Last November, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were released for Nintendo Switch as the first so-called open-world Pokemon games. These are non-linear games in which players can freely explore the environment as they collect Pokemon characters.
Reviewers and gamers alike have generally agreed that the games succeeded in introducing changes that were long overdue such as free roaming, a less linear adventure and a large amount of collectables. But they also criticised the games' appalling visuals and technical failures. These failures - known as "glitches" - are moments when the game fails to behave as intended. Instead of chomping on a sandwich, for example, a character might be seen munching thin air.
The original Pokemon games, Red and Blue (1996), had their fair share of glitches too. This included "MissingNo", an unofficial critter that could be found by deliberately using glitches. But times have changed since the first games. Pokemon is now a global behemoth and must meet fans' high expectations for visual quality.
In some ways, Scarlet and Violet's many issues have become a blessing in disguise, however. They have fuelled an unexpected glitch-chasing frenzy.
This has contributed to the expansion of the franchise's "headcanon" (something fans believe to be true about a franchise or character, despite a lack of evidence) and illustrated the creative potential of fan culture as players start to accept and even celebrate these glitches.
Many Pokemon fans are aware of Sinistea, for example, a ghost-type Pokemon from 2017 who is found lodging in a teacup. But in January, a few fans started to speculate and joke about whether the ghost Pokemon had been given a new form. This followed a viral Pokemon egg hatching video, recorded from the game and published on Reddit, which showed a phantom coffee cup randomly floating in the air.
While this error was due to a non-player character failing to load, fans immediately started to suggest names for the new creature, such as Caffiend, Coffantom and Sinisffee. Fan-made artworks imitating the official games were produced and a new "fakemon" was born.
As this shows, glitches aren't simply destructive malfunctions, but also a starting point for the creation of new fan narratives.
Darker glitches have emerged too. A video recorded from the game showed a child being attacked by a Pokemon that had turned into a drill when they crossed the boundaries of the battlefield.
There was no gore, no screaming, but the contrast between the naive, innocent tone of the Pokemon game's universe and the violent narrative created by the recorded glitch made the video go viral.
This example is only one among many manifestations of body horror that have occurred since the release of the Scarlet and Violet games. Players have shared playthroughs showcasing avatars with spinning limbs, gigantic spaghetti-shaped bodies, or skeleton-like faces taking selfies.
As a queer game scholar I am fascinated by unorthodox and bizarre instances in gaming culture. I think that these glitches are pretty queer too.
Playing queerly means playing differently - whether it is to fail, experience "bad feelings", be aroused or simply stray from mainstream gaming.
Queerness and horror have always shared a special relationship. Horror movies are often beloved by queer audiences, who frequently identify with the characters depicted and enjoy seeing narratives that were, and still are, missing from the mainstream film industry.
The body horror genre, with its obsession with "threatening" bodies, has resonated among the queer community. From Freaks (1932) to Titane (2021), body horror has come a long way from stigmatising to celebrating queer bodies.
And it has now found one of its most unexpected platforms - a globally successful, family-friendly digital game franchise.
Witnessing characters becoming hugely elongated while trying to ride their bike, losing the skin on their faces while attempting to take a selfie, or moving through hard surfaces without any explanation has become common in the world of Pokemon.
Videos of these glitches have sparked conversations that go beyond the game's original material and established glitch sharing as a way for fans to hijack the franchise.
Pokemon has been trying to be more inclusive and has increasingly showcased body diversity among its characters. There are buff women, androgynous gym leaders and curvaceous dads.
The body horror glitches, however, might have unwillingly pushed the boundaries a bit too far. Players are now not only collecting pocket monsters, but monstrous bodies too.
Their awkward presence has provided a queer twist to the traditional Pokemon journey to "become the very best". It has encouraged players to enjoy the game's visible failures and share the visual feats of their transgressive avatars, in the hope of becoming the glitchiest player of them all.
Original Article: Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: how the game's glitches gained a fandom of their own
2023-05-22 11:22:00
Gaspard Pelurson
The boss of The Pokemon Company believes the series can last for at least another 50 years if it continues to innovate.
First launched on Nintendo's Game Boy in 1996, the video game has expanded into films, TV and toys to become one of the world's highest-grossing media franchise.
Most recently, the trading card game based on the cute creatures at the centre of its universe has seen a surge in popularity - but it has also brought scalpers and frauds to the hobby.
CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara, who has been in charge of the company since 1998, spoke to BBC News ahead of its yearly update about the secret of its success, tackling challenges, and the series' future.
Pokemon Day is an annual livestream showcasing upcoming releases, upgrades and events.
Fans got an extended look at upcoming Nintendo Switch title Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and learned it would be released later this year.
There was also a first glimpse of Pokemon Champions - an upcoming mobile game that appeared to be inspired by the Stadium series focused on battles.
And the company also showed off additions to the digital and physical versions of its trading card game.
Mr Ishihara wasn't giving away too much ahead of the event but says the company's long-term goal is to "enrich both the real world and the virtual world".
Pokemon GO - the company's successful mobile phone app that works with a device's GPS to place monsters in the real world - is an example of this.
"This is what I think is the biggest strength of Pokemon, and it's important for us to come up with this kind of idea," he says.
"So that's how I think of what we want to achieve next."
Pokemon has continued to bring new fans to the franchise by expanding into anime, card games, movies and toys alongside its video game titles.
Mr Ishihara says fans now "span several generations" and believes "the biggest reason behind their success is the fact that Pokemon became a tool of communication".
Last weekend, about 13,000 Pokemon fans headed to the European leg of the International Championships at London's Excel Centre.
It demonstrates Mr Ishihara's point that people have found their way into the series through various means.
Fans Justin, 25, and Marina, 28, who turned up to the event in Team Rocket costumes, tell BBC News they got into Pokemon by watching the animated TV show as children.
"I just loved all the designs, all the different characters," says Justin.
"They were just really really cute."
Marina says in-person events have become a chance for her to meet fellow fans.
"I always used to want to go to conventions and these sorts of events.
"So being able to be here and network and make friends has been such a blessing," she says.
The Pokemon Company is unusual because it is a private company.
Other well-known Japanese brands, such as Nintendo and Hello Kitty maker Sanrio, are publicly traded and answerable to shareholders.
Mr Ishihara believes this allows his company to keep a single-minded focus on one thing.
"Pokemon is the only thing we do at the Pokemon Company," he says.
"So whatever profit we make from Pokemon gets reinvested in Pokemon."
He adds that this means the company doesn't have to field questions about expanding or creating new characters from shareholders.
"Our answer will be: 'We'll go bust when Pokemon is no longer popular'.
"I don't think they will like that."
"If we continue focusing on our mission, Pokemon can probably continue to its 50th or 100th anniversary," he says.
"But if we become complacent and go with the flow, that's when Pokemon will go downhill."
Original Article: Pokemon boss believes series can last another 50 to 100 years
2025-02-27 00:00:00
Mariko Oi and Mel Ramsay
My first brush with Pokemon came when I watched an episode of the anime at the behest of my friend. It had been airing for a month or two at that point, having been timed to coincide with Pokemon Red and Blue's rollout here in the U.S.
"Oh, that's kind of cute," I said to myself as I watched Ash Ketchum agonize over his decision to trade his Butterfree for a Raticate. I made a mental note to ask for the game for Christmas. A few months later, I was full-blown maniac for the series.
I wasn't alone, either. Millions of kids (and more than a few self-conscious teens) got their start on the series through the anime - easily the most successful example of spinoff media in gaming history. Street Fighter, The Legend of Zelda, and Final Fantasy have all had alternately hilarious and disastrous turns in the cinema and elsewhere, but the Pokemon anime remains an integral part of the franchise's identity. If you imagine a Charmander saying its name in its high-pitched squeak, then you're thinking of the anime.
And it's still going. Nearly 20 years after its debut on Japanese television, OLM, Inc. is still producing episodes and movies that are being translated and aired worldwide. The show has entered the kind of rarefied air occupied by a select few animated shows, including The Simpsons and The Flintstones.
Over the years, it has proven a brilliant and rather devious marketing vehicle for the games that have served as its inspiration. Its main goal is to promote both the new games and a handful of monsters, which are then turned into plush toys, figures, and other merchandise. Discussing this over breakfast this morning, my partner observed that even a Pokemon's habit of repeating its name is a smart marketing tactic - it basically drills that monster's name and image into your head forever (Pika Pika).
But its sheer marketability doesn't account for its sustained worldwide popularity. Lots of cartoons have been conceived with the intention of selling this brand or that brand and ultimately faded away. The Pokemon anime grabbed kids in a way that few other shows had to that point; and for a time, it was a bonafide international sensation. Certainly, the popularity of the games had something to do with it, but the show also appealed to kids on its own merits. Here's one reason: It was serialized.
As it was originally conceived, the show was meant to parallel the game. Ash (Satoshi in the Japanese version, named for the franchise's creator, Satoshi Tajiri) receives his first monster, slowly but surely earns gym badges, battles a pair of villains trying to steal his Pikachu, and constantly finds himself one step behind his rival, Gary (Shigeru). Many of the episodes are meant to stand alone, but Ash nevertheless undergoes a distinct arc over the course of the series as he meets new friends, learns to temper his natural impatience and brashness, and becomes a skilled trainer. In the end, he enters a grand tournament and ends up fighting... himself.
In one of the final rounds, Ash encounters a trainer named Richie who is basically his doppelganger, even down to the fact that they wear similar clothing. Ash ends up losing because he sends out his Charizard, which fails to obey him and gets him disqualified. It's a surprisingly bittersweet ending for a kid's show - particularly one as upbeat as Pokemon. The reasoning for this decision becomes clear soon enough, though: Ash's journey isn't over. He still has another 800 or more (!) episodes worth of adventures.
In any case, kids loved following Ash's adventures from week to week, excitedly rooting for him to get that next badge and wondering what awaited him at the end of the road. It could be funny, as when Ash chased a Primeape and ended up getting the living bejeezus kicked out of him. It could be exciting, with battles that had little to do with the game - at one point, Ash uses a water sprinkler to wet down an Onix so Pikachu can shock it - but were usually well-edited and dramatic. And it could be heartfelt, as when Ash bid goodbye to his Butterfree. It was also inspirational in its own way. Pokemon set out to teach kids the meaning of fair play, good sportsmanship, and perseverance. Whenever Ash got knocked down, he would pick himself up again, dust himself off, and keep doggedly pursuing his goals. I'll admit, it was a guilty pleasure of mine for a long time.
The show eventually proved so popular that it actually influenced the games. In 1998, Game Freak released Pokemon Yellow in Japan - a special edition featuring Pikachu that was a direct nod to the anime. Jesse and James - the show's bumbling villains - also made an appearance with Koffing and Ekans. Years later, Pikachu would be the only monster in the game to say its own name as a battlecry. Though the anime has mostly existed at the service of the games since then, Pokemon Yellow served to highlight their symbiotic relationship. The popularity of one fueled the other.
Of course, as with all toy-driven shows, capitalism is still king in Pokemon. The franchise's ongoing success has ensured that the series will never reach a satisfactory conclusion. Every few years, OLM hits the resets button and sends Ash to a new region with his Pikachu in tow and the cycle begins anew. Ash is pretty much doomed to wander the earth - ageless and unable to ever get past the final eight of a tournament.
Amusingly, despite having been rebooted many times over, the anime has retained some degree of continuity over the years. Ash's old monsters hang out at Professor Oak's ranch, and they are called upon when he's either about to embark on a major battle or there's a remake to promote. Specials have occasionally appeared highlighting the whereabouts of old companions like Misty. Ash himself, though, will remain 10-years-old forever. It's best not to think about it too much.
As with the rest of the series, the anime's stubborn refused to change may eventually prove its undoing. Over in Japan, Level-5 has become equally adept at spinning its games off into kid's shows, and the Yo-Kai Watch anime has been reportedly eating Pokemon's lunch for a few years now. In the U.S., the anime still enjoys a certain amount of cultural cachet, but more as a nostalgia trip than an actual relevant property. You can find the shows and movies on Netflix, Cartoon Network, and elsewhere, but none of it is even close to being as big as Pokemon: The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back, which grossed some $160 million in the international box office.
Still, the anime trudges stubbornly onward. With Sun and Moon, Ash will find himself in a new region with a new collection of monsters, ready to win over a new generation of kids. It's not as popular as it once was, but it remains etched in pop culture, defying the notion that videogames can't work as TV shows or movies. And when we think of the original 151 monsters, we'll think of Ash Ketchum wandering the world in his quest to be a master, forever young.
Original Article: Why the Pokemon Anime is the Most Successful Adaptation of a Videogame Ever
2016-11-17 00:00:00
Kat Bailey
Stanford psychologists have identified preferential activation to Pokemon characters in the brains of people who played Pokemon videogames extensively as kids.
The findings, published online in the journal Nature Human Behavior, help shed light on two related mysteries about our visual system. "It's been an open question in the field why we have brain regions that respond to words and faces but not to, say, cars," said study first author and former Stanford graduate student Jesse Gomez. "It's also been a mystery why they appear in the same place in everyone's brain."
A partial answer comes from recent studies in monkeys at Harvard Medical School. Researchers there found that in order for regions dedicated to a new category of objects to develop in the visual cortex - the part of the brain that processes what we see - then exposure to those objects must start young when the brain is particularly malleable and sensitive to visual experience.
While wondering if there was a way to test whether this was also true in humans, Gomez recalled his own childhood and the countless hours he spent playing videogames, and one game in particular: Pokemon Red and Blue.
"I played it nonstop starting around age 6 or 7," Gomez said. "I kept playing throughout my childhood as Nintendo kept coming out with new versions."
Gomez reasoned that if early childhood exposure is critical for developing dedicated brain regions, then his brain - and those of other adults who played Pokemon as kids - should respond more to Pokemon characters than other kinds of stimuli. And since the Pokemon characters from the games look very different from objects we typically encounter in our daily experience, visual theories make unique predictions about where activations to Pokemon should appear.
"What was unique about Pokemon is that there are hundreds of characters, and you have to know everything about them in order to play the game successfully. The game rewards you for individuating hundreds of these little, similar?looking characters," Gomez said. "I figured, 'If you don't get a region for that, then it's never going to happen.'
Excited, Gomez proposed the idea to his adviser. "I thought, 'This is never going to work,'" said Kalanit Grill-Spector, a professor of psychology in Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences.
The more they considered, however, the more they realized they had all of the ingredients of a really good natural experiment on their hands: The first Pokemon game was released in 1996 and played by children as young as 5 years old, many of whom continued to play later versions of the game well into their teens and even early adulthood. The games not only exposed these children to the same characters over and over again, it rewarded them when they won a Pokemon battle or added a new character to the in-game encyclopedia called the Pokedex. Furthermore, every child played the games on the same handheld device - the Nintendo Game Boy - which had the same small square screen and required them to hold the devices at roughly the same arm's length.
This last point, the Stanford researchers realized, could be used to test a visual theory called eccentricity bias, which states that the size and location of a dedicated category region in the brain depends on two things: how much of our visual field the objects take up, and also which parts of our vision - central or peripheral - we use to view them.
Playing Pokemon on a tiny screen means that the Pokemon characters only take up a very small part of the player's center of view. The eccentricity bias theory thus predicts that preferential brain activations for Pokemon should be found in the part of the visual cortex that processes objects in our central, or foveal, vision.
Despite her skepticism, Grill-Spector suggested Gomez apply for seed funding available through Stanford's Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Imaging to begin his experiment. "This is what seed grants are for," Grill-Spector said. "They allow us to take chances on risky experiments that could answer really deep, insightful questions."
Once funded, Gomez recruited adults who had played Pokemon extensively as children. He found 11, including himself and Michael Barnett, the lab manager at the time and a co-author on the study.
When the test subjects were placed inside a functional MRI scanner and shown hundreds of random Pokemon characters, their brains responded more to the images compared to a control group who had not played the videogame as children.
"I initially used the Pokemon characters from the Game Boy game in the main study, but later I also used characters from the cartoon in a few subjects," Gomez said. "Even though the cartoon characters were less pixelated, they still activated the brain region."
The site of the brain activations for Pokemon was also consistent across individuals. It was located in the same anatomical structure - a brain fold located just behind our ears called the occipitotemporal sulcus. As best the researchers can tell, this region typically responds to images of animals (which Pokemon characters resemble).
"I think one of the lessons from our study is that these brain regions that are activated by our central vision are particularly malleable to extensive experience," Grill-Spector said.
The new findings are just the latest evidence that our brains are capable of changing in response to experiential learning from a very early age, Grill-Spector said, but that there are underlying constraints hardwired into the brain that shape and guide how those changes unfold.
Like a skilled jazz player who spontaneously invents fresh melodies while still respecting the grammar of music, the brain is a master improviser that can create new activations devoted to Pokemon characters, but it must still follow certain rules - like those regarding objects preferentially viewed with our central gaze - about where these category-preferring activations can take place.
For parents who might look to the study as proof that videogames can leave a lasting effect on the brains of impressionable children, Grill-Spector said that our brains are capable of containing multitudes. "The visual cortex is made up of hundreds of millions of neurons," she said. "We have the capacity to encode many, many patterns in that stretch of cortex."
Gomez also noted that all of the Pokemon-playing test subjects grew up to be successful adults. "I would say to those parents that the people who were scanned here all have their PhDs," Gomez said. "They're all doing very well."
Original Article: Stanford researchers identify brain region activated by Pokemon characters
2019-05-06 00:00:00
Ker Than
One week since its release and Pokemon GO has not only captured the attention of millions of users eager to "catch them all", it's also caught the eye of the media, authorities and, at times, a somewhat puzzled public.
Pokemon GO is a smartphone-based game that encourages users to travel to physical locations to collect virtual creatures and engage in game-based tasks, such as training and virtual duels, using collected creatures. Its gameplay extends from the Pokemon universe made popular in the late 1990s, which may also help explain its massive success.
Consider that the most active users of smartphones are Gen Y, the same generation that lived through the Pokemon trend while at school. So, merge a bit of 1990s nostalgia with easy access to modern technology that helps bring a childhood game to life, and you have the recipe for success.
Like other successful social mobile games, Pokemon GO carefully treads the line between instant gratification and delayed reward. Players need to visit and collect rewards from many locations to advance through the game.
But unlike other social mobile games that code socialisation through virtual channels, such as in-game trading, chat, or online group-based gameplay, Pokemon GO fosters socialisation in the real world.
Since its release, I have travelled to some of Brisbane's Pokemon hotspots at night and during the day to observe and gather thoughts from players. The most visible phenomenon I have witnessed are the many pairs or small groups of players on the hunt for Pokemon together.
While not explicitly coded into the game architecture, an emergent phenomenon is that players are coordinating their play together and roving in small groups to reward-rich destinations.
At each location, I also saw many instances of spontaneous interaction occurring between total strangers.
A player shouting "Hey, there's a Pikachu over here!" at a local park saw a herd of nearby players rushing over to capture the yellow creature. They would then exchange stories of where they had been that night, what they had found and share hot tips on where to find some of the more elusive Pokemon.
Each situation displayed an atmosphere of cooperation, whimsy and fun.
When asked about what they would be doing if they weren't playing the game, the responses tended to be: watching TV, surfing the internet, or playing console games.
It was clear that for the players I met this past week, the sole reason for being outside was the game. Most were aware of how strange that notion seemed.
"This is the third time I've come out this week. That's kind of tragic, isn't it?" remarked one.
For businesses located near hotspots, such as those in the South Bank precinct in Brisbane, the game has seen a surge in custom on traditionally slow nights. While the number of players is likely to subside in time, for the moment, Poketourism seems to be paying off.
In many circumstances, players travelled large distances quite purposefully for the game, and had plans to visit other locations in the same night.
Another unexpected but welcome side effect is the app's potentially positive impacts on mental health.
While it is too early to show evidence for it, there have been many anecdotes appearing on social media from sufferers of social anxiety and other mental health conditions who have felt more active and healthier than usual thanks to the game.
While much of the initial media reaction focused on examples from the USA of users being lured to danger, alleged trespassing, and issues with the game itself relating to user data privacy, these issues are being dealt with, or are able to be dealt with in time.
With regard to trespassing and sensitive locations, this is a straightforward fix for the game's developers who were made aware of this issue in their Ingress platform.
On the issue of personal safety, users I interviewed said they felt safer due to the number of people around normally quiet locations.
While any app of this nature comes with potential risks and players should consider advice of local law enforcement agencies, for the moment, the game seems to be encouraging players to get out and meet new people.
In an age where so much technology is criticised for encouraging sedentary and anti-social behaviour, something that encourages us to be active and more social is surely a good thing.
Original Article: Pokemon GO gets people out and about, and that's a good thing
2016-07-12 21:37:00
Daniel Angus