The original Pokémon game came out in the U.S. in 1998. I was 19 at the time, which was apparently a far too cynical time in my life; I saw right though their less-than-subtle marketing campaign. The game tied into the toys and the cartoon with the super catchy song demanding that I catch them all. 19-year-old me thought I was so clever for spotting the overt money-grabbing, cross-promotional juggernaut, and I pretended that it didn’t affect me.
