When I first heard that the new iterations of Pokemon Gold and Silver were going to come with a pedometer, it brought back memories of a miniature Game & Watch style Pokemon game called Pokemon Pikachu, which was essentially a pedometer that built up “watts”, which could be used to buy items in the original Gold and Silver games. There was also a stand alone version which had no interaction with the Gameboy games at all.

Now, at the time, it had to be purchased separately, and while I had one of the original units, I never knew anyone that had the later ones, and the only feature that you could use between units was to transfer watts. If this proto-Pokewalker actually came with Gold and Silver like the Pokewalkers did, then things might have been a bit different. For a while in the mid 90′s, things like Pokemon Pikachu – whether it be Tomagochis or Digimon or whatever -were a lingering fad, but one that never really took off. That’s why I thought it initially odd that Nintendo would attempt to revisit something that never had much popularity. Does anyone ever actually remember linking with random people like the advertisements used to claim?

Turns out that despite my initial concerns, it seems to have been a pretty good idea…

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My wife plays video games.

I like to think my gentle tutelage over the years that has led her to this, but I will not be so presumptuous as to take all the credit.

That being said, like any gamer, there are games she likes, and games she doesn’t like.  She loves puzzle games, but I don’t think I could get her to play an FPS even with bribery.  What she loves more than anything (I think) are games that we can play together.  I love them, too.  It’s great to be able to sit next to your loved ones and work through a game that you both enjoy, together.

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