The ButcherShop: #8

The idea of knowing your destiny is scary, but it can also be exciting at the same time. This concept still baffles me, but let me try to explain it in terms of...pokemon. Before that though, i'll explain how this is related to SH5. This is my reasoning of why Billy knows his destiny, but doesn't feel the urge to change it. You'll see what I mean.

Okay, anybody who's familiar with Pokemon's multi-billion dollar franchise can attest to one thing: it's formulaic. Since the first season, Pokemon has been a smash hit with adults and children alike. (Who hasn't watched pokemon in their elementary school days?) The game concept was original when it started out, a bunch of creatures that had special powers and humans could catch/train/ eat them. (I've always wondered how Brock makes his "food".) And poof, pokemon yellow/red/blue was born. You played as a guy, catching pokemon and defeating gym leaders who awarded you with badges. Anyway, after the first 150 pokemon were released and it;s popularity started to decrease, nintendo was not sure how to prolong "pokemon fever".

The most obvious conclusion any of us would make is "make something better, something original". But, defying all logic, Nintendo produces pokemon "gold/ silver". So we've upgraded from primary colors to gemstones, but what about actual gameplay? Other than some graphical advances, and 16-bit music, the underlying idea remained untouched.

The player wakes up, his mom greets him downstairs and tells him that the prof at the lab wants to see him, and he picks a starting pokemon. He then bumps into a snobby kid who claims himself your rival and battles you. (This entire sequence remained wholly untouched.) Then you travel to towns and battle 8 gym leaders like before. Sure, they added some extra features, and made up 150+ new pokemon for silver and gold, but even the puzzles in the dungeons were almost identical! If the player had played red or blue or yellow, he/she would know exactly what to do.

AND YET PPL STILL PLAY. Well, people like me.

Nintendo just keeps them coming. After silver and gold, they made a remake: crystal version (which is essentially the exact same thing except with -arguably- better graphics and some new features such as choosing your gender instead of being a boy by default.) When people got bored of that, they drew up another 150 new pokemon and created ruby and sapphire version. Then, again, they made a remake: emerald version (which is, again, the exact same thing).

Then, guess what? That got stale so they released a new batch (150+) of pokemon (including a "god") and called it diamond/ pearl version. Again, updated graphics, but still the whole wake up, talk to mom, get starter, bump into self-proclaimed rival, run errands, defeat 8 gym leaders, etc. (If you can't guess what i'm about to say next, you haven't been paying attention) THEY MAKE A REMAKE: platinum version.

So, that got stale too, and they made ANOTHER (150+) pokemon and released pokemon black and white.
I am currently waiting for a remake. Probably called pokemon grey, or something. The point is, I AM TOTALLY EXCITED FOR THIS. Pokemon has bred generations of players. So why exactly am I excited? I have no idea whatsoever. I can tell you almost frame by frame what's going to happen yet i still want to play.

Maybe, this is why Billy is willing to climb into airplanes he knows will crash.

My in game character's destiny was predestined back in the 90s when pokemon first came out, yet I still want to wake up, talk to mom, get starter... willing to buy the 3DS in wait for the remake of black and white. My friends and I all agree that the new pokemon are disturbingly ugly and unoriginal, yet we still play.

Maybe i'm just messed up (along with millions of other ppl out there), but then, so is Billy. I firmly believe that although he travels back in time to scenes he's been in over and over again, something is always slightly differemt. There is no possible way for Billy to stand in EXACTLY the same spot, or say something with EXACTLY the same amount of emotion. Just as no two pokemon games are completely identical.