Why do some people think pokemon is childish?

[Quixote]

Because of the information you pull from the ads. They rarely show Pokemon ads for the games and even then, you can't really pull a lot of information from it.

They show the anime ads a lot more and usually makes it a lot more obvious that it is aimed for kids. So all things equal, people will take what they see from the anime ads, and apply it to every other aspect of the franchise.

 

[CliveKoopa]

Because of the information you pull from the ads. They rarely show Pokemon ads for the games and even then, you can't really pull a lot of information from it.

They show the anime ads a lot more and usually makes it a lot more obvious that it is aimed for kids. So all things equal, people will take what they see from the anime ads, and apply it to every other aspect of the franchise.

Exactly and it is this kind of attitude what really annoys me. Non-pokemon fans such as a lot of older people see a few anime episodes or just adverts and think the whole franchise is babyish.

 

[Bethanie]

I think it's mostly the anime. No offence to anyone who likes it, I just think it's a bit cheesy (Again, sorry. But I find the manga better :p)

 

[MiTjA]

One word:
Anime.


And then after that, because the games are developed to be playable by every kind of player. Which most people assume means it has no deeper content than an exclusively childrens game.

 

[Flameheart7]

In my opinion, it's the show that gives Pokemon a childish aspect. Ash and co. get too excited over little things, and everyone is always talking about friendship >.<

Talking about something over and over makes it annoying, so that's why I don't watch the Anime.

 

[SolarAbusoru]

I don't get why myself, I mean it does have that extra stuff such as EV's, IV's...
but the most important thing, Pitting supernatural creatures and eldritch abominations that can control the elements and reality itself against each other in battles for money and fame, yeah i still dunno why people see it as kiddy.

 

[Pokepawnd]

Maybe because they think it is one of a kid's show and that it is a cartoon making them realize that it was so childish to play Pokemon.

 

[DeborahAngel]

[FONT=&quot]I love to watch childish programs and it outlines my childhood from 10-14 when everyone liked it, not that everyone carried on liking it like I did. [/FONT]

 

[Nolafus]

People just think it's childish because they grew up with the game. Right now in today's society people often relate maturity to violence. Pokemon is designed for people for all ages. There's the storyline for kids and strategy for adults. So the game developers didn't put a lot of violence into the games to scare off the little kids and their parents. However, because kids are sheltered from violence they think the more violence, the more grown up they are aka. maturity. Teenagers want to grow up and prove they aren't childish so they play C.O.D. and modern Warfare so they feel more grown up and to explore this new violent world where pokemon soon becomes a distant memory of their childhood. Later, some people might go back and look at pokemon again. Some people see the strategy and depth while others see the non-violence and depict it as a children's game. As proof of this psycological change take me for example. I don't play C.O.D., cuss every other word, and talk about how "bangin" this person is or how much I'd like to "tap that". Since I don't talk like that and talk with actual word with meaning I have been demoted to being "childish" and "innocent" by my high school peers. Thats why people say it's childish. It's not full of cuss words, blood, and basically everything we've been protected by when we were kids.

 

[supersamurott521]

I believe that most people just see the show, and see how immature that is(don't even try to argue that, it is), so they associate that with the entire pokemon franchise. That notion also spreads through to groups. Barely anyone who doesn't play knows about "stats" and stuff like that.

 

[Brendino]

I assume that it has a lot to do with the franchise coming into popularity back in the late 90's, and most of the people that were playing then that grew out of it are in their late teens or 20's even. They look back and remember playing it as a kid, so they might just brush it off as being childish without realising how in-depth some parts of the game can get.

When you look at the storylines of some of the games, though, you can tell that they were made with the younger generations in mind. While it would be nice to see the games grow in maturity along with the people that are playing it, the reality is the series would probably fail, because it wouldn't be as popular with younger people, especially if the game ratings were any higher than the A/E/G/3 that they are now.

 

[Tetrakeet]

Most people that I have heard this from have witnessed the anime- most notable how Pokemon talk by saying their names. This seems to be one of the biggest reasons I have heard Pokemon being called "childish". Pokemon has fairly deep mechanics and strategy if one looks past the surface as well.

I think peer pressure and overall stigma of the name can cause previous fans to shun it as well.

One friend I have does call it childish, and says he's "been there done that", since he finished the first two games and "grew out" of it.

 

[Pokemon_Trainer_Nick]

I don't know. I was talking about Pokemon, and i'm a preteen, but my mom said "Isn't Pokemon for little kids?"
I said "No, why do you think that?"
And she said "Well, I've heard of 7 or 8 year olds having Pokemon birthday parties and stuff"
Honestly, Sometimes I dont know about parents...

 

[Bobina30]

People are never too old to play Pokemon.
Pokemon will always be awesome ;)

 

[Tetrakeet]

I agree! We are NEVER too old to have fun! By the way, that's a beautiful Gardevoir sig Bobina. ^^

 

[Philogosten]

Why the game is called childish is that you are unable to do anything that is not 100% kid friendly. You can not make ANY real choices about your character besides their name and gender. Which is my problem with the pokemon games. I love the concept of a huge roster of monsters to capture and train and all that. However as someone who hates the cliche hero type and prefers the darker side of grey morally and ACTUAL CONTROL OVER MY CHARACTER, I am unable to keep interested in any pokemon game for longer than a day or two before I get tired of being railroaded into being a character whose choices I do not approve of and who forces me to run stupid errands that I would not ever want to do like get back some little girls pokemon. Also I really do not like having to play as a kid since I am in my 20s (let us pick our characters age) and I am not a fan of the fact that they always have terrible character design for the playable character. I would prefer a customization option even one with as little options as the yu gi oh 2011 ds game. at least that lets me pick my hair style and color as well as my clothes and clothes color. Also I get annoyed that their is no replay value story wise. They should have multiple starts like you can either be a normal trainer with a normal start or another option where your character has always been into pyschic and ghost and dark pokemon so you get to pick one of those 3 instead of the standard. and heck maybe even a specialty mode where your background is that as a child you met a Darkrai and you became friends and when you got older you set out on the journey with him and then you get no pokeballs and cant catch any pokemon, you can only use your darkrai who instead of being in a pokeball stays near you like ash's pikachu Basically I love the base idea of pokemon but it is just so geared towards kids that it makes it impossible for me to stay interested in it.

Also some of the pokemon just look so silly that it makes it impossible to take the game seriously...I really want a version of pokemon geared towards adults.

 

[Oryx]

Hey, please don't revive threads this old. If you would like to discuss more adult changes to the game that would belong in a new thread in Pokemon Gaming Central. Thanks! :)