Pokémon Crystal/New Game

The game will ask if you are a boy or a girl, which determines the gender of the player character. This is mainly cosmetic. The player is then asked to set the time of the in game clock. You should probably set this to match your real world time.

Afterwards, Professor Oak introduces himself to the player and briefly explains the setting of the game. The player is then able to introduce themselves in turn by giving a name, either by entering a custom name or by choosing one of 4 presets. Custom names can be up to seven characters (Letters) long. Names can include both upper and lower case letters, as well as a few symbols, though not Arabic numerals.

The player is now able to begin the game in earnest, starting in the room of the player character. At this point the player character can now be moved, and the in game menu can now be accessed. This is a good time to save the game progress.

The room offers a good place to experiment with the game controls. Here are some things one can do to acclimate themselves to the game control scheme here:

• Inspect the radio to listen to a broadcast.
• Inspect the PC to manage item storage and room decorations.
• Inspect the television or bookcase for flavor text.
• Inspect the town map to see the regional map. The name is slightly misleading: This map is a map of the towns in the region, not a detailed map of any specific towns.

In the upper right hand corner of the room is are some stairs. Walk down the stairs to descend to the first floor where the mother of the player character is waiting at the table. Speak to her to learn about Professor Elm, as well as to receive the Pokégear. The Pokégear is essentially a PDA with phone functions, and could be compared to a smartphone from the 2010's or 2020's in terms of in game purpose. Initially the Pokégear functions solely as a mobile phone, though later on additional functions can be earned.

Talk to the other person in the room for some flavor text, and then head out through the red tiles in the southeast corner of the room, leading to New Bark Town.

Questions

An Ericsson T39 mobile phone, released around the same time as Pokémon Crystal. How did the Pokégear differ from common mobile phones of the era?

• In the late 1990's and early 2000's, consumer mobile phones were a new and emerging technology. Does the Pokégear represent a cultural zeitgeist about mobile phones of the time? How does it compare with later developments in mobile phones and smart devices?
• The room of the player features a radio, a television, a desktop computer, and other amenities. This is a fairly accurate depiction of a middle to upper class bedroom of the era. How does it compare to a modern bedroom today? What appliances are still present, and what have been merged into other devices or been eliminated?