Pokemon and You Thread

Decided to let my childhood nerdy-ness out by asking this.

I was a pretty big Pokemon fan, the television show, trading cards, and gameboy games. But I stopped playing after I got Silver because it became repetitive and I couldn't keep track of all the Pokemons... Pokeii... whatever.

Where did you stop being a fan, or why are you still a Pokemon fan today?

PS I always choose grass as starters, their the best.

Edited by: Vcc2cc

Well I am still a fan of the games, but everything else isn't so great.

I never played Pokémon because when it came out I felt "too old" for it (I'm 26 today).
But now that I have a Dingoo - this awesome handheld console that can emulate everything - I've downloaded all the classic retro games to it, including Pokémon. So I'll get around to playing those games soon.

Edited by: Nightshade

Niteshade wrote: But now that I have a Dingoo - this awesome handheld console that can emulate everything - I've downloaded all the classic retro games to it, including Pokémon

Well damn, where can I buy one of those?

Um Niteshade, isnt downloading ROMs of games illegal unless you own an original copy of the game?

I wonder why there is no big mmo about Pokemons, it would beat WoW and others for sure. I played almost all GBA versions, but I'd like to play something with new gameplay mechanics, for example more dynamic fights, not turn-based.

Range_Finder wrote: Isnt downloading ROMs of games illegal unless you own an original copy of the game?

Since the companies that made these old games no longer sell them, and there is no way to actually purchase them anymore, no profit is lost.
Sure, you could go on a scavanger hunt for old consoles and their respective games, but that would only benefit their previous owners (used product), not the company itself.

Now if you download a ROM of a game which could be simply bought from a store (such as a game for the Nintendo DS), it's illegal.

Edited by: macacos2

Isnt downloading ROMs of games illegal unless you own an original copy of the game?

Since the companies that made these old games no longer sell them, and there is no way to actually purchase them anymore, no profit is lost.

If you're in a country that is a member of the Berne Convention, it would still be illegal. Saying it isn't sold anymore is just one of those totems people think works, but would never actually hold up (same with people who host episodes of shows or songs on youtube, and put a fair use notice in the description as if that is actually going to stop the real copyright holder from pulling it down). A copyright being rare to find doesn't grant free passes. Nintendo will also have you believe, if you open the Pokemon Black manual (or any other game), that it is illegal to make back-up/archival copies even if you own the game. Whether or not that is true is more likely to depend on which country you live.

As for Pokemon, I used to be a pretty big fan back in the original days. I never stopped liking Pokemon, but I did stop playing for a few generations as it became harder to keep up with all the new Pokemon and the games were largely unchanged. The recent two series were fun though, especially after having not played for so long (it felt more nostalgic this way).

Cryrid wrote:

Isnt downloading ROMs of games illegal unless you own an original copy of the game?

Since the companies that made these old games no longer sell them, and there is no way to actually purchase them anymore, no profit is lost.

If you're in a country that is a member of the Berne Convention, it would still be illegal.

(members of the berne convention in blue)

Welp, I guess I gotta move to Africa in order to play that game from thirty years ago without being afraid of getting my windows busted open by the British SAS

This would at best affect the people providing the ROMs not the ones playing it. Doesn't gain enough to go for one guy getting a ROM from the net but those offering then in large quantities. If it's legal or not is a different story altogether but in practice I doubt anybody fetching a ROM here and there from the net is going to be hit at all. Not legal thinking but pragmatic thinking. After all it doesn't look to me like these companies do anything to defend their rights. Google around for ROM sites and you drop onto tons of them even long lasting ones. They are not even hiding (easy to find with google) and nothing happens to them.

There's a law in the UK that states if an item is effectively unobtainable, then obtaining an otherwise 'illegal' copy isn't punishable.

Hey, I'm just pointing out that (even in the UK), copyrights still exist until the work enters the public domain. A hard to obtain work may feel abandoned, but it is still the right of someone else to copy and distribute (there's just a higher chance they're not going going to go after you due to its status). Things do get trickier with old games too, especially official Nintendo ones as they are now in the business of rereleasing old titles as well as offering downloadable games for the Wii. Yes, it would be more likely for companies to target the distributors (cutting the head off the snake) and they don't seem to be as aggressive with ROMS as the RIAA/MPAA, but that would not change the legal status.

well cartoon was a big deal for me back in the day after i got into cards i got a lot of them and for most of the time every time i buy more card i get same f*cking cards so i just sold the cards and was left with cartoon after some time it kinda looked like time waste and i never watched pokemon

macacos2 wrote:

Niteshade wrote: But now that I have a Dingoo - this awesome handheld console that can emulate everything - I've downloaded all the classic retro games to it, including Pokémon

Well damn, where can I buy one of those?

Depends where you live. I got mine from coolstuff.se - but that's a Swedish site.
Just google for Dingoo A330 and you should find a retailer in your country.
It looks like a PSP, but is cheaper, have longer battery time and a stronger processor which you can even overclock. And the best thing about it is that you can run Linux on it (the Dingoo-adapted OS is called "Dingux" and is easy to install) - and that basically mean that you can have anything on it that is supported by the Linux operating system: such as tons of different emulators.

I use my Dingoo for playing old retro games, listen to mp3 and even watch TV-series on. It's great!

Range_Finder wrote: Um Niteshade, isnt downloading ROMs of games illegal unless you own an original copy of the game?

There is both a yes and a no answer to that.
First: All roms are under copyright law, yes. But most roms (say, from Playstation 1 and before) are also considered "abandonware" - meaning that no one is going to give a damn if you download them because the companies who made those games have long abandoned them.
Second: If you own the game, you are allowed to have the roms: at least in Sweden were you are allowed to make backup copies of purchased media (as long as you don't share). I quote:
"In some countries, it is legal for an individual to personally make backup copies of a game they own. Individuals may make backup copies for various reasons, perhaps as insurance against losing the game or as redundancy in the event that the original game's medium becomes unreadable. See the section on ROMs and Preservation." - Wikipedia
And third: There have been very few convictions and lawsuits related to ROM trading. Again this has to do with their abandonware status. Game companies today don't care about games they made 20 years ago - because their main concern is the piracy of their present and future products.

So no, you won't get into trouble for downloading ROMS. If you own a huge website that distributes them though, you can get into trouble (but usually not even then.)

Edited by: Nightshade

We are getting off topic with the ROMS...

The games are fun, I just got White.
I don't like the anime, cards, etc.
I haven't played any since Gold, though, so some 200 to over 600 Pokemon was kind of a jump.

I have all the gameboy pokemon games but I haven't played them in a couple of years.

I have:

Pokemon Red
Pokemon Blue
Pokemon Silver
Pokemon Yellow
Pokemon Diamond (I regretfully lost this one, out of a car door a 45mph )
Pokemon Platinum

and i still play them all every now and then, obviously i play platinum the most...
Also i still watch the TV series every now and again, but as a child, pokemon and dragon ball z were my lifeline

Edited by: Smallchange

Loved the cartoons and Pokemon Gold, played sapphire but thats the extent of the games. Oh and the N64 stadium games, they were great!

Wasnt a fan of the series but I liked red back in the day.

I still play but competitively online using pokemon-online (standard 5th gen OU, no ubers). And I occasionally pick up blue to mess around =)

How can playing online be fun with all the poke-sav-ed pokes?

Dingoo's alright (I don't have one), but the Caanoo is great, too. The Caanoo was made by GPH (GamePark Holdings), a company that's made these handheld linux operating devices for some time now. You can develop fairly easily for it - while using the official development method's a bit tough, there have been game engine runtimes that have been ported to it, like BennuGD. There are emulators, applications, and games available for it.

(Picture taken from the TechJournal website).

Edited by: SolarLune

I stopped being a fan because i kind of got a bit old for that kind of thing. i had Pokémon X-D (Line between X and D to prevent it from ending up as a smiley) , Pokémon collesium, pearl and fire red, not to mention the one about pikachu, X-D was best out of them all though, i knew practically every pokemon inside out, upside down and back to front) The old Pokémon looked ok but i've seen the ones for black and white and tbh, there running out of ideas, most of them are almost symetrical to and already existing pokémon

P.S Water is the best starter

Edited by: CountBuffalo

Bufalloomen wrote:
P.S Water is the best starter

NOOOO... fire is the best starter... cuz there aint as many fire pokemon in the game...