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Pokemon Parties
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A Theme Pokemon party celebration is always fun.
History of Pokémon: Pokémon is the name for a worldwide franchise of animated series, movies, anime comics and figurines. In what is somewhat of a reversal of the norm for franchises, things started with a video game, moved to an animated series and led to movies. Unconventional or not, the franchise is well-established now and, with millions in global revenues, shows no sign of stopping.
The video game that started it all was “Pocket Monsters,” released for the Nintendo Game Boy in Japan in 1995. It was a huge seller and spawned a Japanese animated TV series by 1997. In 1998, the series made the leap to North American markets. This, coupled with the Fall release of Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue for the Nintendo Game Boy launched the real, global popularity of the franchise. These games went on to become the all time best selling games for the Nintendo Game Boy.
In 1999, the Pokémon Trading Card Game was also launched and further expanded the Pokémon franchise. To date, this is one of the strongest sectors of all Pokémon products. In the spirit of striking while the iron is hot, a Pokémon movie was released the same year. It was a box office success, bringing in $52 million in its first five days.
In 2000, more video games were added. Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver were strong sellers on the Nintendo Game Boy Color and another block of over 100 TV episodes was ordered. Things were still going strong for Pokémon. With the release of the Game Boy Advance, more video games were needed and the demand was met in 2003 with Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire. The new portable game console, new video game scenario was repeated in 2006 when Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl were released for the Nintendo DS. All the while, the Pokémon animated series has continued to turn out new episodes and solid ratings. To date, an unbelievable 617 episodes have been aired.
The Pokémon brand has come a long way from one humble video game released in Japan in 1995. 12 movies, 600+ TV episodes, 11 video games and 42 different trading card game sets are evidence that the world loves Pokémon. With no signs of a drop in this affection, it appears Pokémon will be a fixture of childhood for some time to come. Enjoy Pokemon parties by planning ahead so during your celebration you are not running around setting up! Do a party walk through the day prior.
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