The folks over at Sprite Stitch have posted yet another Pokémon creation. This time around, dragonfoxmem, a SS forum member crafted a series of Eevee evolution cross stitches. Check out Sprite Stitch blog for more awesome creations.

The dad over at Lunch Bag Art makes a new lunch bag drawing each day for his kids. Today’s character happens to be a certain Fire-type starter Pokémon. Check out all of his work at at the Lunch Bag Art site!

Reason Online

“This Time cover story breathlessly warns that children are printing counterfeit cards, cheating friends and classmates, and even stabbing one another over Pokemon trading disputes,” Reason Online says about the November, 1999 Time story.

Time’s article goes as far as to say, “The ease with which [children] slip into cunning and thuggery can stun a mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer.”

However, Reason Online (as their name implies) takes a more reasonable look at the “Pokéocracy”, stating that the magazine never actually presents any substantiating data for this horrible fad that is ruining America’s youth. RO even mentions a BBC story done on Pokémon during the U.K. Poke-craze that explains how Pokémon could teach children economic lessons such as supply and demand, exchange rates and bubble bursting (No, they don’t mean the Water-type move).

I remember picking up this copy of Time when I was a 10-year-old waiting in the doctor’s office. I’m pretty sure the entire article was crafted solely to capitalize on the first wave of Poké-fever in the U.S. and maybe get a few people to pay attention to Time again.

[Reason Online - Top 10 Most Absurd Time Covers ] [Time - Beware the Poke Mania ]

Our friends over at Sprite Stitch just posted this interesting cross stitch cross over of a pokémon trainer running into a wild Yoshi.  If you are interested in making one yourself, check out the link below for the pattern!

[Sprite Stitch - Yoshimon]

Some of the site’s other designs are a zombie pikachu, an “Eat, Sleep, Breathe Video Games” menu screen from VG Cats and a rather vulgar Professor Oak shirt also from VG Cats.

[Shark Robot T-shirts]

Thanks to Jack for the tip!

Obviously, anyone who reads this site would make one of Japan’s Pokémon Centers a definite stop on any tour of the country, but apparently, we’re far from the only ones.

According to TripAdvisor’s list of the top 20 hotspots visitors to the Land of the Rising Sun want to see, the Pokémon Center ranked #3. TripAdvisor even goes a little deeper, saying that Americans are the third most likely nationality to put the center on their top 5 list of places to visit. There are currently five Pokémon Centers throughout Japan, including Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Yokohama and Sapporo.

Visit the links below to see the full top 20 list.

[Kotaku] [TripAdvisor]

While Platinum may be a new game to some, and a somewhat upgraded second run for others, it is, essentially, the 10th run through the same game for many. But that’s not enough to keep Platinum off the top sales charts around the world.

For answers, Editor Justin Haywald cites interviews with Designer and Game Freak Board Director Junichi Masuda and Platinum’s Director Takeshi Kawachimaru.

But Haywald gives a large part of the credit to Nintendo itself for simply knowing how to keep a winning formula going. "No matter how many sports cameos Mario makes for RPG outings, the Italian plumber is all about platforming, saving the princess, and beating Bowser. Link is a sword-wielding Hyrulian who has to rescue Zelda. And Pokémon is a collecting, battling, and trading-centric RPG."

[1up.com - Why Gamers Still Play Pokémon ]

The two spoke about such topics as where the concept for Giratina came from and why there are so many hidden stats like EVs. Most notably, Masuda finally addressed the possibility of a console MMO, saying, “One of the core concepts of the Pokémon games is trading. You can trade within the game, but you can also go out and meet with your friends to trade … For this concept, the most suitable hardware is portable, like the Nintendo DS.”

Masuda said in his blog, Hidden Power of Masuda, that he really enjoys interviews outside of Japan like this one because people ask him broad questions like these, rather than just specifics about the upcoming game.

[G4TV.com Interview] [Hidden Power of Masuda]

Imagine a world with Bulbasaur brand plant chemicals or Magneton micro processors or energy delivery by Pikachu Inc.  The Cocoia Blog gives us a glimpse into this world with an interesting little project they posted.  They took a bunch of first generation Pokémon and created corporate brand identities for each.  There is a bunch of cool designs to check out on their site.

[Cocoia Blog - Pocket Monster Brands]

While I can totally get behind the games being topped by such industry-changing legends as Final Fantasy VII (20) and Tetris (2), I don’t quite see how Pro Evolution Soccer 4 (21) and Lego Star Wars Complete Saga (23) are as influential games as something like Pokémon that has spawned such a thriving fandom, not to mention its continued influence on pop culture and the media.

I’m not the only one who thinks the list is out of whack; Brian Crecente, managing editor of Kotaku.com, called the list “straight out of crazy town.”

The list was drafted by a “crack” team of industry experts that rated the games based on their importance and fun. You can peruse the full list is below.

1. Super Mario Kart
2. Tetris
3. Grand Theft Auto
4. Super Mario World
5. Zelda Ocarina of Time
6. Halo
7. Resident Evil IV
8. Final Fantasy XII
9. Street Fighter II
10. GoldenEye
11. Super Mario 64
12. Tomb Raider
13. Metal Gear Solid
14. Call of Duty 4
15. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
16. GTA San Andreas
17. Super Mario Bros
18. Zelda: A Link to the Past
19. Gran Turismo
20. Final Fantasy VII
21. Pro Evolution Soccer 4
22. The Orange Box
23. Lego Star Wars Complete Saga
24. Tekken 2
25. Wii Sports
26. Pokemon Red/Blue
27. Guitar Hero
28. Project Gotham Racing 4
29. Super Mario Galaxy
30. Resident Evil
31. Ico
32. Chrono Trigger
33. Gunstar Heroes
34. Soul Calibur
35. Advance Wars
36. Ridge Racer
37. Super Metroid
38. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
39. GTA Vice City
40. BioShock
41. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
42. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
43. God of War
44. Sega Rally Championship
45. Starfox 64
46. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
47. WarioWare Inc
48. Saturn Bomberman
49. Crash Bandicoot
50. Outrun 2

Thanks Kotaku for publishing the full list: