Jul 27, 2016
News: The way of the selfie stick - Pokémon Go away, sites request in Japan
And so it begins, news reports yesterday and today are telling gamers that train firms and ‘utilities’ companies in Japan are seeking for their sites to be rid of Pokémon characters, and thus hordes of gamers hunting them down.
According to an article in The Mainichi (July 27, 2016), in all, 23 rail operators made a request on Tuesday, in writing, to Niantic Inc. (primary producer of the game), for characters not to appear on platforms and tracks. TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.), operator of nuclear power plants, made a similar request.
This is on the back of news that characters from Pokémon Go have been appearing in the grounds of the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini power plants (Forbes). Wonderful!
Back to the article in The Mainichi, the local government of Nagasaki has also had its hand forced, asking Niantic to remove characters from the Nagasaki Peace Park, a site paying tribute to victims of the 1945 atomic bombing by the US. Hiroshima may follow suit after a city official there claimed that battle locations for the game were found near the A-Bomb Dome and other locations within the Peace Memorial Park.
It’s at this point that we put ourselves in the position of the gamers. Which will take on greater importance for them? Respecting the solemnity of those lost in battle, or scoring points on Pokémon Go? Staying out of a nuclear ‘no go’ zone, or .. scoring points on Pokémon Go? Obviously, we know what we hope the answer would be, but we just can’t be sure. What would you do? Be honest now.
All of this raises questions about how far society will tolerate the game, and those playing it. It reminds one of Tamagotchi (たまごっち), those handheld digital ‘pets’ that boomed in the late 90s. Back home, such was the propensity for people to drop everything in order to feed a ‘pet’ that doesn’t actually need feeding (and doesn’t exist), schools eventually had to bring in a blanket ban on the pocket bleaters. When we consider, though, that students of a certain age in Japan aren’t even allowed to wear watches to school, we can perhaps be assured that Pokémon Go won’t be spotted in classrooms over here. Or maybe Niantic will need a written request in order to grant that assurance?
When this writer first caught wiff of the looming übermass that Pokémon Go would become, I can hand on heart say that the first thing I thought of was the ‘selfie’ stick. It’s something that seems quite humble in comparison now. It wasn’t long ago however, that the psychotically annoying, narcissistic eye-gougers were de rigueur at anywhere that came close to a photo opp. Society called time on those though, with management of top ‘selfie’ locations joining the common-sense queue to get them banned. Now they seem to be the sole remit of over excited Asian school trippers, and anyone putting a ‘selfie stick’ selfie on Instagram these days, is quickly passed over for some mislead young thing straining to take a picture of their bottom in the bathroom mirror.
It seems certain, and right, that Pokémon Go will be subject to further polite requests to use common sense and/or outright bans, similar to the Tamagotchi and the selfie stick. We’ll have to wait and see what power the game has over its players that they actually pay any attention to these. The ultimate test of endurance though, will be how quickly we get bored of it, and how quickly someone else can come up with something new. For now, though, Pokémon Go seems to be a lot of fun for the players, and a clammy nightmare for management types!
Can you think of anything else similar to Tamagotchi and selfie sticks, that might be said to have become a bit of a nuisance? Drop your suggestions below.
Twitter: City_Cost_Japan
Sources: The Mainichi / Forbes
Image (cropped)
Likeablerodent Flickr License
2 Comments
KpQuePasa
on Jul 28
I hope that these locales (as well as others throughout the world) are able to have their requests granted and be taken off the pokemon spawning map. It's so disappointing to me that there are people who have so little common sense, and so much entitlement that they could ever possibly think it appropriate to put a video game before the sanctity of a very solemn space, or, you know, play on train tracks (though if I can be a bit morbid, I'm sort of in the "let Darwin do it's job for those idiots" mind-camp). They run the risk of ruining it for everyone else. I really enjoy playing PokemonGo, but I like to think that I am also capable of recognizing that I am still a real human in a real world. Last night we went to the park to catch some pocket monsters, and I got to see the (real) bats come out at dusk. I pet a very friendly cat. I got to practice my Japanese in a non-awkward way with strangers. And I saw parts of the park I hadn't bothered to check out before. The game has value if people can pick their heads up from the screen every so often...
anonymous1660031216
on Aug 2
@KpQuePasa And I think the vasty majority of gamers do/will. The media is going to jump all over any mishaps and accidents that are a result of people playing Pokemon Go (a bit like we have, I suppose). Sounds like you've had some cool experiences with the game then. If I can speak personally for a moment, things like this can give me a bit of motivation/structure to going out; like instead of just doing the usual stroll around those places that I always go to, something like this can spice things up and at a bit more variety.