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The mindless stupidity of Pokémon GO…

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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« on: July 17, 2016, 01:26:29 pm »


Mark Morford

The very worst thing about Pokémon Go

By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist | 11:06AM PDT - Friday, July 15, 2016

Another tragic Pokémon Go side effect: The terrifying inability to dress oneself.
Another tragic Pokémon Go side effect: The terrifying inability to dress oneself.

IT'S NOT the fact that the cute little beast of a game is on track to become the most annoying insta-trend of 2016, set to burn out as cultural artifact and semi-nostalgic meme almost as fast as it caught on, and/or when the first gamers annihilate themselves trying to capture a Blastoise and instead stumble over a cliff. Or crash their car into a tree. Or step on a snake. Or trespass on closed properties. Or get mugged. Or get distracted while fighting ISIS.

It's not the fact that reality, such as it is, needs no augmentation, particularly in the form of famously poorly drawn “monsters” from the '80s that look more like gumball machine stickers decorating a stoned 6-year-old's bouncy house in a pseudo-Japanese cartoon fever dream.

Attention, gamers! Have you seen nature lately? The wonders of the world? Sunlight and soft air and the roughly ten billion layers of ferociously intoxicating beauty existing pretty much everywhere? Your little cartoon blobs add nothing.

It's not the spurious argument that says, hey, at least PoGo gamers are getting off the couch/away from the fetish porn chatroom/out their parents' basement to actually go outside and move around and, you know, discover things — sort of, a little, even though they're not.

Sure, they're moving. Yes, they're outside. No, they're not actually getting anywhere. Have you seen the charming pictures of people “playing” Pokémon Go? Most look exactly as you expect: heads bowed, postures suffering, eyes glued to tiny screens, largely oblivious to the wonders surrounding them. Is it fun? Sure, if that's your kind of fun. But is it truly engaging the world, history, nature? After all, there's a big difference between people truly coming together, and people merely gathering in the same places because a Nintendo algorithm told them to.


Oh good, more excuses to tap frantically at our screens and ignore each other.
Oh good, more excuses to tap frantically at our screens and ignore each other.

Look! Bros! Having fun! Everything is OK! Watch out for that snake, bro!
Look! Bros! Having fun! Everything is OK! Watch out for that snake, bro!

Here's the most cynical view: The last thing culture needs is even more gadget-obsessed zombies staring into their screens and walking into telephone poles and blotting out the real world and never having sex.

But even that's not the worst thing.

Verily, the worst thing about Pokémon Go is, of course, the imminent rush of imitators.

Are you ready? For the roughly 10,000 app-makers who are right now in a desperate panic to create countless PoGo competitors, thus spurring even more urban zombification and “augmented” reality silliness? Because this is the biggest takeaway of PoGo mania so far: This is merely the harbinger, a taste of what's to come. And what's to come looks about as intellectually interesting and karmically satisfying as watching “Sharknado” in 3D.

Does that sound bitter? Overly curmudgeonly? Probably. I don't mind. Gamers don't actually read, anyway.


Behold, the nightmare returns!
Behold, the nightmare returns!

I know! Totally unfair! So let's flip it around, aim for the positive: Maybe there is more potential here than meets the overly jaundiced eye. Who's to say capitalism will whore this nascent technology to insulting levels of soullessness before it can do some good? Who's to say someone won't invent an augmented reality app that serves actual purpose beyond “capturing” silly cartoons and/or shilling more vente caramel lattes? Maybe augmented reality apps really can promote — at least occasionally — shared outdoor experiences, or even sentimental family bonding? It's charming to imagine. Naďve, but charming.

And let's be fair: At the very least, PoGo is offering a playful, temporary balm for the horrors, tragedies and Trumps of the world. This is not to be undervalued.

I've already received one excitable PR email suggesting that not only are retailers scrambling to create Pokéstops to lure PoGo players into their stores, but surely some intrepid nonprofit could create some sort of “activist treasure hunt”, and the winner could win tickets to a festival? Or a TED Talk? Or a peace rally? Augment reality with some love and social justice? Could happen.

See? Optimism! It's the new cynicism.




Email: Mark Morford

Mark Morford on Twitter and Facebook.

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2016/07/15/the-very-worst-thing-about-pokemon-go
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« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2016, 08:35:24 pm »

MrSp watched someone walk into a parked car the other day. He is waiting with baited breath for a player to fall down one of the many holes in Albert St (where the services are being moved so the rail tunnel can be dug) or into the water feature in St Patrick's Square.

Sp1 has been playing but she has found a save and lazy way to play................sitting on a bus.

Sp3 finally got it to work on his bottom of the line smart phone...................and can report that pokemon are hard to find on a small farm south of Hunua.

Sp2 thinks they are both groan worthy. Odd given she was the one hooked on the TV series as a preschooler so badly that I hid the videos in fit of self preservation.
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guest49
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« Reply #2 on: July 22, 2016, 09:13:06 pm »

Haven't even bothered to even. Look to see what it is!
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