Happy 1st Birthday to TPP, Let’s Do it Again!

Funny and interesting moments on Twitch are something we see quite often, but historical moments — you know, the ones that stay with us forever — only happen a few times a year.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Today at 12p PT, TwitchPlaysPokemon will restart the game that got this whole cabobble going, Pokémon Red. We’ll also reboot our original commemorative TPP t-shirt, this time in BLUE! The t-shirt will be on sale until February 28, and the Creator has deemed all proceeds shall go to Extra Life and Child’s Play charities.

One year ago today, one of the most amazing Twitch streams was born. A simple concept in which Twitch users input commands to control a game, but in this case, a game that was beloved by millions, Pokémon Red. We sat and watched in awe as a creative idea exploded into the now internationally recognized sensation…TwitchPlaysPokemon.

TwitchPlaysPokemon (TPP) was played by 1,165,140 million people, and watched by even more. The TPP community quickly turned this one-of-a-kind event into something even more special. Suddenly the virtual characters controlled by millions were given names, personalities, and motives. “aaabaaajss”, a Pidgey who was caught early on in the game, would turn into the beloved “Bird Jesus”, the team’s leader and savior sent by Lord Helix to guide Red through the game. The imaginative community who spent hours dealing with Anarchy and Chaos helped in making an already amazing experience more personal and something many of us cared about.

I personally recall driving to Lake Tahoe for a retreat near the end of the initial TPP run, actually concerned about the well being of several Pokémon. Prior to leaving for our trip, the masses in game knew they were going to have to visit the PC to retrieve a Pokémon, but that meant putting Bird Jesus and company at risk. From our remote mountain retreat, we cursed the False Prophet when our 4G connection would fail, but Praised Helix when the connection returned and all of the Pokémon were accounted for. I always remember exactly where I was when the first TPP run was completed.

I’d describe TPP as brilliant, innovative, crazy, bizarre, and captivating. It was certainly all of these things and more. TPP was also inspirational. It changed the way that developers look at Twitch and how important interaction was between chat and the game being played. I firmly believe that had TwitchPlaysPokemon never happened, Twitch would be missing a crucial piece of innovation. The crazy idea of TPP led to the development of games like Choice Chamber, Daylight, and #IDARB, all which focus on gameplay mixed with Twitch interaction, and has paved the way for other developers to add their own spin on interactive game experiences.

Let the one year anniversary of TwitchPlaysPokemon celebrate the innovation and creativity of the millions of Twitch broadcasters who go LIVE on Twitch every month. TPP came from humble beginnings with only a handful of viewers, but climbed to the top and ultimately changed the face of Twitch and gaming forever. Let TPP be your inspiration that even the smallest and wackiest idea can have a substantial impact on gaming around the world.

We hope to see you stop by http://twitch.tv/TwitchPlaysPokemon today to celebrate the one year anniversary of this amazing event. We’ve got some fun things planned for the Twitch audience over the next few days, starting with the re-release of our “Praise Helix” shirt (in BLUE!) that will be available until 2/28. Thanks to the Creator, all proceeds will go to Extra Life and Child’s Play charities. Additionally, we’ll be giving Twitch a special gift tomorrow during Twitch Weekly, which airs at 1PM PT/4PM ET on http://twitch.tv/twitch.

I leave you with this message from the mysterious individual who caused this incredible craze:

“It’s really hard to believe that it has been an entire year already, even now it still seems crazy to me that such an idea managed to resonate so well with a lot of people.” — TPP

Praise Helix!