Local children and OU students find a common ground in their appreciation for the Japanese animation.
Pikachu is turning 20.
Popular card and video game Pokémon is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Festivities are set to take place worldwide throughout the year. Nintendo recently released a 70-second commercial honoring the game which will be aired during the Super Bowl. GameStop will be giving away codes each month that earn players “legendary Pokémon” beginning in February.
Locals have the opportunity to play Pokémon and other games like it every Saturday at the Athens Public Library. Anime Card Club is held from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and gives middle school-age children an opportunity to enjoy card and video games with their peers.
“What happens is a mix of socialization and game playing, with games being played ranging from Magic: The Gathering to Yu-Gi-Oh!, with some kids bringing in their handheld gaming consoles and playing those video games together,” Luke Bentley, children’s librarian at the Athens Public Library, said in an email.
Bentley said the club has been in existence for a long time, and it continues to be a place for children to play the games with friends in an informal setting.
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“It was started because there were young people in our community who wanted a place to come together and play these games, and the library is a pretty natural fit,” he said in an email.
While the club is a children’s program, Bentley said they are often accompanied by adult experts who show them the ins and outs of the game, including good game-playing behaviors.
Bentley said he, too, grew up with these popular games, and he thinks the program is still important today.
“What I hope people get from the Card Club is a sense of community. I grew up playing games like this, and sometimes it feels like there aren't many people aside from yourself who play them,” he said in an email. “By hosting the Card Club, the kids know that they aren't alone, and they know how fun it is to play these games.”
Madison Stricklin, a senior studying strategic communication and the president of Japanese Manga, Anime and Gaming Encounters, first took interest in anime when she attended the Anime Card Club for the first time in middle school.
“I took an interest in it because I thought it was fun and everyone was taking part in it growing up,” Stricklin said. “It kind of opened up my nerd-dom.”
She said the anniversary of Pokémon has a significant impact on her and her peers because they have grown up with the game.
“I think it’s a big deal because a lot of us grew up with it,” she said. “The fact that we get to be a part of this is really exciting.”
Jake Lederer, a sophomore studying actuarial sciences, continues to enjoy Pokémon, which he grew to love as a high schooler. He has taken his passion for the game one step further, hosting his own league for competitive Pokémon video gaming.
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“I’m big into the competitive scene,” he said.
He said the longevity of Pokémon is one of the things that makes it most impressive and makes the anniversary so special.
“It’s interesting to see how far the game has come,” he said. “It’s amazing that it’s made it 20 years, and how strong it is, and how much more we’re still getting from it.”
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