(Note: I originally published this article on Bits ‘n’ Bytes Gaming on March 10, 2011.)

If you read my article about being a Pokémon Master, you know that I am well-versed in the field of Pocket Monsters. I’ve poured hundreds of hours into each game, catching over 493 monsters, beating thirty-four Gym Leaders, and becoming the Champion of four different regions. I know what I’m talking about when it comes to Pokémon. Therefore, you can take it on good authority when I say that Black and White are by far the best entries in the Pokémon series.

Anyone who immediately brushes these games off as more of the same is sorely mistaken and will be missing out on the biggest leap forward the franchise has taken since it first prompted us to catch ‘em all over fifteen years ago.

So for a long time now I’ve been wanting to get a group of people together to play Pokémon. I’ve missed having a group of people to swap strategies with, discuss different movesets and lineups, and battle with. An informal Facebook and Twitter poll later, and I introduce to you, the PK-Mon League.

(C’mon. You know that title is awesome.)

Taking place on the forums, it’s going to be a way for Pokémon fans to enjoy the finer points of the game with other people who are just as into it. With Black and White a little over a week from release, now is as good a time as any to jump back in!

I want to write about Dragon Quest IX, because Dragon Quest IX is awesome.

I’ve never been super into the Dragon Quest series. I’ve always appreciated it from afar, mostly because Akira Toriyama is my favorite artist and I’ve always loved his character and monster designs. I was always more of a Final Fantasy guy, because I got into Final Fantasy first.

I am going to try, most likely in vain, to use mere mortal words to describe Nintendo’s E3 press conference today.

Ahem.

It was freakin’ awesome.

Okay, so yesterday I downloaded the best game ever to my DSi. Photo Dojo is the raddest thing to ever rad its way out of radtown. Photo Dojo is the simplest of beat-em-ups, but what makes it so great is you play as yourself!

Photo Dojo is available on the DSi shop right now for free, and will go up to 200 DSi points soon, which is still a fantastic bargain. Seriously, go download this right now.

I’m 26 years old. I walk around with a Pokéball clipped to my pocket.

Well, not a Pokéball per se, but a Pokéwalker, the Pokémon-themed pedometer Nintendo has packed in with every copy of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver for the Nintendo DS. You send one of your monsters from your DS game into the Pokéball-shaped device, and as you walk you earn experience points as well as Watts, which you can use to try to find rare Pokémon and items. There are numerous courses you can walk, each one with different Pokémon and items to find.

So Nintendo announced a new handheld today. The world recoiled with shock!

Not really. Nintendo is always releasing a new handheld. Honestly though, they’re really good at making handhelds, so it’s okay.

If you’ve been paying attention to any of the gaming news blogs today, you know that Nintendo announced via their Japanese web site that there’s a new handheld on the way, tentatively titled the Nintendo 3DS. The console is going to use its two screens to create a 3D effect without the use of glasses. It’s going to be an all new line of handhelds, similar to how the Game Boy Advance was the successor to the original Game Boy.

Before I start, I don’t want to hear anyone whining that their favorite game didn’t make the list. If you’re so smart and have such good taste, where’s your blog, huh? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Go back to your Livejournal, junior. The grown-ups are talking.

Anyway, these are 25 games that I feel encapsulate everything that was great about the 2000s (what the hell ARE we calling those years, anyway?). It’s weird, because some of my favorite games are pretty low on the list, or not on the list at all. I tried to be somewhat objective and choose games that brought something new to the table and advanced the medium in some way, not just games that I thought were rad.

These games are pretty rad, though.

Anyway, on with the list. I’m detailing #25 through #11 tonight, with the top ten coming tomorrow. Let me know what you think!