True with the Gameboy, less so with the Pokemon cards. When you buy a pack, you're essentially pulling a slot machine lever. You hope to get one of those supe

True with the Gameboy, less so with the Pokemon cards. When you buy a pack, you're essentially pulling a slot machine lever. You hope to get one of those super rare cards (e.g. holographic Charizard). Even if you weren't into collecting, it was difficult/more expensive to just buy the cards you needed for a good deck. You'd have to keep buying packs until you were able to build a deck you were happy with. Probably the only thing that's changed is the immediacy and the scale: both of purchasing and of the social effects that come from the purchase.