Remember the good old days, back in the late '90s, when the only things that mattered were Lunchables, the new issue of Nintendo Power and beating Pokémon Red? As much as we hate to admit it, those days are long gone. A fan-made ad for the upcoming Pokémon Sun and Moon, however, plays off this nostalgia to create something moving and wonderful.
An emotional "kid at heart" theme comes through in this short video, created on spec by a team of very talented, grown-up Pokémon fans.
"This is an independently produced spec based on the Pokémon franchise, created with nothing but love," director John Wikstrom wrote of the video. "A lot of love. Please support the official releases."
Young Pokémon trainers have evolved into much older ones, who may not have the same metabolisms or amount of free time for Pokémon card battles and endless cans of Surge. Their love for the games, though, remains as strong as ever.
We wouldn't be surprised to see Nintendo go in a similar direction with its marketing campaign for Sun and Moon, which launch next month. In fact, the company produced a similar trailer of its own to announce the games in February. Sun and Moon were revealed as part of Pokémon's big 20th birthday celebrations, making their debuts at the end of a heartwarming anniversary clip.
Although Sun and Moon are the newest games in the 20-year-old franchise, the Nintendo 3DS titles are meant just as much for new fans as us older ones. There are new variations on old-school favorites, and tweaks to the battle system will be best appreciated by anyone who pored over guides and online walkthroughs at the turn of the century.
Pokémon aside, Nintendo is aiming toward an older crowd recently. In yesterday's reveal trailer for its next console, the Nintendo Switch, we noticed that there were few Nintendo newbies afoot. Instead, everyone in the video was older, but no less enamored of the veteran games maker.
