Pokemon Cards And Pokemon Trading Card Game

As you walk up to the checkout line at your local grocery store, you notice a display of brightly-colored packs of cards. There are pictures of Japanese cartoon creatures sprayed across the packaging; these are certainly not baseball cards. These particular cards have become increasingly popular in the United States in the last ten years. They are Pokemon cards, the name deriving from the Japanese phrase meaning 'pocket monster.' The Pokemon cards game was initially introduced in Japan in 1995 and Pokemon cards were released in the United States in 1999.

These Pokemon cards are what comprise the Pokemon Trading Card Game. This game is played by two opposing Pokemon Trainers, or the owners of the deck of Pokemon cards, who send their Pokemon into battle against one another. This is in turn to then become a greater Pokemon Trainer and ultimately, a Pokemon Master. A Pokemon is a fictional creature with certain skills, weaknesses and needs. The Pokemon Trainer must use strategy in choosing which Pokemon to send into battle in order to be successful against the opposition and, thereby, evolving their own Pokemon. As a Pokemon evolves, it gains more skills and defenses that can be utilized during future battles.

The Pokemon Trading Card Game is unique as a card game in that a player can trade and rearrange his or her Pokemon cards, allowing each game to be different from the last. The company that manufactures the Pokemon cards, Pokemon USA, Inc., releases four new expansion packs of Pokemon trading cards each year, providing even more opportunity for players to use new strategies and battle unknown Pokemon.

There have been mixed feelings about the effects of the Pokemon Trading Card Game on children. According to the official Pokemon website, it promotes healthy values, including teamwork and decision-making skills. Other benefits that have been credited to the game are its promotion of logical thinking, math and reading skills, and family togetherness.

These positive effects of the card game are dismissed by others who feel that the game is harmful to youth. Certain religious groups have argued Pokemon cards are Satanic in nature due to the Pokemon Trainer's ability to wield unchecked control over his Pokemon, similar to Satan's control over demons. They also contend Pokemon cards promote the idea of evolution as being fact rather than theory.

The popularity of Pokemon cards has opened up other media opportunities for the companies associated with the game. Nintendo has had great success from their Pokemon video games, which have become the second most successful video game series in the world. The cartoon and movies based around Pokemon characters have also done well. There have been ten Pokemon films produced at this point, the last being released in the summer of 2007.

The Pokemon cards are certainly making their mark in the world gaming market. The charming characters and progressive course of play are appealing not only to children but parents also. Pokemon trading cards gamers can attend any number of competitions arranged by the Pokemon Organized Play (POP) network, where they can meet new people and contend against one another either casually or competitively in a public setting.

Surely the Pokemon phenomenon will continue to grow as it has over the last ten years. As the game's catchphrase goes, people "gotta catch'em all," and there is no doubt the great minds behind the Pokemon cards and game will continue to keep the population yearning for more.


Sources:
"Pokemon Center." Pokemon Center. 2007. Pokemon USA, Inc. 24 July 2007. http://www.pokemoncenter.com/.

“Parents Guide." Pokemon. 2007. Nintendo. 26 July 2007. http://www.go-pokemon.com/parents_guide/.

"Pokemon." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 22 July 2007. Wikipedia Foundation, Inc. 23 July 2007 .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokeman.