Thread: The best age for Player Characters?

lol, a lot of people care for mid-teens

No matter what older fans think, the target audience for Pokemon are young children, 5-12ish. It makes sense that the player characters are 10-12. That's the way I prefer it, really, and I'm glad B2W2 went back to younger protagonists. I loved Hilbert, but really, if you're 14-16, why didn't you start your journey 4-6 years ago? D:

Originally Posted by FairyRed

No matter what older fans think, the target audience for Pokemon are young children, 5-12ish. It makes sense that the player characters are 10-12. That's the way I prefer it, really, and I'm glad B2W2 went back to younger protagonists. I loved Hilbert, but really, if you're 14-16, why didn't you start your journey 4-6 years ago? D:

Because children apparently won't play the games if the protagonists are older?

Mid-teen, in my opinion. Maybe early-teen depending on the setting. Leaving home at 16/17 is pretty common where I live so it seems like a reasonable time for someone to leave off on their adventure.

i think mid teen to late teen would be the best, it would just fit better in the game. But i dont mind being 10 again ;D

I gotta say B/W did it right. It is old enough to explain the whole, "Bye honey, good luck on your Region-wide trip ^_^.", But young enough for the target audience.

Originally Posted by Ghetsis-Dennis

What about Toon Link, the Ice Climbers, Mega Man, and the Mother characters? They're young yet they save the day.

Mega man is a robot.

Originally Posted by Pikamastr8

Originally Posted by Ghetsis-Dennis

What about Toon Link, the Ice Climbers, Mega Man, and the Mother characters? They're young yet they save the day.

Mega man is a robot.

But he has the body of an 8/10-year-old.

Originally Posted by Saiga

Originally Posted by FairyRed

No matter what older fans think, the target audience for Pokemon are young children, 5-12ish. It makes sense that the player characters are 10-12. That's the way I prefer it, really, and I'm glad B2W2 went back to younger protagonists. I loved Hilbert, but really, if you're 14-16, why didn't you start your journey 4-6 years ago? D:

Because children apparently won't play the games if the protagonists are older?

That's not what I said. I mean that kids would relate easier to players their age. At least I did.

Originally Posted by FairyRed

Originally Posted by Saiga

Originally Posted by FairyRed

No matter what older fans think, the target audience for Pokemon are young children, 5-12ish. It makes sense that the player characters are 10-12. That's the way I prefer it, really, and I'm glad B2W2 went back to younger protagonists. I loved Hilbert, but really, if you're 14-16, why didn't you start your journey 4-6 years ago? D:

Because children apparently won't play the games if the protagonists are older?

That's not what I said. I mean that kids would relate easier to players their age. At least I did.

The fact that the main, not only, target audience for the games is children isn't a very good reason for the player characters to remain young, because there are plenty of franchises successful with kids that have older protagonists (like Dragon Ball Z or Naruto). Mid teenagers are still young enough to relate to children while also having a multi-demographic appeal for the older fans, which GF want to target as well.

I like the players age being ten. Any older and they lose their innocence and obtain a more complex idea of right and wrong.

I think the child's age with the equivalently implied views and values are perfect for the challenges of the Pokemon world.

I don't care about the character's age, but I do believe 10 is too early. Coming of age and maturing in reality usually happens to everyone at about 13-16. I think it would make more sense if the player character went on a life fulfilling journey at that age.

But the series is aimed at younger children, and so the character's naturally fit that age.

I would like 17+ but 16 works I think because it makes more sense why you can leave away from your family.

I don't know but it makes more sense.

Literally the only reason I bought Black was to replay the same game, with prettier graphics, as an older character.

I played Red when I was 6, in '96. Do the math.
They drew quite a few of my friends in as well with this tactic (the fact we were bored college students who all wanted to be done probably helped too). I haven't had as much fun with any of the generations before this, because for the first time I could actually experience playing near other people. I could sit on campus, waiting for class to start, and I would not only have at least 1 or 2 people on my cgear, I would usually have 6 or 7 at any given time. When I went in dorms and walked through a hall, I could pass by a dozen or so people playing it with the c-gear on. It was fun to figure out how long they had been playing for, and how far along in the game they were, and eventually trade and batlle with some of them. And in my now-16 years of playing pokemon, it was the first time I was able to really interact with other players.

(Mind you, I went to a very big school and this was within the first month or two of it's release)

That's my opinion...

Red/Leaf: 10-12. Wasn't Red's age of 11 confirmed?
Ethan/Lyra/Kris: 13-14. In GSC, 10-12. In HGSS, 13-14.
Brendan/May: 15-16. I guess Brendan is younger than May, but I chose this age for reasons.
Lucas/Dawn: 13-14. Just makes sense. A lot of sense.
Hilbert/Hilda: 17-19. I guess N is 18, and so is Hilbert/Hilda.
Kyouhei/Mei: 13-14. They definetly look younger than Hilbert or Hilda.