Pokemon's 20th Anniversary

[Will T.]

Twenty years ago today (2/27), Pokemon Red and Green launched in Japan. There's quite a bit going on all year to celebrate, but today in particular, you can get a free Pokemon poster at Gamestop.

There's an official 20th anniversary website detailing what's going on this year, but here's a brief rundown for convenience:


- Each month, a different mythical Pokemon (i.e. the event-only ones that you can never get because they never do giveaways) is being given away. Mew was given away this month and is already over, but Celebi is next, starting next Tuesday as a wi-fi Mystery Gift. Go to Mystery Gift on the file select menu in-game and choose "Get via Internet" to receive yours. You can get one per save file, meaning if you have multiple games, you can get multiple Celebi. You can also get it, restart your game, transfer it out, and get another one as many times as you like if that's your thing.

- Each month's theme legendary has a ton of merchandise available at Toys R Us and Gamestop during their month, including figurines, plushies, and TCG boxes. They're in extremely short supply, especially the plushies, so get them as soon as they launch at the start of each month if you really want them!

- Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow are available on the 3DS eShop as of today as Virtual Console titles. They cost $10 each. They're identical to the old games, right down to the glitches (including MissingNo. and the Mew glitch), but have local wireless as a replacement for link cables.

- Special-edition New Nintendo 3DS systems are available with faceplates based on the cartridge art from Red and Blue. They come with download codes for both games.

- A special online competition is taking place for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire players, using classic gen 1 battle rules (only the first 149 [because Mewtwo + Mew OP], no items, Final Destination 6v6 singles). Registration is open until March 3. Participating in at least 3 battles will get you a Dragonite mostly identical to the one Lance used in RBY's Elite Four, including knowing the move Barrier, which is otherwise illegal on Dragonite.

- Pokken Tournament, an arcade-style fighting game featuring Pokemon, releases for Wii U on March 19.

- Pokemon Go, an augmented-reality mobile game, releases at a yet-undisclosed date later this year.

- Something big coming this holiday season, which I won't spoil right away - the link tells all.

[John Doe]

20 years eh? So I'm too late to get into it? (JK !)

[Dog]

Always thought it would be a fun mod to write for TF2.
Two players summon 2 other players (who are watching in spectate mode) to the bridge in WarPath where they duke it out!
The winner increases the points of the summoner.
Kinda like PokeTF2!

[John Doe]

So you will have a demo version by next Wednesday ?

[Zork Nemesis]

Hard to believe it's been twenty years. I still have all my games and somehow have enough systems to run them all and put them in a single photograph. So here's a quick retrospective.

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