I think pong was really trying to capture the essence of american nationalism in their game by linking a simple coding project to the sporting community. I think competition in games has been hijacked by people who don't care about the substance of the game nor the other players involved, rather their own egos. Pong is about winning. It's not about having fun. It's not about honing your skills. The chemical feedback players receive when playing this game is directly tied to the number on their side of the screen. In this way, it's not unlike gambling. I think have a competitive platform such as pong be controlled by two dials is a recipe for disaster. Pong does not accommodate accessibility control options for players who do not want to use a stupid dial. I think Pong really captures the american spirit: a lack of accessibility, an overflow of nationalistic tendencies, obsession over competition with no tangible rewards, and a system of scoring reminiscent of the consumerist and materialistic culture that I despise with every fiber of my being.

A step in the right direction but clearly shows its ugliness as a poorly looking tech demo. Filling dex entries became TEDIOUS as hell and the battle system is straight up inferior to the main series.

The gameplay loop in this game was hypnotic for the first few areas. And when you got access to Basculegion, Sneasler, and Braviary, it felt great to find all of the new stuff in older areas. I remember the excitement I felt the first time I found the alpha Infernape on the island in the first area. But that excitement wanes incredibly quickly the more you progress. I soon wasn't getting the same rush after encountering a new species, alpha, or even shiny pokemon. My only goal left was to finish filling in the entries - and that sucks! It's boring as hell and made me drop the game after I beat Volo. I never even got to catch Arceus. The new battle system is not sustainable enough on its own to keep me playing. Pokemon Legends: Arceus lost its luster. Its replay value is way less prominent because team building is not nearly as important as in the main series games. It had high highs but I don't see myself coming back for a very long time. I am excited to see this formula be adapted for Scarlet and Violet, as I think they will fare much better. I said the same thing with Let's Go that I'll say here: there is no reason to remove abilities from the game. The only upside was that I used Rotom-Fan on my team without feeling guilty!