>>12

i think a good example of how some games feel intrinsically tied to the DS, and overall handheld experience, is pokémon. i feel like the reason why i can never get into pokémon is largely because i never got into it during the time the culture surrounding handheld gaming was still alive, it feels less like im supposed to enjoy it as an RPG and more like im supposed to enjoy it as a social experience, where battling and trading with my friends and classmates is supposed to be the driving force behind finishing the story, training my pokémon, and experiencing the post game content beyond that. that franchise feels like its tied to that experience.

even though a lot of the feeling of Pokemon is definitely in the trading, it is impressive just how little trading anyone I know actually did until I was in college since it was rare that we'd be able to meet to do it outside school
in the GB/GBA days, no one had the cables
in the DS days... I mostly remember playing Mario Kart on the bus rather than battling or trading in Pokemon
when I was at university around when the 3DS was out, I did a bunch of trading and shit then
but I'd started with Pokemon Yellow and it was years before I'd ever been able to link with anyone
and most people I knew in uni had similar experiences, Pokemon was mostly a single-player game for their lives until then