Nicholas Grunbok's review of Pokemon Go
Date last edited: 05-30-2024 at 11:26PM
Rating: Teen
Review:
Pokémon Go is an augmented reality mobile game of the world-famous Pokémon (Pocket Monsters) game title. Unlike the other mainline Pokémon games, this mobile game offers a unique aspect by combining the GPS features of your phone and the digital gathering of Pokémon. Users are encouraged to go outside and walk around as they look for Pokémon around them on the map on their phone. In addition, there are eggs that you can hatch to collect more but they can only be hatched by walking a certain number of kilometers. The app highly encourages people to exercise and walk around outside as well as visit new places and have fun while doing so.
The gameplay is very simple. Your character is placed on a GPS like map of the whole world, in which you can scan around you to find any Pokémon that may be nearby. Once you start the Pokémon encounter, your phone will use its camera function as well as place the Pokémon a certain distance away from you on the screen, depending on far the Pokémon is from you on the GPS map. You will then have poke balls which are small balls which are thrown at the Pokémon to capture and hold them inside. To catch the Pokémon, you must throw the ball at the Pokémon and have it land in a designated circle which is usually located in the middle of the screen. The chance to catch them is not always a 100 percent chance, but there is also a circle that is constantly moving within the capture circle, which if you are able to land the ball in the smaller circle, it will increase the chances you have of catching the Pokémon. Another aspect of gameplay are the battles. There are two different types of battles, Gym battles and player battles. Gym battles are when you and possibly a few other people team up to defeat a Pokémon that is occupying a gym that is local to your area on the GPS map. If you can defeat the Pokémon in the gym, you can choose one of your own to put in. The power of a Pokémon is determined by its CP, or Combat Points which are determined when you encounter the Pokémon for the first time. The second type of battle is player battles. Player battles are a way to compete with your friends and other people who are online, and they do not need to be close by in order to battle them, unlike gym battles. Another aspect to the game are pokestops, pokestops are places on the map which are located on top of landmarks and cool places
The goal of Pokémon Go can be many things, you could try and attempt to catch every variety of Pokémon there is that exists, try to become one of the top-ranking players in the world through the ranked system it provides, or to just be a fun past time that you visit every now and then.
The First Media Key: Balance
The first media key that is talked about in 'Infinite Bandwidth' is balance, Balance must be shown by looking at a piece of media from every angle. We must look at the good and the bad, how well the media is made, what is the message and does it target the audience well?
Pokémon Go shows balance as it balances the fun of gaming and fun with exercise, walking, and discovering places in which you have not been before. The game also does not have the be a single player game to just catch Pokémon, but it can also be used to play with your friends and other people around in your area by challenging the local gyms in your area and challenging your friends online in a battle. The game does well to encourage this as extra rewards are given to the player by participating in these things. One other thing that I find that's a good part to the balance of this game is that it does discourage driving while playing the game, as if you are moving too fast, it will give you a warning to make sure that you are not driving while playing the game.
The Second Media Key: Attitude Awareness
The second media key is attitude awareness, Attitude awareness is one that focuses on the themes in the game that subtly influence our emotions. "The second media key is really about as much about recognizing the positive attitudes underlying media as much as it is about recognizing the negative attitudes." (Gan, pg. 45). All media has some sort of effect on us emotionally and it is up to us to understand how it makes us feels and determine if it is a healthy emotion or not.
The game does well to do this in a positive light, because just by opening the game up, if the person is not already outside and walking around, then it will most certainly give them the motivation to do so. A secondary effect of this will give the person a better mood as being out in nature will automatically calm them down and make them happier. However, although the game has upsides in its attitude influence, it has a downside, as the game can get addicting, you may be enticed to pay money over and over with in-game purchases as they can be very tempting to buy, such as buying more Poke balls when you run out instead walking to a Poke stop to get more.
The Third Media Key: The Dignity of the Human Person
The third media key is the dignity of the human person. The author of 'Infinite Bandwidth' states, “All media should reflect, uphold, and enhance human dignity” (Gan, pg. 52). This is important for us all to understand, as if we are shown media that does not reflect uphold or enhance human dignity, then consuming thta media may affect our brain to disrespect that dignity in the future.
In every piece of media, the dignity of the human person must be upheld, and Pokémon Go encourages someone to interact with others and to have fun with your friends. Because it is not only important to just understand the dignity of the human person but to also to live that you respect the dignity of others. Pokémon Go also encourages the dignity of the human person through its use of getting people to exercise. In order for us to keep our own identity, we must use keep our bodies healthy and Pokémon Go is a healthy and safe way to keep yourself active, as long as you watch where you are going while playing.
The Fourth Media Key: Truth
The fourth media key is truth. Truth is very important in the world of media as when someone is living that which is not the truth, they cannot live a fulfilling live. “In word and action, our use of media should be filled with truth. it should conform to reality and help lead others to a deeper understanding of reality” (Gan, pg. 68). It is through media that we must spread the truth and the truth alone.
Truth is something that is very important in media as we know that we cannot live a something that is a lie or a false reality. For Pokémon Go, it exemplifies this truth as the message that is holds is very clear to the audience as well as being one that is true. The message that is sends it that "You should go outside, explore new places, and meet new people around you." This message is a good one and it is something we should be doing as humans are social by nature and by going out and meeting with people every day, we are fulfilling one of the things we must be doing as humans.
The Fifth Media Key: Inspiring
Inspiration is something that should follow any part of media as media exists to inspire people and, "Like other forms of media, video games should be able to inspire men and woman, boys and girls to the good." (Gan, pg. 93) The inspiration through media is very important as media is being used more often and we must be able to use this media to further society and ourselves.
Pokémon Go does fairly decent job at this because of the message to inspire those to go outside, spend time with others, and see new places. However, I do think that it could have more ways to inspire people. one of the biggest downsides to Pokémon go is the lack of a story in the game. In videos games, a story is vitally important when it comes to video games as it is through the story that the creator of the video game can tell a story to inspire people. The mainline Pokémon games developed by Nintendo, themselves have a story of overcoming evil through training and hard work. Another thing that I think lacks in Pokémon Go is that other than to catch every type of Pokémon, there is really no end goal built into the game, and it feels like it lacks a satisfying end.
The Sixth Media Key: Skillfully Developed
Media being skillfully developed is crucial in the world on media and especially in video games as the most popular mainstream video games are ones that were given a lot of time, care and money into making sure the game was made well. A well-made video games is extremely important as if a game is not well made, it does not communicate clearly the message it is trying to convey, in addition, it discourages people from playing the game entirely, which further separates them from its message.
Pokémon Go overall was developed well, as it was a very revolutionary game when it come out in 2016. The mechanics of the game were very simple for someone with no video game experience to pick up, and it was easy to learn. It was through this that made it so appealing to those who didn't even really like the original Pokémon games because of how different it was.
The Seventh Media Key: Motivated by or Relevant to Experience
The seventh media key focuses on the audience to whom the video game is directed towards. The audience of the video game is important as you must know how to make those who would want to play the game happy as well as incorporate ways to bring in others who know less
Pokémon Go did well as it catered to a large audience of people of all ages and for everyone to play because they made the game simple to play even for those who do not have any experience with Pokémon games. The game did well to deliver to its audience as even now, eight years later, it is still one of the top games on the Appstore.
Overall, Pokémon go is a fairly good game with good mechanics, a good message, and fun and interactive gameplay. It has nice balance, you can play with friends, meet new people and enjoy yourself. The game isn't meant to be too intense and meant to be more as a fun past time or a game to play with other people. The biggest problem with the game can come from spending lots of money on items, its lack of a story, and personally, I find it a bit too repetitive. So, I give this game a 3.5-star rating.
Seven Keys:
Balanced:
Attitude:
Personal:
Truth-filled:
Inspired:
Skillfully Made:
Experienced:
Overall Rating: 7/35
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