cole, educating affiliate professor within the WVU College of Creative Arts and Media School of Art and Design, is out there to debate Pokémon’s roots, its persistence throughout generations of players, the mechanics of its video games and the way it continues to drive innovation within the gaming business.

Quotes:

“Pokémon was born from creator Satoshi Tajiri’s love for bugs. Over the previous 30 years, the franchise has spawned over 100 video games, some so impactful they’ve modified the gaming house ceaselessly. But as somebody who teaches sport design and interactive media to WVU college students — and a lifelong Pokémon fan myself — I imagine the video games have been by no means the purpose. It’s the creatures we care about.

“As a toddler, Tajiri was obsessive about amassing bugs, and his treasured specimens impressed the idea for the creatures that will win over the world. The gaming business, nonetheless, didn’t all the time share his enthusiasm, and Tajiri nearly went bankrupt placing in unpaid hours attempting to get Pokémon off the bottom. But he stored at it, and his perception in his idea evokes sport design college students immediately. Thanks to Tajiri’s relentless efforts, Pokémon was launched for Nintendo Game Boy on Feb. 27, 1996. Later the identical yr, the buying and selling card sport got here out.

“In my youth, I collected all of the Pokémon playing cards, however I nearly by no means performed with them. I simply beloved the creatures. Evoking each nature and magic, Pokémon characterize one man’s obsession, however they’ve kindled obsessions like mine for 2 generations. Their overwhelming enchantment stems not solely from their roots within the animal kingdom, however from their associations with the powerfully mythic parts of earth, water, fireplace and air. They launch off from the actual world into an area of creativeness.

“In the nuts and bolts of its sport mechanics, Pokémon will not be revolutionary. There are video games with ideas and mapping techniques similar to Pokémon together with Digimon and Ingress. Those video games, nonetheless, have by no means impressed comparable fandom. That’s as a result of folks don’t connect with them with the depth that the Pokémon characters encourage.

“Many of the scholars in my sport design lessons at WVU love Pokémon as a lot as I do. It’s curious — after I be taught considered one of my college students is into Pokémon, I normally additionally discover that the video games they design concentrate on robust character design and improvement. It’s my duty to make sure that college students transcend the video games they know and love, however tapping into the shared appreciation of amassing fantastical Pokémon is a superb place for a brand new technology of designers to begin studying sport mechanics. And it’s a gateway that leads followers to the worlds of anime and manga.

“February 2026 isn’t just the 30th anniversary of Tajiri’s achievement. It also marks the release of Pokopia, a brand-new foray for Pokémon into non-competition-based lifestyle simulation games, similar to The Sims. Pokopia demonstrates that the universe that started with Game Boy, then changed card games and collectibles forever before pioneering popular immersive augmented reality gameplay, continues to be relevant and to evolve. There are over 1,000 Pokémon now, and people still want more.” — Heather Cole, educating affiliate professor for sport design and interactive media, WVU College of Creative Arts and Media

West Virginia University specialists can present commentary, insights and opinions on numerous information subjects. Search for an professional by identify, title, space of experience or school/faculty/division within the Experts Database at WVUToday.

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mm/2/24/26

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