Player – Interactive Digital Narratives

Pokémon as a Form of Conservation

The Pokémon franchise is well known for its cast of colorful cartoon animals. Children of all ages easily come to love these creatures and do all that they can to raise them, but does this love of fictional animals translate … Continue reading →

The Pokémon franchise is well known for its cast of colorful cartoon animals. Children of all ages easily come to love these creatures and do all that they can to raise them, but does this love of fictional animals translate into a love of real animals? Four professors at Cambridge seem to believe that it does not, but that it could. In their article, “Why Conservationists Should Heed Pokémon,” Andrew Balmford, Lizzie Clegg, Tim Coulson, and Jennie Taylor detail how they came to this conclusion.

Many Pokémon resemble flora and fauna from our world, so does this foster a protective instinct?

In the article, the researchers discuss an experiment they conducted which determined a child’s ability to recall the names of a random selection of local wildlife and a random selection of Pokémon (Balmford et. al. 2367). Unsurprisingly—depending on your Pokémon fan status—the children were much more able to recall the names of the Pokémon than they were able to recall the names of the local wildlife (Balmford et. al. 2367). The researchers cite this result as proof that kids can get excited about wildlife and conservation when they are interested in the subject (Balmford et. al. 2367).

While I believe the researchers are making an interesting point, I am having some trouble with their tangential association of conservation to Pokémon. In my opinion, the researchers only focused on Pokémon as an example of a way that conservationists could go about improving interest in conservation. However, when I played Pokémon X, I found the game to contain an extremely conservationist message. Throughout the game, the player encounters numerous characters that encourage the player to develop a strong, loving relationship with their Pokémon. In the Pokémon world, the Pokémon are wild animals, so the game is therefore advocating that the player develop a relationship with wild animals outside of the game’s magic circle.

Pokémon X’s conservationist message can also be seen through the game’s villains: Team Flare. Team Flare seeks to make the world a “more beautiful place.” Though they aim to achieve this goal by eliminating Pokémon and conflict by enslaving the population, their message is still rather conservationist. In defeating the villains, the player enables all of the wild Pokémon to continue living a peaceful life, thereby preventing a mass extinction event—another conservationist cause.

Team Flare seeks to make the world a better place, some of their goals include maintaining energy consumption at conservable levels.

These are just some of the many examples of the conservationist messages scattered throughout Pokémon X. I fully believe that these researchers missed the mark in their article. Rather than focusing on the things conservationists do wrong, they should have focused on the things Pokémon X and the Pokémon franchise do to further the conservationist cause.

Works Cited:

Balmford, Andrew; Clegg, Lizzie; Coulson, Tim; & Taylor, Jennie. “Why Conservationists Should Heed Pokémon.” Science, vol. 295, no. 5564, 2002, pp. 2367–2367.

Image Sources:

https://www.pinterest.com/Lizzykatt77/pokemon/
http://pokedream.com/games/pokemon-xy/14-anistar.php

Game Log #2 (Bioshock) – Player Choice

Bioshock is often pointed to as an example of a game that turns the mirror back onto the player, making them question the very nature of the game following its major twist and conclusion. As Bioshock nears its final chapter, it is revealed to the player that the phrase “would you kindly” was used throughout the game to … Continue reading Game Log #2 (Bioshock) – Player Choice →

Bioshock is often pointed to as an example of a game that turns the mirror back onto the player, making them question the very nature of the game following its major twist and conclusion. As Bioshock nears its final chapter, it is revealed to the player that the phrase “would you kindly” was used throughout the game to get the player character to perform specific actions. Both the character and the player were subconsciously controlled throughout the entire game without realizing it, a revelation that functions as a reflection on games themselves. In most games the player is expected to obey the game’s instructions without question in order to complete a mission/task, and Bioshock highlights this specifically. How much choice does the player of a game like Bioshock really have? While the player has control over their weaponry, powers and approach to each mission, ultimately the phrase “would you kindly” draws each player of Bioshock to the same confrontation with Andrew Ryan.

It should be noted that Bioshock’s self-questioning nature is a well-covered topic, and the game is regularly pointed to as a “deep” or “thought-provoking” video game (for example, I’m sure several members of our class will be examining Bioshock in Game Logs this semester). The phrase “would you kindly” is a particularly well-recognized term in circles familiar with gaming, and it has become a sort of video game meme on the internet as a result. I have played Bioshock through once, and my play through this semester allowed me to view the game with new eyes. I was aware of the game’s twist and message from the beginning, and so this allowed me to observe the game’s functions from an alternative point of view. Ultimately, I realized that the game directs the player in many more ways than just with the “would you kindly” phrase. For instance, a large, yellow navigation arrow looms at the top of the screen, constantly directing players to the level’s end goal. While I chose to play Bioshock without the arrow because I enjoy exploring the entirety of each level, the arrow functions in the same way that “would you kindly” does, always pushing the player towards a singular goal and inhibiting exploration. The game’s on screen prompts also suggest a similar lack of player choice. Text phrases like “PICK UP EVE” can be read almost as commands, partially explaining why I tended to bound through levels picking up everything I could get my hands on. While it was almost always beneficial to do so, my compulsive collection of items may have been spurred on by the game constantly telling me what to do.

Bioshock’s “would you kindly” phrase works in conjunction with several game mechanics to guide each player of the game in a particular direction. While Bioshock does offer different endings and multiple ways to tackle each level, players are guided down a particular path that leads to the same levels in the same order. In more ways than one, Bioshock questions player choice and the very nature of games

The Shackles of Pokémon X

The Pokémon game series is one of the most popular and successful handheld game franchises in modern history. The formula of each game is similar—players take control of a young adventurer who seeks to raise a strong team of Pokémon … Continue reading →

The Pokémon game series is one of the most popular and successful handheld game franchises in modern history. The formula of each game is similar—players take control of a young adventurer who seeks to raise a strong team of Pokémon to defeat opponents in battle. It has been many years since my last Pokémon experience, so it was extremely nostalgic for me to play Pokémon X. While playing the game, I was immediately struck by how limited I was as a player, especially for a game that appears to give players so much choice.

Within the narrative framework of the game, the protagonist lives a life of relative freedom. For example, even though the character is only 10 years old, they can explore the country unaccompanied by an adult and can make decisions about which towns to visit, and which Pokémon to battle and which to raise. Unfortunately, this freedom is not mirrored in the player’s opportunities. During my experience playing Pokémon X, I found the game to be extremely oppressive in what actions I could undertake.

This image shows the map of the Kalos region, with each town and route labeled

As seen from the map above, the Kalos region—the name of the country where Pokémon X is set—is quite expansive. However, the player is not able to explore all these paths at any moment. In some instances, non-player characters will block some of the routes and tell the player, “you do not want to go that way,” if the player attempts to pass. In other instances, some type of object will be blocking the path and the player is unable to pass unless they undertake a side quest to give them the ability to move the object.

At this point in the game, a snorlax blocks the character’s way, so they must travel down Route 7 to retrieve a flute to wake the Pokémon up

The other aspect of the game that I found limiting had to do with the actual Pokémon raising. Though there are hundreds of Pokémon that inhabit the Kalos region, the player is only able to hold 6 in their party at a time. As Pokémon get stronger by battling other Pokémon, the game almost advocates for the player to choose a core 6 Pokémon and stick with them to compete against the stronger trainers encountered later in the game. The game even forces the player to catch the games legendary Pokémon, Xerneas, at one point in the game, eliminating the player’s choice altogether.

The left side of this image shows the maximum 6 Pokémon in the players party while the right side shows the Pokémons maximum number of four moves

Also limiting is each Pokémon’s ability to only know 4 moves at a time. Whenever a Pokémon levels up and attempts to learn a new move, the player must choose one of the original moves to forget. Much of the time, once the Pokémon forgets a move, it is gone for good. These limitations imposed on the player combine to create an experience that I found extremely frustrating, especially when I compared my experience as a player to the experience of the protagonist within the game’s narrative.

Image Sources

http://www.serebiiforums.com/showthread.php?594375-The-Kalos-Region-Thread
http://www.gamerguides.com/pokemon-xy/main-walkthough/to-gym-2-part-1/route-7-riviere-walk-1st-visit
http://kotaku.com/tips-for-playing-pokemon-x-y-1444982237