South Park is a show about 3rd graders (or 4th graders, depending on what season you began watching). And for more than ten years it's chronicled the lives of Stan Kenny and Cartman – without letting them ever grow up. That means that the show is able to catch a snapshot of "whatever the kids are into these days," in any given moment of time. And of course, that's going to include the number one form of entertainment for boys this age: videogames.

Throughout the years, South Park has included various videogame elements – from minor references to retooling the entire look of the show in order to mimic a game. They've captured fads and trends, while also completely making a few things up that might represent the "way things are."

There's a sense you get from watching these episodes that Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the show's creators, are gamers themselves. And if not – then they certainly know enough gamers, because many of these references are dead on. This is a show that has covered a wide swath of issues – from religion and evolution to celebrity and child molestation. But here at IGN, we figured it's time we look at South Park's view on the gaming world...

8/26/98

Poor Kenny. He's the poor kid that everyone makes fun of. Well, not everyone – really mostly just Cartman. But there's plenty of us out there in the world who either didn't have the money or had parents who refused to buy us the latest and greatest gaming system. There's the kid with the new system - and everyone wants to go over to his house. Or you're Kenny, and you're the kid with the old system and nobody wants to hang out at your place. It's no fun to be a Kenny.

ColecoVision is a "2nd generation" system that came out in 1982. It was the first time that the "next big thing" hit the shelves and gamers who had only played the Atari 2600 saw what was now possible. That innovation and advanced technology was long surpassed by the time poor Kenny got a hold of the system. And who hasn't been there? Still playing your Nintendo while your rich friend plays Super Nintendo? There's nothing quite like that feeling that your missing out on the revolution when you've got last generation's technology in a next generation world…

Chinpokomon

Airdate: 11/3/99

In an obvious take on the Pokemon phenomenon – the boys become obsessed with "Chinpokomon" – a franchise that has the same "gotta buy them all" fever as Pokemon. It starts as a TV show, then moves into dolls then the videogame. The kids of South Park become so enmeshed in the franchise that they start speaking Japanese.

In an obvious dig at the rampant, out of control consumerism that Pokemon creates in kids – Kenny has a seizure while playing the videogame and turns into a social zombie. Meanwhile, in a Rising Sun-like twist, the Chinpokomon merchandise all carries subliminal (and overt) anti-American messages. The boys even end up joining with the Japanese in a bombing plot. In an astute commentary on what makes fads work – and not work – the kids quickly get over Chinpokomon when they see that their parents are starting to like it as well – making it distinctly not cool…