The new Pokémon weren’t considered as toyetic or aesthetically pleasing as in previous generations. Generation V was considered to be an easier game than the previous four.

Basically it boiled down to the fact Black and White wasn’t expected to be as liked as the Johto or Sinnoh generations. It was an odd mix of pride and confusion. I would have similar conversations for the next few days with a lot of us who pulled a paycheck from the Pokémon franchise in some way, be it Game Freak, Creatures Inc., or TPC. We chatted for a bit complete with jokes about me being the unwitting recipient of Pokémon furry slash art and fiction but the conversation really revolved around, “ Pokémon Black and White? Really? Not the original Gold and Silver or their remakes? Not Diamond and Pearl? Black and White scored higher? REALLY?” Now there were fifteen, with the newest recipient of this honour being Pokémon Black and White. After all, only fourteen games had ever received a perfect score from Famitsu in the past TWENTY-FIVE years. スコア完全 is basically, “Perfect Score.” This was big. (The other is ルカリオ, which diehard Pokémon fans should instantly recognize and be amused by.) ファミ通 is Famitsu, which is the most popular and respected gaming publication in Japan. アルカード is one of the two most common ways in Japanese that people like to say my name. But then when I shook the grogginess from my brain I realized what was being said.

Of course I was half asleep and my ability to decipher Japanese wasn’t fully turned on, so when some from across the Pacific from within the organization called and exclaimed, “”アルカード! ファミ通! スコア完全!” it didn’t quite translate at first.

I still remember the phone call pretty clearly.

Pokemon black nds