Hi! Welcome to this section of the website devoted to PCNY. What is PCNY, you ask? PCNY stands for Pokémon Center New York, the erstwhile bustling venue for all things Pokémon in the heart of New York’s Rockefeller Center. It opened its doors in 2001 and closed upon transformation into Nintendo World in March 2005. For many years, it was the epicenter of all things Pokémon in the West, handling video game, animé and TCG tournaments, prereleases and events. The Center sold exclusive merchandise and video game systems, had a live-sized Pokédex, and what we’re interested in here: it distributed special Pokémon from time to time.1The Center also handed out Eon Tickets on various occasions.
PCNY distribution corner. Source
During Generations II and III of Pokémon games (that’s GSC and RSE/FRLG) event distributions took place through four custom-built “Gotta Catch ‘Em All”-machines located on the 2nd floor [US] of the Center. If you inserted your Pokémon game into the machine’s Gameboy interface, it would upload a special Pokémon to your cartridge. How cool is that? Not very many of these so-called “PCNY Pokémon” survive today, and the ones that do are, to my mind, incredibly unique time capsules – relics of a specific location and period of time early in Pokémon’s history. They are, or perhaps ought to be, digital museum pieces.
These pages are all about the event Pokémon distributed by the Center. Hope you find what you’re looking for!
– For Gen III PCNY Pokémon campaign summaries, check here!
– For the state of the PCNY Pokémon preservation effort, look here!
– Care about distribution research? Try here!
– Interested in the quaint Gen II PCNY Pokémon distributions? Go here!
External Gems:
– PC New York’s Official Virtual Tour (2002): here.
– Raichu526’s PC New York feature (2002), (re)hosted on Pokezam by 2006: here.
– DieHardGameFan’s PC New York write-up (2004): here.