Honestly, because of rough times as a teenager in late high school dealing with bullying and having few then to no friends at certain points, I've been really insecure about whether I should do certain activities or play games that are popular or not. It seems like most people stick with the latest games, and few play the older ones unless they get virtual console re-releases like r/b/y did. I feel like if I don't conform to what's popular, I will have less things in common with other people, and therefore less things to talk about which leads to less opportunities to make friends. I feel you, and I wish gaming was a mainstream enough hobby that IRL or Online you can find plenty of people discussing or playing lesser known or games that have been around 5+ years ago. (Certain types of games are definitely mainstream, like sports games, COD, mobile titles and especially Pokemon GO) but when you put the sales figures, games like Sun and Moon have sold 5 million in the US. Those are small numbers for a country with 300m+ citizens. I honestly have had trouble finding people in HS who were core gamers aside from some small patches/groups that hung with eachother during lunch. And most people I've met as an adult don't play video games, aside from a few people, and they have mostly grown out of Pokemon after the first 1-3 gens.

I'm an insecure guy, so I try to stick to the latest and most popular games. I've been wanting to revisit older games due to nostalgia (2D graphics have their own charm) but because of limited time and my insecurities, I'm doing things the other way.