12:00pm-1:00 pm House/Mill Street Feb 28
Found an Hour
It took me a few days to download and open the Pokémon Go app because I kept forgetting to play. The first day I downloaded it. I was told to provide the logistics and create a profile. Then I was given an option of what gender I wanted to be. I choose to be a guy because the girl looked a little too sexualized for my comfort. The boy I dressed in very nonchalant colors blue outfit blue backpack. There were only a few customization options for hair, clothes, or other things. When I was done creating my person there was a message that popped up that said, “Celebrate Pokémon Day by catching a festive Pikachu from February 26 to March 6!” This Pikachu was wearing a party hat but had no other special powers. However, the fact that he was wearing a party hat made me want to find and catch a festive Pikachu. I do not know if the app automatically gives you a practice Pokémon to catch because I was sitting in my bedroom when I downloaded the app and a Pokémon appeared for me to catch. Since the app gave no instructions on how to catch a Pokémon I was holding down the Pokémon and the ball was appearing on top of them. I ended up throwing a ball by accident when I was going to give up and close the app. After that I ended up catching the Pokémon and headed out for a walk. During my walk I caught a few more Pokémon. I ended up at a level 3 by the time I was done. During my walk I thought about the history that Pokémon. How a game originated from another game. It reminded my of the very first article we read in class written by Stephen Kline, Nick Dyer-Witheford, and Peuter G De, titled, “Origins of an Industry: Cold Warriors, Hackers, and Suits” because it talked about the development of the very first video games. Video games as the article says were originally developed from digital technology that was being used for scientific research. This is actually a very common way for something to be developed. Nevertheless, as the article states, “Using algorithms and oscilloscopes to make a game was a radical interpretation of the possibility of those computers that went beyond their designed uses as advanced calculators and modeling machines.” Which inherently means after the original idea was discovered a lot of work came after to actually make it work.
March 1st Campus Home
Reminiscing
The second time I played Pokémon Go it was sporadically throughout the day. I walked to school catching Pokémon, it was raining heavily so I was keeping my phone close to face hoping my hood would cover us both. Ironically after the game loaded clearly saying, “Be aware of your surroundings.” I walked straight into a tree branch completely drenched in rainwater. I put my phone away after the second warning “Do not play Pokémon Go while driving” because I was about to cross a heavily trafficked area. I did not want to get hit by a car so I stopped playing the game. However, this reminded something I saw on TV last summer when the game was originally released. It was a court case involving Pokémon Go where two girls invaded a man’s property at night so he hit them with a brick. I remember my brothers being banned from playing after my parents watched this episode. This ignited curiosity so I looked up court cases for Pokémon Go. There were several on trespassing and public nuisance. It was apparent that people were going out of their way to ‘catch them all’ but why? The answer lies in game aesthetic. Referring back to the article written by Stephen Kline, Nick Dyer-Witheford, and Peuter G De, titled, “Origins of an Industry: Cold Warriors, Hackers, and Suits” can help us understand this. The article describes gaming as, “’a means of overcoming social restrictions’ Many games, he observes, ‘place the player in a role that would not be socially acceptable in real life.” He also lists ‘proving onself’ where people play games ‘as a means of demonstrating prowess’.” (pg 15). What this article is describing is the detachment of social etiquette that gamers immerse themselves in. When someone is playing a game they temporarily excuse themselves from society because they are following different rules. I ended up playing the game very loosely after that so I could focus on where I was going and how I was affecting those around me. I tried entering a gym but was rejected because I was not a level 5. By the end of the day though I ended up at level 5 but decided to save the gym for my next play.
March 4 Home, Safeway
Gym exercise for your thumb
I knew I was the minimum level to ‘battle’ in a gym today so I knew I was going to enter a gym during my play sessions. I walked to campus and collected a few Pokémon, then I texted my little brother during class so he could tell me about the gym before I entered one. Over the summer I had driven my little brothers to parks and other places so they could catch Pokémon. I earned brownie points from them and my parents but I never partook in the hype. However, my little brothers grew up with Pokémon trading cards, which was interesting to me because they are three years younger than me. Pokémon were not as popular when I was growing up, as the fad was dying, yet my little brothers played after me. It held nostalgia for them but not for me. Nevertheless, he texted me back saying I click to attack, hold to use my super attack, and swipe to dodge. I entered a gym feeling prepared but lost my first duel. I picked random Pokémon that were not the strongest creatures I assume so it was easy for my opponent to beat me. My brother was invested in how I was doing so he gave me a few more tips; apparently one gets coins for every hour one is in the gym and these coins are used to buy bigger backpacks, potions, or pokeballs. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I did not care for his advice. I was not emotionally invested in this game. Staying in a gym for an hour sounded like a chore. Yet my little brother had done this before which reminded my of the article written by Johan Huizinga titled, “Nature and Significance of Play as a Cultural Phenomenon” where he says, “Nevertheless, as we have already pointed out that consciousness of play being “only a pretend’ does not by any means prevent it from proceeding with the utmost seriousness, with an absorption, a devotion that passes into rapture and, temporarily at least, completely abolishes that troublesome ‘only’ feeling” (pg 52). This made a lot of sense because my little brother was trying to get me invested in this game because it would be something we could share if I ended up liking it. Sadly I was not sold on the game but thanked him for his help.
March 7 Autzen
Drop it
I was getting a little bored of the walks from class or to the grocery store being pretty similar or Pokémon scarce, so I decided to walk to Autzen. I brought my roommates dog on the walk which ended up being kind of a bad idea. He is a puppy full of energy but weighs 40 something pounds. Even though he’s only a third of my weight he can still kind of drag me around. I kept having to interrupt our walk to catch Pokémon. He was very patient most of the time however, there was an incident when he started chasing after a duck. I accidently dropped my phone but had to run with George for a couple of feet so I would not choke him back. When he calmed down we jogged back to where my phone was left and found it with a cracked screen. At least no one walked by and stole my phone. I ended up catching a lot of water Pokémon which was cool but I hated the experience. I looked through the articles to help explain this and found the answer in the article written by Roger Caillois titled, “The Definition of Play and The Classification of Games”. This article reads, “One plays only if and when one wishes to. In this sense, play is free activity. It is also uncertain activity.” and it makes sense why I did not enjoy myself even thought the experience itself was not bad. I was not choosing to play this game was homework for me. It also reads, “Every game of skill, by definition, involves the risk for the player of missing his stroke, and the threat of defeat, without which the fame would no longer be pleasing. In fact, the game is no longer pleasing to one who, because he is too well trained or skillful, wins effortlessly and infallibly”. This does not mean I consider myself an expert in Pokémon Go or that I’ve caught them all however I have mastered the act of catching Pokémon, which is really all the game is for me.
March 11
Friends
During this gameplay day I decided to combine chores with playtime. I walked to the grocery store to by cookie dough. Along the way the way I ran into a couple of my friends. My friend Joel asked why I was by myself. I explained I was playing Pokémon Go and he got really excited. He said he also played and asked if I wanted to play with his sometime. I knew it would not really make a difference if we played together or separate it would mostly allow us to spend time together. However I accepted his invitation and we decided to walk to the store together. I was kind of distracting to have my friend playing me. We were not really playing together and he mostly wanted to chat. However he did fill me in on the Pokémon sales aspect of the game. Apparently you can sell your Pokémon to the Professor for candy to evolve your Pokémon. Every Pokémon you catch comes with a number of candies. They also come with a number below that candy that tells you how many candies you need to evolve your Pokémon. He showed me some of the Pokémon that he had evolved and they were pretty impressive. I was interesting to me how we were walking around in the real world capturing imaginary creatures on our phones. It made me think of the article written by Alexander R. Galloway titled, “Gamic Action, Four Moments”. In this article he says, “…gaming is a pure process made knowable in the machinic resonance of diegetic machine acts; … gaming is a ritualistic dromenon of players transported to the imaginary place of gameplay, and acted out in the form of diegetic operator acts” (pg 150). This means that a game and the real world cannot coexist in the same world. However, they can temporarily pause each other. This switch from one world to another is so easy that the player does not realize they have made the switch. Unless in my case we are not too fond of the game and wish we did not have to play.
March 16
Goals
I have sounded a bit bitter about the game in my past blog posts however I do not hate the game nor do I hate playing it. I think the game can be fun if you have the time. I however have a job homework and find walking around for an hour a bit annoying. It is different from going on a run or exercising for an hour because you are constantly stopping to collect Pokémon and other stuff. The game is not awful though. I was playing the final game when I ran into my roommate. She knew I was playing Pokémon Go and asked how I was doing. I showed her my Pokémon and we chatted a bit about the game. I did not realize until that moment how many people I knew that played this game. That was kind of cool. I walked to the EMU and for the first time used the Starbucks Pokestop. They advertised a smoothie with their Pokestop description. I thought about how beneficial this game must be for businesses. This got me thinking about the goal of Pokémon go too. I thought about how many of my friends were playing and how you had to walk around to catch or hatch eggs. I also thought about the ultimate goal of Pokémon Go to catch them all and wondered if anyone had actually done that. I’m assuming with the second generation released recently this would not be done. I thought about how games are created to be beat. In the article written by Bernard Suits “What is a Game?” he says, “…games are goal-directed activities in which inefficient means are intentionally or rationally chosen” which means goals can have different goals within the ultimate goal.