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Child's game?

pokemasta92

3rd Gen. Enthusiast
322
Posts
10
Years
  • Age 31
  • USA
  • Seen Dec 28, 2021
There is absolutely no such thing as a video game that is immature to play. I don't care if it's rated EC, E, E10+, T, M, or AO, if it's a game you can enjoy it. These are just ratings to tell you what kind of content is in the game, not what kind of game you should always play. For example I'm a 20 year old adult, but does that mean it's only appropriate for me to play M games from now on? Of course not! The Pokémon games are rated E and their target audience is for children, but that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy those games for years to come. It has nothing to do with your maturity level, no worries!
 
483
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Oct 2, 2020
I don't think they were originally intended to be children's games. They just got that reputation early on, and it's stayed with them ever since.

They're an interesting balance as far as games go. The way they're set up, they can be played and enjoyed by children, but they also contain elements that could (and should, and would, if not for the "kid's games" reputation) engage adults. The strategy of team building and movesets is at least as complex as it is in other games that are more readily considered acceptable adult games - Fire Emblem or Tactics Ogre or Super Robot Taisen or any of the rest of the myriad turn-based strategy games.

There are an awful lot of adults who enjoy those games who are missing out on Pokemon because they're under the illusion that they're just "kid's games."
 

Water Gym Leader

Arlyn Aquos
325
Posts
10
Years
You like the game, right? That's your opinion. Other people may have theirs but no one is right or wrong. Your friend can say that its immature to play Pokemon, but then have him look at all the people playing in the tournaments in the senior and master tournaments. Liking Pokemon has nothing to do with your maturity. I'm 18 and I still play Pokemon. Am I immature for playing it? NO! I'm living on my own and going to college. Liking Pokemon doesn't make you immature.
 
10
Posts
10
Years
  • Seen Jul 20, 2016
The games may or may not have been marketed to children, but who cares. That shouldn't keep others from playing them.
 

LyokoGirl5000

Lyoko Princess
426
Posts
14
Years
It's a game for all ages. I've heard my brother playing Halo and such on his Xbox and there's twelve year olds swearing and screaming at each other all the time. Pokemon has easy to understand goals and complex gameplay at the same time. I doubt a twelve year old would understand breeding for IVs, EV training and the Masuda Method as well as an adult.
 

Sydian

fake your death.
33,379
Posts
16
Years
Tell your friend that you're never too old to have fun. People that say those kinds of things generally are way too bland for me to talk to anyway.
 
2,334
Posts
15
Years
  • Age 33
  • Seen Aug 21, 2021
I don't see the correlation between immaturity and child games. Being mature is about knowing when to be serious and knowing when to be silly. It doesn't matter your interests as long as you know what is really important and how to respond depending on the situation.

I suppose your friend would say games like call of duty are mature? With people hurling insults at each other over multiplayer. I can say that everyone I have ever WiFied with in pokemon have been considerate and more mature than many supposed mature people.

As for childish games, when I think of "childish" I think it's something that insults my intelligence or something I can't appreciate as an adult. Pokemon is something I can most definitely appreciate. I love the collecting aspect, forming a team and I'm interested in learning more about evs and IVs now that they are more accessible than ever. Not to mention the storylines are getting increasingly interesting.
 

pompayyy

Forever and Ever
484
Posts
11
Years
Even though many people call Pokemon a "baby's" game, I find it a tad ironic that most people that say this are ten year-olds that play COD, Halo, and Minecraft 24/7. Everyone else just judges all knowledge of it off the (mostly kid oriented) anime. Pokemon is much more complex than they think.
 

EJ Nero

Water forever
66
Posts
10
Years
Meh let him think whatever he wants. What video games you play doesn't judge your maturity level. After all whether it's Pokemon, Final Fantasy, or COD they're all games.

I do however think Pokemon is one of the easier game series to play through. Its definitely kept difficulty to a certain level for younger players. Nevertheless the games are and were intended to be played by all. They attract us when we're young and trap us in for life. :D
 

Meganium

[i]memento mori[/i]
17,226
Posts
13
Years
His opinion is his opinion. I play Pokemon because it's been my life, basically, and I want to show my future children that my childhood was based on Pokemon. Your friend obviously doesn't understand the whole concept of Pokemon, which actually brings friends together.
 
60
Posts
10
Years
I play it and I'm an adult. If playing Pokemon makes you happy, go ahead and play it.

People who think it's for children judge it based off the anime. I don't think the anime is suitable to be a kid's show since it has things like guns; plus Pokedex entries of some Pokemon are enough to frighten small children. I also hear kids as young as 10 play the Call of Duty series which are for adults (I don't play it), but their parents don't care. So why should you let some 'friend' or family member tell you what you can and can't play?
 
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Lucky1Yena

Just some guy
156
Posts
11
Years
If Pokémon is just a kid's game, adults wouldn't play the games too. But they DO play the games.

Heck, I bet even the people up at Nintendo play the games - in fact, they're probably the first people who get to do so, even. And some of them are probably in their 40s, 50s or more.
 

Falsever

Nation Blue
184
Posts
10
Years
I do think the Pokémon is a game for children.
I don't care if my friends say it's a game for children, nothing says it's only for children.
It doesn't make me immature so I keep playing it.
 
200
Posts
11
Years
Yeah I kinda just said whatever and kept playing. I wish I knew more people like you guys though.
 
7
Posts
10
Years
  • Age 32
  • Seen Sep 6, 2013
Honestly, that guy's just dumb. Pokemon isn't immature in the slightest. It's overflowing with personality, creativity and complex gameplay mechanics. Pokemon isn't for kids, ALL video games are for everyone (apart from some of the really messed up ones). The whole REASON rating systems even exist is because kids were playing gory games. The thing is, video games are only targeted at kids mostly because kids are the people with the most time on their hands, and the age group that the developers are most likely to gain the most profit from. That's it. The games themselves are for people who like their specific genres.
 

Synerjee

[font=Itim]Atra du evarinya ono varda.[/font]
2,901
Posts
11
Years
No one should judge another person based on whether or not they like and play Pokemon. Even if they do judge, if your interest is for real, it shouldn't bother you or change your perception towards what you like. You have your opinion on what you like and other people have theirs. What they say is not what you have to conform to, unless that is what you wish.

As so many people have already mentioned, Pokemon has that simplicity that even a child could follow, but also has the more complex gameplay that makes it all the more challenging for adults of any age. Being made so a child is able to play it does not make it entirely a child's game, even though the game is mainly targeted towards kids. There is simply too many concepts that a child would not understand.

I understand how you feel as I am also in a similar situation. My parents dislike me playing and liking Pokemon, saying that it's too childish, I need to grow out of it, etc. etc. Is this going to stop me from liking Pokemon? Take your guess.
 

JorgeAamelo

Reality Bender
9
Posts
10
Years
Although Pokémon is targeted mostly for the young audience, I have to agree with most of the replies on this thread. A game as the style of Pokémon can be enjoyed by those of all ages, and it doesn't make you an immature person and, well, probably it even makes you more mature than some of those who are only focused on the games they call "mature" and aren't probably as fun as the Pokémon Franchise is.

Pokémon is a big universe of all kinds of people, from young people to old people, and that doesn't mean that one for being older doesn't enjoy it as much as the young ones, probably the main game is slightly more easier as an teenager/adult is able to understand the mechanics much easier but for those who like a bigger challenge, as for example, competitive battlers it still beats to be a fun and challenging game.

I have seen a picture that has been crossing the internet of an elder with a Gameboy in his hand playing one of the classic Pokémon games, and that is probably a touching image for those who like the franchise, as well as it has the same meaning: Its not because one is in its way elder days that something as Pokémon can't be enjoyable.

As Sydian said:
Tell your friend that you're never too old to have fun.
 

atomtanned

Delinquent
151
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Oct 17, 2022
Yeah I kinda just said whatever and kept playing. I wish I knew more people like you guys though.

My friends & boyfriend make fun of me for playing too (in a good-natured way, not being mean-spirited at all). But you know what? When I started playing Pokemon way back in the fifth grade, right when it first came out, kids teased me then too, for liking a "nerdy" video game (and it wasn't so good-natured). This was back in the N64 heyday, and so if you weren't playing Goldeneye 007 you were a nerd, haha.

I'm so glad that I didn't let what they said stop me from playing, because I've been playing for almost 15 years now, and I would have missed out on a lot of fun! I also wish I knew more people in real life who played the games, but that's why I come to this forum!
 

Decimosoma

Free to dream, free to smile
268
Posts
10
Years
  • Age 31
  • Seen Feb 13, 2014
If being mature means stop playing something I love I rather stay immature for the rest of my life.
 
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