What game, TV show, brand, etc. impacted your childhood?

[cornimer]

What's a video game, TV show, toy, brand, etc. from your childhood that's really memorable/influenced you a lot?

I can think of several, but a huge one for me was Build-a-Bear. It started when my Grandma took me and my cousin to our local store for the first time, and it was the most magical experience ever for me. After that, I was obsessed - I played the online flash games a gazillion times, I had Build-a-Bear stickers and posters on my walls, I had a Build-a-Bear book (which I still have lol), etc. Then when buildabearville.com / bearville.com became a thing, I played it pretty much from opening day to closing day. I still have all the songs & soundbites from both buildabearville.com and the flash games deeply engrained in my memory

Around 2015, the brand identity really changed and I'm not a fan. But when I come across things with the old-school branding, it still gives me immense joy :')

 

[Croconaw]

I'd have to say Animal Crossing, which is fitting for the kind of forum we're on. I played Animal Crossing a ton when I was in school. I didn't have many friends, so the villagers were my main source of happiness. It was nice knowing I had someone to talk to, even if they were just pixels on a screen.

I became a little older and joined my very first online forum. It no longer exists, but that forum had a big impact on me. It had an advice section and you could post anonymously, seeking unbiased advice from strangers. I posted in that section more than I care to admit, but I was offered some pretty good advice by forum members.

As an adult, I'm still influenced a lot by good shows. I think you can still be impacted by a brand regardless of age.

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

The original Powerpuff Girls cartoon and the Pokemon: Indigo League anime were basically my entire childhood.. all I ever drew were pokemon and apparently PPG OCs lmao

 

[VernalLapin]

Probably Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, and Wii Fit Plus. I was obsessed with miis for years and even recreated my miis with construction paper. My family and I would make up stories about them.

 

[Rosch]

The Pokemon games heavily influenced my art style. Growing up, I also enjoyed creating my own creatures and characters, at the same time trying to emulate Ken Sugimori's stye until I developed my own.

 

[nightglow]

Easily Nintendo in general and Pokemon in particular. Those were probably the biggest. Pokemon kept me company and gave me a little sense of freedom via imagination.

I still enjoy thier older games and the genre of monster battling games in general, but they aren't important to me like they were when I was in elementary and middle school. I also made a few friendships due to Pokemon back then.

Nintendo published games were fun and I liked their consoles being handheld. I still like the older Nintendo published games and I still prefer handheld consoles.

A few other mentions are ty beanie babies, Disney, DreamWorks, and Universal Studios.
(Stuffed Animals and Movies)

 

[Midoriya]

I'm going to be generic and say Pokemon even though it's already been mentioned.

Nah but for real, one other game that is somewhat obscure that REALLY impacted my childhood was Ribbit King for the GameCube! I had tons of fun playing that against the CPUs and with real life friends. What I mean to say is I have fond times of inviting three people over to play with me and absolutely whooping their butts in a game of Frolf!

 

[Kamex]

Pokemon definitely had an impact on my childhood, especially the video games. Also, Webkinz gives me nostalgia vibes because it made me interested in stuffed animals and online games.

 

[Airysuit]

Disney definitely did, especially the animal/nature stuff. It made me wanna work with art or with animals, and I ended up kinda studying for both

 

[Seastar]

I would say Neopets and Pokemon. Maybe also Digimon? I watched that one's anime before I got into Pokemon.
I feel like by chain reaction, these things got me into my current interests.