{"id":21891,"date":"2026-02-06T14:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T13:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/06\/christian-pastors-declared-pikachu-to-be-a-demon-how-pokemon-went-from-moral-panic-to-unifying-global-hit\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T14:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T13:37:15","slug":"christian-pastors-declared-pikachu-to-be-a-demon-how-pokemon-went-from-moral-panic-to-unifying-global-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/06\/christian-pastors-declared-pikachu-to-be-a-demon-how-pokemon-went-from-moral-panic-to-unifying-global-hit\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Christian pastors declared Pikachu to be a demon\u2019: how Pok\u00e9mon went from moral panic to unifying global hit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nintendo\u2019s monster-collecting franchise was pilloried as a \u2018pestilential Ponzi scheme\u2019 in the 90s. But as its celebrates its 30th birthday, it now stands as a powerful example of video games\u2019 ability to connect people<\/p>\n

When I was 11, it was my dream to compete in the Pok\u00e9mon World Championships, held in Sydney in 2000. I\u2019d come across it in a magazine, and then earnestly set about training teams of creatures, transferring them between my Pok\u00e9mon Red Game Boy cartridge and the 3D arenas of Pok\u00e9mon Stadium on the Nintendo 64. I never made it as a player but I did finally achieve this dream on my 26th birthday, when I went to Washington DC to cover the world championships as a journalist. I was deeply moved. Presided over by a giant inflatable Pikachu hanging from the ceiling, the competitors and spectators were united in an unselfconscious love for these games, with their colourful menageries and heartfelt messaging about trust, friendship and hard work.<\/p>\n

It is emotional to see the winners lift\u00a0their trophies after a tense final round of battles, as overwhelmed by their success as any sportsperson. But it\u2019s the pride that the smaller competitors\u2019 parents show in their mini champions that really gets to me. During the first wave of Pok\u00e9mania in the late 90s, Pok\u00e9mon was viewed with suspicion by most adults. Now that the\u00a0first generation of Pok\u00e9maniacs have grown\u00a0up, even becoming parents\u00a0ourselves, we see it for what it\u00a0is: an imaginative, challenging and really rather wholesome series of games that\u00a0rewards every hour that children devote to it.<\/p>\n

Continue reading…<\/a>
\nNintendo\u2019s monster-collecting franchise was pilloried as a \u2018pestilential Ponzi scheme\u2019 in the 90s. But as its celebrates its 30th birthday, it now stands as a powerful example of video games\u2019 ability to connect people
\nWhen I was 11, it was my dream to compete in the Pok\u00e9mon World Championships, held in Sydney in 2000. I\u2019d come across it in a magazine, and then earnestly set about training teams of creatures, transferring them between my Pok\u00e9mon Red Game Boy cartridge and the 3D arenas of Pok\u00e9mon Stadium on the Nintendo 64. I never made it as a player but I did finally achieve this dream on my 26th birthday, when I went to Washington DC to cover the world championships as a journalist. I was deeply moved. Presided over by a giant inflatable Pikachu hanging from the ceiling, the competitors and spectators were united in an unselfconscious love for these games, with their colourful menageries and heartfelt messaging about trust, friendship and hard work.
\nIt is emotional to see the winners lift\u00a0their trophies after a tense final round of battles, as overwhelmed by their success as any sportsperson. But it\u2019s the pride that the smaller competitors\u2019 parents show in their mini champions that really gets to me. During the first wave of Pok\u00e9mania in the late 90s, Pok\u00e9mon was viewed with suspicion by most adults. Now that the\u00a0first generation of Pok\u00e9maniacs have grown\u00a0up, even becoming parents\u00a0ourselves, we see it for what it\u00a0is: an imaginative, challenging and really rather wholesome series of games that\u00a0rewards every hour that children devote to it. Continue reading…Technology | The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nintendo\u2019s monster-collecting franchise was pilloried as a \u2018pestilential Ponzi scheme\u2019 in the 90s. But as its celebrates its 30th birthday, it now stands as a powerful example of video games\u2019 ability to connect people When I was 11, it was my dream to compete in the Pok\u00e9mon World Championships, held in Sydney in 2000. I\u2019d …<\/p>\n

\u2018Christian pastors declared Pikachu to be a demon\u2019: how Pok\u00e9mon went from moral panic to unifying global hit<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":21892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21891"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}