I loved the first two of the series of Pokemon. They were just good fun handheld RPGs with a good concept. Then came the rabid merchandising franchise.
you bring up an interesting thought regarding the merchandising aspect...its interesting how popular pokemon is. its relatively new, and pikachu & company can be seen on about everything from playing cards & baseball hats, to t-shirts, bubble gum and napkins,.....yet,.you take final fantasy which has been around twice as long and has spawned double the games,..and its nowhere to be found, save for a couple of plastic 3 inch figures sold at gamestop, perhaps.
dont get me wrong, i dont want final fantasy to be over-exploited,.then it would just wither away and dry up in the mainstream storm,..but it would be nice to see it marketed on more items.
My little brother's playing my old Pokemon game on my mom's GamboyColor now, aP
your mom has a gameboy color?..sweetness!,..but say,..with mother's day fast approaching, a nintendo ds or gba may make a great replacement for her.