Game or a cultural cue?

Nosheen Kapoor

If you feel like someone who is anachronistically caught in a fantasy world where young kids, adults and grown-ups are running after exotic monsters that they see on their mobile screens, then do not feel alone or delusional. The world is caught (even if you are not) and no, by the world I do not refer to a metonymical hyperbole. The world is caught and is obsessing over a product of fantastical and technological mash up called augmented reality. Pokemon Go — the Niantic's new giant tech and gaming revolution can be credited with making the mobile-glued and chair-struck generation, get up and become bipedal again.

Pokemon Go is the cartoon that you and the kids around you were watching a decade ago and when the craze was limited to tazos and other non-virtual merchandise. Fast forward to now —Pikachu, Charmander, Bulbasaur and the other 712 of their species are back (thankfully, not with a vengeance) to take over people's minds, literally. Pokemon Go is  a game built on the classic Pokemon franchise which involved catching, training and acquiring more mythical monsters or exotic animal derivatives by defeating opponents in Pokemon fights. This is not that simplistic. The deal breaker in the game version is that you will not have Pokemons popping out of game graphics, ready to move on button controls. Instead, a gamer will have to get out of homes, offices and other places to catch 'em! The game works and directs the gamer using their smartphone's GPS and designates Pokestops and gyms (where Pokemon fights happen) in and around the gamer's city. 

Just like the original storyline, where human characters have to embark on an odyssey to emerge the greatest Pokemon trainer and winner of all times, gamers in real life also have to go the actual physical location to capture the available Pokemon and build their scores and claim their bragging rights by defeating other Pokemon players in that region. While on a Poketrail, that is, the walk undertaken to catch Pokemons, you are supposed to catch the monster cartoon that will appear on your screen as you switch on your camera to capture the real time location around you or the path you are on. You can also find certain structures marked as Pokemon gyms where you can train your Pokemon to fight at its maximum potential. Once your Pokemon has realised its highest potential, it can evolve into another better version of itself. There is a lesson right there for the players too but only if they can extend the metaphors to the real life itself! 

Interestingly, the augmented reality component of the game has intelligently captured people's sentimental association with their native cities. The game (or the software) marks places of historical importance, churches, temples, gurdwaras and significant locations as Pokestops or gyms where Pokemon gaming functionalities can be carried out. Recently, the  Mumbai and Delhi Police have denied permission for Pokewalks, thinking they could be a breeding ground for unsolicited behaviour. Both the places designated for Pokewalks were places of protests. 

Marx once said, “Religion is the opium of the masses” today, religion can be unapologetically be replaced by technology in the aforementioned statement. As technology numbs, demands conformity and a mental surrender, we may very well call it our ego-defining companion. Before we can classify it as good, bad or a fad, the game has effortlessly become an important part of some peoples' lives. Yet, there are still who view this new obsession as a failure of the stoic capabilities of our race and as a distraction which instead of directing us to maturity will make us fall into the comfortable and quite cozy abyss of eternal childhood and perpetuating adolescence. But at least someone's happy: Nintendo's brainchild's venture — Niantic — is now puffed with pride as Pokemon Go records a mountainous success with 75 million downloads. How did a game become a cultural phenomenon? Does its success ride on 21st century's civilisation over dependence on technology or does it have to do with the gamers and innovators milking the childhood nostalgia and fantastical aspiration of every human being? Humans have since long found a psychological release in mythical associations and legends. Is the game a manifestation of the times to come when augmented reality will drive our lives, while we sit back and rely on our index finger to move and shape the world around us. Who knew that there was a successor to the opposable thumb in evolutionary significance! 

There are many among us who applaud the game's ability to make people leave their homes and interact with strangers. There are people who are using the game to raise political awareness. There was a campaign which had Syrian children pictured with Pokemon characters so that the world could find them and save them. It's is commendable in that vein that technology, finally, has something to shrug off the acquisitions of isolating people and cross boundaries of bigotry and parochial interests. However, is it enough to absolve the game of its other distracting elements? Isn't the mass popularity of the game a blurry insight into a culture failure that we all seem to be experiencing--- that of escapism and widespread ennui? Do we have to be caught to indulge in our imagination and partake in fantasy? Need it be mandatory that simple indulgences and preferences of engaging the mind end up in numbing obsessions? May be I am an anachronistic individual (also a big fan of Pokemon Tv show) who does not see sense in becoming a near-slave to anything — not even my own opinion. Lines from the poem, The Rock by T.S Eliot echo and become ever more relevant! 

Where is the life we have lost in living?/ Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?/ Where is the knowledge where we have lost in information?

Pokemonspeak

There are many young professionals who either swear by Pokemon Go or denounce it. Nishant, a lead designer with a city-based IT-firm, loves Pokemon Go because of its real-life locations. He says, “You get to know all the historical monuments in a city if you are roaming. This also helps with a much-needed calorie burn."  Rajiv Singha, an organic search specialist, found it a great way to make friends at work. He says, “I started playing because I was intrigued. I had joined a new organisation and it helped me 'break the ice' much faster”. Ketaky Sharma, a Human Resources Manager, never watched the TV show but finds that “The technological iteration of the franchise has definitely grabbed my attention. Though the game is full of glitches — it hangs, crashes but is just insanely addictive. Nothing beats catching a rare Pokemon at this point in time!" Varun Sharma, a college student, was a big fan of the animated TV series and now this game allows him to live that dream. Saburi Mehra, a Copywriter, shares how her concept of gaming is one that “involves playing enjoyable games that are relaxing and distracting. Pokemon Go is just the opposite as it is real-time and quite demanding of one's attention." Kevin, another college student, enjoyed watching the TV series but found the game a waste of time because,“I saw my friends getting addicted. It put me off even more." Esha Banerjee, an Analytical Linguist with a Tokyo firm, finds the players’ behaviour maniacal. It reminds her of the crazy Candy Crush era. “I would rather do something else than get sucked into this craze. Finding Pokemon is now a goal and people are obsessing over something that doesn't even exist." quips Gargi Gowda, who heads a Wellness Centre in Bangalore. 

The writer is Head Copywriting of a Chandigarh-based IT company.