and if you are very good....

As if the West Side Loft and ABAA book fairs were not reason enough to be in NY this past weekend, it was...as you all surely know...the official US release of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. I have had to admit grudging respect for the Pokemon franchise.

The game is very "cute"...but it lends itself to non-linear play (though the core game plot is very linear). Best of all, in a world of first person shooters and the like, it is a game where the *only* way to win is cooperative play. You *must* trade and and work with friends...

My assistant was rewarded for his exceptional conduct and performance by going to Nintendo World in NY on Sunday...which just happened to be the release date of the newest of the Pokemon video games.

I offer some pictures of the chaos. Please note the interesting placement of the vent on the Piplup inflatable. Also, while I did not include images of it, I have shots of three street scenes showing the line wrapping THREE blocks...and this about an hour *after* it opened. Apparently there were kids/adults there the previous day.

Luckily, my assistant was perfectly happy to wander around the store in a daze...eyes alight...trying different games and looking at everything there was to see. He was even able to pick two different things he could have (in addition to the VERY cool "diamond and pearl" t-shirts that everyone received).