What Really Grinds My Gears: Genwunners

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Since joining PJN I’ve had all of these mad ideas flowing through my mind, but then a sane, coherent, and utterly ingenious concept reared its ugly head. I’ve thought of a new series so completely logical it’s made my inner psycho shiver with disgust. My idea consists of highlighting the things I dislike in Pokémon. It makes a ridiculous amount of sense; I mean what could possibly go wrong?

Ok seriously this could go either way, and it will no doubt cause some controversy. However, I’d like to point out I do in fact love the franchise with a passion (obviously), and my dislikes (not ‘hating’) will be backed up with solid reasons. The topics I discuss won’t solely be about the games; it will be anything Pokémon. This week keeping with the ‘Gen 1’ theme I will be talking about an infamous group of people within the fandom known as the ‘Genwunners’.

“Biggest trolls in the fandom”

Now I’m not talking about people who just prefer Gen 1 over the others, as they’re great games and there are good reasons as to why people might prefer them. No I’m talking about people who say Gen 1 is the best but slate the rest of the series with little to no reason backing up their opinion. Yes I get that everyone is entitled to an opinion, but when someone is blinded by nostalgia and is defaming a series they supposedly love without any understandable or sincere reason then they’re a Genwunner.

This group of people are never happy and some become the biggest trolls in the fandom (although they’re not real fans if they constantly spurt hatred towards everything new they see in Pokémon). With each new generation they get more tiresome and repetitive, so much so that I’ll list some examples I expect most people have heard and my response to them:

pkmn1

Comment: ‘WTF? An ice cream Pokémon!? They’re really running out of ideas…’ – This is one of the most common jibes I see and it’s been around for a long time (although most now highlight the Vanillite line as their so called ‘evidence’). This comment is usually followed by people claiming how the series has lost originality and that Gen 1 Pokémon are the only good designs.

Response: Ok so you dislike one Pokémon and suddenly it means they’ve run out of ideas and the WHOLE generation sucks? Every generation has the odd weird/lazy design for example Voltorb and Seel. For every ice cream there’s an awesome eagle like Braviary. Besides people like different things, just because you don’t doesn’t mean others don’t either, so get over it.

Comment: ‘WTF? A rubbish bag!? Inanimate objects shouldn’t be Pokémon…’ – Another common complaint is Pokémon based on non living things. Chandelure and Garbordor are two which have garnered a lot of negative attention the past gen; apparently they should all be animals or insects.

Response: Ok explain Magnemite and Geodude to me. You can’t? Well there’s a surprise.

Comment: ‘Pokémon have become too complex’ and ‘Garbordor is such an awful design…’ – Garbordor can be replaced with other Pokémon but he’s been given a lot of hate this past gen. People have also complained about newer Pokémon being too complicated looking and miss the ‘simplicity’ of the original 151.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FopyRHHlt3M

Response: Yes Garbordor looks crap but that’s the actual point. He’s meant to look awful and unappealing because he’s a heap of rubbish. The idea for the design is great for a poison Pokémon because waste can give diseases etc. It’s more imaginative than Muk even if I think Muk looks cooler (in my opinion). Designs should not always be judged on looks alone, look behind them for the real meanings. Sometimes the best and most creative ones are the least appreciated.

As for complexity, surely the added detail makes Pokémon look better if anything? Besides every generation has simple and complex Pokémon. Gen 1 has Pokémon like Venusaur, Machamp and Kangaskhan all of which are very detailed. Yet in Gen 5 we see Pokémon as simple as Beartic, Swanna and Musharna. As I said before, one Pokémon does not represent a generation. Also if Pokémon are ‘meant’ to be based on animals and insects, then surely more complexity would be better seeing as how detailed the real life counterparts are?

Comment: ‘Pokémon is always the same, nothing changes, they’re milking it like COD…’ – This one isn’t exactly a Genwunner problem, but it’s a common complaint I see pop up on gaming sites made by people who are obviously unacquainted with the modern versions of the game. Also it’s not about the actual Pokémon this time so I thought I’d throw it into the mix. The premise of this dig comes from the fact that because Pokémon has maintained its winning formula (which has helped Nintendo sell an approximate 50 bazillion copies of the Pokémon main series), it is therefore not making any changes to it and are just reselling the same game with a new coat of paint.

“Every gaming franchise has a successful formula which they stick to”

Response: Right I’m guessing this has to do with 3 main areas which are: gym/elite 4/champion journey, turn based battling and sprites. First off sprites are no more, so that’s no longer a valid complaint (although now people will say they miss Pokémon’s retro look as it was part of its appeal). Secondly the turn based battling is part of Pokémon’s blood. You cannot change the genre of a main series because it would become a completely different game. Every gaming franchise has a successful formula which they stick to. The reason spin offs exist is so developers can take risks and change things. Anyway the battling has evolved greatly with the introduction of physical/special categories and IVs and EVs.

Finally for the 8 badges-Elite 4-Champion journey, I do think they could shake it up a little, but they can’t really change it too much as the whole point of Pokémon is to become the best trainer the world has ever seen. As for everything else in the main series, it has all evolved a lot but you’d have to play the latest games to see it. The core concepts may be familiar, but changing it too much could make them lose their appeal and make them seem more like spin offs than main entries.

Final Thoughts: There will always be Genwunners no matter how good or different the newer games are. We must just ignore and pity them for not being able to enjoy the awesomeness this franchise still brings. For now however, I’d like to hear from you lot. Do you agree with my responses and what would you say instead? Are there any Genwunners here who would like to counter comment? Please discuss below! 🙂

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382 thoughts on “What Really Grinds My Gears: Genwunners”

    • A series that is believed to be over used with the same things, and have no to little change to the point here some would say its pointless or boring. As such ex. would be Street Fighter which get numerous re-releases and yet is praised for so. Yet Pokemon somehow seems to fit in this description in many eyes, and is even the common target as opposed to other series such as Call of Duty or etc.

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          • Fairy are strong against (offensively) dragon, dark, and fighting. They do half damage to fire, poison, and steel.

            Fairy are weak against (when hit so defensively) poison and steel. Fairy takes half damage from bug, dark, and fighting. They take no damage from dragon.

            I don’t think a fairy dragon would be overpowered, but it would be ironic!

  5. To be honest, I’m not a genwunner but if I make comparison between Seel and Vanilluxe and between Magnemite and Garbodor first ones rocks way harder.

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    • and if I make a comparison between Seel and Zoroark and between Magnemite and Volcarona the second one rocks way harder. these are all random comparisons that don’t prove anything about either generation

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    • As much hate as I will get for this, CoD isn’t all that bad. It has its good games, with MW2 still being my favorite of the buch all togeather with Black Ops 2 right behind it (Wii U version imo is the superior). But its the community that ruins it for me. They constantly keep bashing other series, and the online is so bad until the Wii U came around, I nearly wanted to stop playing all togeather. But like I did with Pokemon, I found a good cluster that was open minded and enjoyed it once more. Hell I got all the trophies in MW2, and all the Medals in Black 2. As said, if you like it, don’t let other jacka**** put you done, stand tall and take it like a man, and show them you care better then them, cause you have something they don’t, the bravery to still enjoy what thye think is a game for kids. And imo this behavior is great for parenting too lol.

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    • And read the comments from the guy: ‘I don’t hate Pokemon, I just hate the people who eat it all up’ >.< He has Pokemon in his name and picture. And from some one else: ' He hates most of the fanbase because of how immature it is'. I swear, I could be angry for no reason, but he literally is asking for it, in my opinion.

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    • Oh dear haha. I’ll admit Pokémon much like many of Nintendo’s other main franchises haven’t changed as much as other game, however he can’t say COD has changed more because that’s just not true. I like COD don’t get me wrong and it has evolved, but more so than Pokémon? I don’t think so.

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  8. Something I love about Pokemon is how people say it’s milked when it’s not if they was really trying to milk it, then it would be like on of those facebook games.

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          • Oh wait, you mean that lame game where you have to pay to continue or wait 40 min to get lives? I got a game like that on my Vita for 3 bucks and has no microtransactions yet, it called Bejeweled, people these days.

          • Bejeweled use to be a great game. But now companies have this idea that people will pour money into a game that only seems like a dollar to play.

            And they do.

          • Indie games are pretty much what the game industry is now atm. IMO some are good (The Mighty No 9, A Hat in Time) and I love to see that. Too bad some big devs today aren’t that good. IMO the only ones I really like are only from SONY and Nintendo.

          • I enjoyed games like Cave Story and Bastion, which were amazing games for being dev’d by a small team (Cave Story was by ONE PERSON). Games from my past, like Oddworld, are also making a comeback as indie games.

            I don’t dislike Indie games as a concept, many of these games bring innovative and fresh styles, artwork, stories, characters, gameplay, and other elements from budding developers. This really gives developers a chance to shine and grow into the bigger industries. It’s pretty apparent that larger industries are pretty limited to what they can do, however. They still make good games, but must appeal to the largest base to succeed.

            For example I recall the creator of Oddworld stating that they have no pressure to make millions of sales to succeed due to being a small company and thus have more freedom to be innovative and appeal to smaller fanbases.

  11. I went to anime club for the first time today ad there are so many pokemon fans there and there are other from people fandoms that I like ( bronies, CLEAN furry, etc ) i finally have friends I can geek out with! Also I’m going to do my first cosplay as Serena !

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  12. Since we’re going to exchange codes when the games release can you guys help me. We’re can I see the 3ds friend code I can’t find mine

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  13. XD Love the Family Guy reference! 😀 Ahh that was a good laugh 😀 Haha I’m not a Genwunner 😀 I like the toxic poop but I LOVE the candle 😀

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  14. This article has summarised pretty much something I always have to end up retyping or explaining to people around me. From now on I’ll just save myself time and link them to this article. Great job Sam!

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  15. I like how complex Pokémon has become, it gives us many great features that Gen I didn’t have. The franchise is building upon what they started with. I’m afraid of not being able to understand Dual-type moves, if that rumor turns out to be true.

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  16. Despite my favorite Pokémon being the first one (guess by my username), I’ve always accepted the new ones with time. I went through a phase in Gen IV when I thought that some of the Pokémon were atrocious (Infernape because it looked to DragonBall Zish, and Probopass because I thought the mustache was lame), but I decided to wait it out and sure enough the designs grew on me. Now I like Infernape and even think Probopass is okay (still least favorite 10, but there’s nobody in my bottom 10 that I dislike, so I like my least favorite if that makes sense… uh… they’re all great is what I’m saying). My brother went through the same phase in Unova, but he grew out of it too. I guess that it’s people’s resilience to change that makes them genwunnerish, but when you accept that change is necessary, you realize that all Pokémon are still Pokémon.

    Concerning the whole 8 badges and E4, I feel like that’s what makes a Pokémon game a Pokémon game. It’s like saying that Final Fantasy games should get rid of Final Boss fights against the main villain and summons (or something like that… yeah, bad example).

    Gen I still has my favorite Pokémon, but that’s for nostalgic purposes and because I loved the anime from when I was a kid. I’ll never say new Gens don’t have a place, as each one was important itself (with IV being my favorite, but that’s a story for another time).

    Sorry for the really long first post. I’ve been lurking around and enjoying this site since about the time that Mewtwo Y was announced and have been waiting for the right time to join. I guess I’m joining now to show that you guys haven’t lost any fans with the server problems-it showed extra dedication to have that temporary Tumblr. Don’t worry about the server issues- better to have them now than on the 12th! Now I just need to decide on an avatar photo…

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    • I too hated the fairy type at first but after I thought a little I said every gen have it’s own unique taste to it like the first gen is the intro and gen 2 the beginning when you face a legend in the end and gen 3 with the storm of the contest,battle tower,etc then gen 4 the method for shiny pokemon,etc going to gen 5 with Pokémon Musical,Dream World,Dream Radar,etc and now ….gen 6 Mega-evo,amie,etc…although we didn’t see all of gen 6
      but you will not know how good these gen until you try it by yourself :p

      sorry If I offend anyone.

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  17. I have aquestion for everybody!! Who has whatsapp!? I want to add friends and talk about pokemon and stuff!! ( if you are the people who thinks someone can do something with your number you also give me other way to add you and talk) sorry if it sound aout of topic

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  21. A bit late to the conversations but for me every gen/game has their ups and downs for me. I started with RBY, but I’d be blind if I were to call it the best gen. It was around the time right before the release of RS, when pokemon started declining in popularity when these “cool”/”popular” kids started bashing people for liking pokemon. The funny thing is that, it is THOSE people who are the genwunners now. These people never even gave any of the newer games a chance because of peer pressure and not affording to look unpopular in school. These are the genwunners, the so-called “trend followers” at the time. I never gave in to peer pressure. I said, “to hell with with them”, I’m gonna play the games I want to and nobody can tell otherwise. Now that these genwunners are in college and suddenly it’s cool to be a nostalgiac…they embrace their ancient past and just bash away at newer gens because it’s the “trendy” thing to do. I’m proud to say that I grew up as a 10-yr old playing RBY, but up until X and Y, Emerald has been by far my most memorable and favorite pokemon game despite it’s flaws.

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  22. I’m one of the few out of my group of friends that adored Pokemon B/W, it got to the point where I didn’t even want to admit that, as everyone around me was bashing gen 5. I loved the pokes, the story, the fresh start thing. My other friends were all like the typical “The Gen 5 pokemon are bad, Gen 1 was better, ‘Why can’t I transfer older gen pokemon to Gen 5 as I don’t like the new ones…ect. It never ends.

    Though one of them did like the story line to gen 5….just not the pokes. Some even complained about the X/Y Pokemon, I think the designs are great. Luckily though I got at least one friend that is just as excited for Gen 6 as me. But its few and far between. You can’t reason with genwunners.

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    • I liked B/W as well. I have nothing against it. In fact, it was probably my favorite generation, but I feel like Gen 6 will make me change my mind.

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    • I think Gen V are one of the best design wise and the fresh start thing was a great idea. But yeah X&Y look incredible, lets just hope the story lives up to everything else we’ve seen and hopefully it’s not too easy.

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  25. My favorite gen is Gen II and I gotta say that my least favorite is Gen V, not because I’m a genwunner but because I did not like it that much compared to all other previous generations. And even if I think gen II is the best generation so far, I have to admit that Gen VI is gonna be better. I’m so looking forward to choose Chespiñata as my travel companion and catch ’em all one more time 😀

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