The PokéDigi HQ
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The PokéDigi HeadQuarters (also known as PokeDigiHQ or PDHQ) was a popular Pokémon and Digimon themed website that ran from early 2000 to March 2003.
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[edit] History
The website was started by founding members PokéDigiGenius and Mewtwo150cool as a personal website featuring Pokémon and Digimon news, though it eventually grew into a full-fledged resource website.
The site started on 50Megs, then moved to Hypermart, then finally got hosting with The Unknown Dungeon and got its own domain name. The site featured reviews, screenshots, episode guides and news regarding the Pokémon and Digimon television shows, movies, games, and merchandise, as well as fan art, fan fiction, and the ongoing audio drama project Pokémon vs Digimon. The site also featured PDHQ Live! which was an online radio station hosted by Live365 which played Pokémon and Digimon music, as well as a live talk show.
The site's identifiable symbol was always a Digivice with a Pokéball over the screen. This was called the PokéVice, and became the de facto symbol of the site. In 2001, an already huge and popular site called Digital-Monsters was hacked, and the site's members mass migrated to the PokéDigi HQ, effectively making it the number one Digimon fan community. As time went on, more of the members were given staff positions, including walkthrough writers, screenshot takers, but most notably news posters. The site won a Golden Web Award for 2002-2003. The site ultimately closed as Digimon's popularity began to die and as Pokémon "rebooted" with the start of Pokémon Advance. The site had intended to become a website about anything in general, but ultimately it never came to fruition.
[edit] Mailbag
PokeDigiHQ had a unique feature: the mailbag. Each week, the site staff would answer emails about anything Pokémon, Digimon, or anything about the site. This was one of the most popular features on the site, other than the forums or chat room. The emails were usually answered by PokéDigiGenius, with occasional answers by other staff members.
[edit] Competition
The PokeDigiHQ generally seemed to have two main competitors, PokéMasters and The Digimon Experience. Both were already well established, though ultimately The Digimon Experience died and a good portion of its board members followed PokéDigiGenius to the PDHQ. The sites occasionally butted heads over similarly designed layouts and styles. PokéMasters still exists to this day, although it has abandoned its informational site and is now just a message board.
[edit] Pokémon vs Digimon
The idea of making this ever popular concept into an audio drama was brought about by Mewtwo150cool, when he brought a TalkBoy to PDG's house. The two scripted a tournament-style showdown, complete with announcers, commercials and skits. Two versions were made on tape, and ultimately, the script was refined enough that the drama was ready to be made on a computer and broadcast over the course of several PDHQ Live! shows. A small portion of it was finished, but ultimately the project died when Live365 began to charge for use of their broadcasting services. The script and first segment are likely floating around on the internet somewhere.
[edit] Post-PDHQ
Once the site was shut down, the webmasters informed everyone that they hoped to build an all-new site called "Anything.com" where the old PDHQ members could discuss anything they wanted to discuss. Ultimately this site never came to fruition, and the two webmasters, PokéDigiGenius and Mewtwo150cool (later called CountDub1ous and TyrannicalFascist respectively) started a clan for Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast called the Expendable Jedi Knights, or EJK (later ExJK then Ex). After a switch to Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and a couple years of playing, they ended the clan and changed it into GamerPost.net; an online gaming community. During the time of their clan, they also made a Star Wars fanfilm, Spoof Wars Episode XII: The Dubious Maneuver, which can be found on GamerPost as well.
