Game Design Blog #5 - The banned episodes of the Pokemon anime adding to the popularity.

           An interesting event took place on December 1997 in Japan. There was an episode of the Pokemon anime where the gang encounters a Pokemon called Porygon. Porygon unleashed an attack in the anime that caused flashing lights. As a result of this over 700 people in Japan suffered from seizures. The episode since then has been banned on all television networks in Japan and has never seen the light of day in the USA. Porygon later received new evolutions in later Pokemon games but this Pokemon and its evolutions has yet to make another appearance in the anime. Every pokemon has been in at least one episode of the anime except for Porygon2 and its final evolution Porygon-Z. 

This is not the only time Pokemon episodes have been banned. 

               

                            

           Another episode of the anime that was shown in Japan featured Ash and his friends enjoying the beach. The episode was banned because the male character known as James was wearing a body suit with huge breasts. He was doing this to win a beauty contest. Interesting enough the episode was aired in the USA twice under the pretense that it was a “lost episode” but the episode was never shown again in the USA. Of course the scene with James and his fake breasts was cut out and yet the episode has still not seen the light of day in the USA. 

            

            Pokemon is one of the only known children’s television shows to have outright banned episodes. Normally when an anime is brought to the USA for children they just censor most of it but Pokemon has straight up banned episodes in the USA and even Japan. The amount of banned episodes it has even adds to Pokemon’s popularity even if it isn’t in a good way. Pokemon is popular in so many ways and it’s crazy that it always seems to find a way into real world issues. 

Resources: 

Takahashi, Takeo, and Yasuo Tsukahara. "Pocket Monster incident and low luminance visual stimuli: special reference to deep red flicker stimulation."Pediatrics International 40.6 (1998): 631-637.

The Keys to Suicide Prevention

The decision that individuals make to commit suicide not only affects that person, but once they commit suicide they are spreading the seed of depression into all of their friends and family. The seed then leads that individual to commit suicide and the process just continues on and on. It is like an infectious disease but instead of showing physical symptoms it infects the person’s mind and they commit suicide without anyone knowing why they did such a thing. 

Healing the minds of so many people affected is a tough task and that task is left to psychologists. It shouldn’t just be left to psychologists. Writers, artists, musicians, and comedians should have the minds of the depressed in their hearts when they are creating. They should take their own experiences and forge them into a work that could show the depressed that they know how they feel and there is hope beyond the cloud that haunts their soul. 

According to a Study from The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, individuals suffer from something called bereavement. Bereavement is identified by many symptoms such as sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, and low mood. The problem is that these symptoms don’t classify themselves as a mental disorder. The same study also said that depression after the suicide of a close friend or family member is more difficult to cope with then other factors of death involving a friend or a family member.

The same study found that behavioral cognitive therapy is able to lessen the burden of depression on individuals but that depression is still there. The key is to provide intervention for the individual as early as possible so they don’t get enveloped their sea of depression that hovers over their mind. So it is imperative that everyone recognize the symptoms of depression in others so they are able to intervene. Again, this does not fall in the hands of just the psychologists but the people who share love for the afflicted need to have their eyes open. 

The ones who create entertainment do so for the public to enjoy and be happy. Entertainment in my life has been nothing but positive and whenever I was feeling depressed it was always there for me when I needed it. It felt like a healthy escape from the real world and got me invested enough to realize my problems weren’t that big. I want to accomplish the same through my storytelling. Doing something as great as that would be a huge benefit for not only me but for humanity. 

Resources: A CBT-Based Psychoeducational Intervention for Suicide Survivors

Game Design Blog #4 - Popularity of Pokemon in the World

The Pokemon franchise has taken over the world. It has essentially put Japan in a spot of godliness among small children of the world. Even children in third world countries know about Pokemon. According to a 2003 (the year when Ruby and Sapphire came out in the United States) study by Anne Allison, when she interviewed children from the United States she had asked them all if they knew Pokemon had come from Japan. All of the children had responded that they knew this and they developed in interest in visiting Japan and even learning Japanese. This all stemmed from their interest in the Pokemon series. To draw in people from all walks of life a mascot for Pokemon had to be chosen. Pikachu was eventually chosen because he was cute, powerful, and appealed to people of all ages. 

According to Anne Allison’s article, in the United States Ash Ketchum (the human protagonist in the Pokemon anime) was made to be more of a focus than Pikachu was in Japan because they wanted kids to associate themselves with a hero who was clearly good. In the Pokemon movie “Mewtwo strikes back”, some changes were made to the United States version to make Ash be the obvious good guy and Mewtwo (the Pokemon that is fought in the movie) to be an obvious bad guy. Them morals of Mewtwo in the original Japanese version were ambiguous and it wasn’t clear if he really had bad intentions as he does in the United States Version. Anne Allison paints a picture in her article that Pokemon is a sign of changing times in the form of play. This is still true today. With each new game that is being released in the franchise more mechanics are added and expanded upon to update the ways of play associated with it. The effects of this franchise on society is great and continues to be a positive change on the way we view play.

Resources:  Allison, Anne. Postcolonial Studies. Nov2003, Vol. 6 Issue 3, p381-395. 15p. , Database: Academic Search Complete

Education and Gaming Practical Considerations for Integrating Alternate Reality Gaming into Science Education

1. Practical Considerations for Integrating Alternate Reality Gaming into Science Education (Ebscohost) (By: Bellocchi, Alberto. Teaching Science: The Journal of the Australian Science Teachers Association. Dec2012, Vol. 58 Issue 4, p43-46. 4p. , Database: Academic Search Complete)

     This article basically talked about the idea of integrating science and gaming into one. The researcher discussed a game he showed his students where the students play as an environmental scientist who tries to uncover the source of fish being killed in a national park. The players have to make decisions in the game and have to talk to NPCs who give the players hints as to what's going on. The player must come to the conclusion of what happened on their own and thus beating the game.

2. WoWing Language Arts (Ebscohost) (McCrea, Bridget. T H E Journal. Sep2012, Vol. 39 Issue 7, p24-27. 4p. Reading Level (Lexile): 1460. , Database: MasterFILE Premier)

     The article discusses the integration of "World of Warcraft" and Language Arts. Students are logged into the game by teachers and are taught reading comprehension and vocabulary through the folklore in the game. The idea also helps shy students interact more in class and gets them to achieve academic greatness.

3. The Games Children Play (Ebscohost)  (By: Padak, Nancy; Rasinski, Timothy. Reading Teacher. Dec2008, Vol. 62 Issue 4, p363-365. 3p. , Database: Academic Search Complete)


          The article discusses 10 different educational games made for children that enhance their language arts skills. One of the categories the games are split into is "games with sounds". These games show how to pronounce words and help the child to feel at ease and never frustrated. The other category is "games with words" which focus on a child's vocabulary skills.

4. Fighting baddies and collecting bananas: teachers’ perceptions of games-based literacy learning (Ebscohost) (Gerber, Hannah R.; Price, Debra P. Educational Media International. Mar2013, Vol. 50 Issue 1, p51-62. 12p. DOI: 10.1080/09523987.2013.777182. , Database: Academic Search Complete)

    The article detailed a study where graduate students were required to research literacy and gaming while at the same time playing through the entirety of several different video games. The students had to keep a blog detailing their research and their progress through the game. Interestingly enough the results showed that teachers are always hesitant at integrating gaming into their curriculum because it strays off a different path of teaching that they are used to.

5. FunBrain Language Arts Games (Ebscohost) (By: Mandell, Phyllis Levy; Minkel, Walter. School Library Journal. Jun2004, Vol. 50 Issue 6, p61-61. 1/9p. , Database: Academic Search Complete)

     The review provided detailed accounts of four different educational games and the effectiveness it provided to children's learning. One of the sections talked about a list of games that integrated a popular PBS TV show called Between the Lions and teaching children how to say certain words. The game was also in print format which was a great alternative to those who do not wish to use the computer. The other games faired well but suffered from problems such as constant pop-up ads which make print versions of a game preferable to some out there.

6. Can a Video Game get a kid to read the classics (Ebscohost) (Greg Toppo; @gtoppo; USA TODAY. USA Today. 06/19/2013. , Database: Academic Search Complete)

     The article provided a news a report listing that certain video games made by Lexica would be coming out that have characters from classic novels primarily used in education settings. If students wanted to get ahead in the game they had to read the novel ahead of time. One of the designers Schell said "If you really care about the game, you're going to read the book." The company's goal is to have kids want to play the games rather than having them feel like they have to play them.

Game Design Blog #3 - Pokemon Gold and Silver/ The second generation

Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow were super successful. It became one of Nintendo's most beloved franchises to date. The second generation of Pokemon showcased Pokemon Gold and Silver. These games were to feature new storyline, new mechanics, new world, and full color added to the environment. The last generation was just for the Gameboy but Gold and Silver were made for the Gameboy Color to provide the full color support to the sprites.

The staff at Gamefreak had to come up with brand new ideas for new Pokemon. They took inspiration from their childhood and all of the Japanese comics they read growing up. The staff at Gamefreak began production on the 2nd generation of Pokemon right after the release of Red and Green. They wanted to release the new games in 1998 originally. Interesting enough the first episode of the Pokemon came out in 1997 which is a year after the release of Pokemon Red and Green. In the first episode of the anime the protagonist sees the Pokemon Ho-Oh which was not revealed yet until Gold and Silver were released. Since production began right after Red and Green were released they probably had an idea of what new Pokemon they wanted to add to the new games beforehand.

The reason for the late release on the games is because Gamefreak had to work on Pokemon Stadium for the Nintendo 64 which is one of the most early Pokemon spin-off games. The United States would not see Gold and Silver until they year 2000 when it was displayed at the American International Toy Fair.

Reviews showed that Pokemon Gold and Silver were just as good if not better than their predecessors. Gamefreak added many new things to the games to expand upon the fun introduced in the last games. The time function in the game (which went by realtime) was interesting in that certain events happened depending on what time the player would play. It was unreal for a gameboy color game to implement such a system to a game. The games were twice as long as Red and Green with the players being able to visit the Kanto region and win 8 new badges(the region the players traveled in the first generation)

It was at this point businessman and gamefreak realized that everyone loves Pokemon and the franchise was here to stay.

The Positive Effects of Anime

Growing up I have been a huge fan of anime (Japanese animation). I thought it was amazing that such stories could be conveyed through this anime. What set anime apart from regular children’s television for me was that it was more mature and conveyed real life situations better for me than cartoons. A great example is the anime “Digimon Tamers”. Digimon Tamers was targeted towards kids but it tackled real life topics such as loneliness, depression, divorce, death, and separation from friends. My child-self couldn’t handle all of this at once but it somehow made me want to pursue a field in writing. 

One study conducted in Malaysia showed that children who watched anime online were influenced strongly and positively by the characters. The children wanted to be happy just like the characters. I suppose in a way I was the same as the children in the study. When I saw Digimon Tamers, the main character was a regular boy named Takato. He had no special skills and seemed pretty wimpy but as the story went along he became determined and wanted to reach his goals. That was something I wanted to achieve as a child. 

This same study indicated that the genres of anime were endless. The genres ranged from sports, self-defense, journey, food, action, drama, comedy, and relationships. All of these genres are able to motivate children and even teenagers to accomplish goals. The study showed that these genres of anime caused positive interaction between the children they studied. When the children talked about the anime and their favorite characters, they were very enthusiastic and excited to talk about them with their friends.

I want to have influences of Japanese anime in my story. When I write a story or comic I take influences from anime rather than american comics. That is why I am not a fan of the superhero genre as much. I am more of a fan for stories that are deep, intense, drama-filled, and something that just seems badass. I don’t get that same feeling from superheroes because they seem cliched to me. If this ever gets published I would most likely need to hire a new artist to do the art and I would want it to be reminiscent of a manga. 

Anime has been such a huge influence for my stories and my dream is to have a show with my stories that are inspired by Japanese anime.

Resources: The Influence of Online Anime towards Children

Graphic novels and Education

Graphic Novels have been around for many years. They are seen by many of the older generation to be a waste of time for young adults and children alike. Young adults and children view them as entertainment. To the individuals that write graphic novels they view their work as extensions of themselves and the ideas in their head coming to life. True lovers of graphic novels also see others’ works as masterpieces and something that could enhance minds in individuals everywhere. 

Studies show that students in school have enhanced cognitive skills when they read graphic novels as opposed to actual textbooks. It is obvious that young people would love to read graphic novels as opposed to textbooks. Using graphic novels as educational tools for high school students in theory would work as a better learning device than textbooks. According to Gretchen Schwarz in her 2002 article “Graphic novels for multiple literacies” she found research that said that “reading graphic novels may require more complex cognitive skills than the reading of text alone.” 

I plan to use my graphic novel to educate many individuals. I want to spread suicide awareness and teach psychological principles in a way that is understandable to the reader. Individuals who don’t understand psychological principles and terms would be able to understand those principles once they read my novel. I want the reader to also connect with my story while learning something. That way those suffering from depression and those who are not would be able to understand each other once they have read my graphic novel. Once that happens I will have made a good impact on society.

Perhaps with my story I will be able to open a gate to allowing graphic novels to be used as a teaching device in the middle school and high school curriculum. If I had used graphic novels in huh school and middle school I probably would have gotten better grades because I despised just reading textbooks. Graphic novels in college would also be a cheaper option which would decrease the costs of tuition at many schools and help students learn better from them. 

One day graphic novels may very well be instated in the school system and students would be able to obtain better grades with a reading source that is easy to understand. It is amazing how many things graphic novels are able to achieve with the author’s thoughts and ideas brought to life on paper. Creativity and education brought together can make understanding and learning about subjects more entertaining.

Resource: Graphic Novels across the curriculum

Blog #1 Ray Harryhausen

Ray Harryhausen is considered by special effects directors and movie directors in general to be the father of stop motion animation. He made realistic looking monsters appear on the big screen and brought to life many dreams of fellow directors. He brought to life many monsters with their fluid movements. Whenever a monster was a screen it appeared natural and realistic. Compared to older movies which used close ups of actual animals, Ray implemented mythical creatures and made them seem like they belonged in our world. 

One of his most memorable creatures was the cyclops from “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad”. The cyclops was a one eyed creature that had legs like a satyr (which is a human whose lower half is horse-like in some ways). The cyclops had movements that seemed normal for a creature of it’s anatomy and viewers could tell what the creature was feeling when they saw his face. The fact that the cyclops had one eye and still gave emotion through just his facial expressions is a true testament to the work of Ray Harryhausen. 

Ray himself could be considered an actor in this movies due to the fact that he had to record every action of every monster he filmed. He himself would have to move the monster frame by frame. It was as if he were the monsters himself. He used his studio at home and spent time doing these scenes by himself. His models were a manifestation of himself in a sense. He gave life to them and he illustrated their emotions through what he wanted them to be. Like a real actor if he wanted to change something in a certain shot then he could do that through the movements and the faces of the monster. Ray Harryhausen is truly not just a king of stop motion but a god of stop motion and he will be remembered for centuries as such.

Game Design Blog #2: Satoshi Tajiri and the First Generation of Pokemon

               The Pokemon franchise was inspired by the childhood of Satoshi Tajiri. Satoshi Tajiri had a fascination of collecting bugs when he was a child and he wanted to emulate that feeling and happiness he had as a youth for others. The character Ash Ketchum from the Pokemon television show is actually based off Satoshi Tajiri as a child. Ash Ketchum’s Japanese name is actually Satoshi making the resemblance more obvious. 

                Satoshi Tajiri and Pokemon artist Ken Sugimori had their own magazine called Game Freak. Eventually Game Freak evolved (just like a Pokemon. Get it?) from a magazine to a video game company. Satoshi valued the idea of friends playing together which is what helped him conceived the idea of Pokemon. When he saw that the original Gameboys had a link cable slot where friends could connect and play against each other he wanted to implement that into his game. Though he not only wanted people to play against each other to play with each other as well. Once Tajiri brought his idea to Nintendo, The CEO Shigeru Miyamoto (Ash’s rival Gary Oak in the anime is named Shigeru) decided to mentor Tajiri in the creation of games. This idea was pitched in 1990 and 6 years later in 1996 Pokemon Red and Green came out in Japan. 

                The Gameboy was actually considered a dying handheld and was not doing fairly well but when Pokemon Red and Green came out it improved the Gameboy’s sales dramatically thus saving Nintendo from collapsing. Tajiri even managed to sneak the Pokemon Mew into the game without Nintendo ever knowing. He included Mew so players would be inspired to trade with each via link cable and make the players bond more than they normally would. 

Pokemon Blue was eventually released to make improvements over the Pokemon sprites and mechanics of Red and Green. Eventually North America got Pokemon Red and Blue which used the same sprites and mechanics as the Pokemon Blue in Japan. North America appreciated the games just as much as Japan does and this started the power house known as Pokemon.

Depression and Ignorance

Depression is a subject that has put me in thought for years. I have personally had my ups and downs but I have never thought of committing suicide. The thought of that scares me in itself. I have seen suicide happen (not in front of me) but I have had a friend who has contemplated suicide and hear about it all of the time. I never understood why people decide that suicide is the best option but with this research for the project I plan to gain an understanding as to why people go to such lengths and decide that suicide should be the end.

There are so many risk factors for depression and so many causes that it's tough to help those suffering from this crippling disease. It is important to also note that depression is not a "United States Exclusive Disease". Suicide is the number one cause of death for youth aging from 18 to 24 in South Korea. The main cause of this suicide in 80 percent of these cases is depression. The attitude towards important events in a young person's life is overanalyzed by those youth and in turn the youth think that what happens in those moments of your life cripples you forever and that there is not point to go on.

The biggest example is parents pressuring their children to perform at the best academically. Many Korean youth are afraid to go home if they got poor grades and some even contemplated running away from home. When people badmouth those suffering from depression for committing suicide it makes others feel worse who have contemplated it and does not help them in the least bit.

With this graphic novel, I wonder how I can target many individuals suffering from depression and help them feel at ease. I want people to feel like I'm there for them with my storytelling and that I know what they're going through. If my story ever becomes a series then I want to be able to incorporate individuals suffering from depression for many different reasons.

Self-help groups and Psychotherapy are both proven to help prevent youth who suffer from depression to commit suicide. The reasoning for this is that they are around others who are in the same boat as them and are able to connect with others. They are able to be there for them and vice versa.

The subject of others helping others is something that is wonderful. It's good that those who are suffering from depression are able to impact each other in a substantial way and that is a key subject I want to cover in my story.


Resources: Rising youth suicide and the changing cultural context in South Korea.
Tackling taboos: Young people talk about Asia’s mental health problems

Listening to Music Blog #1

Phyiscial (You're So) is a 1980s song that was released by the band Adam and The Ants and was later covered by Nine Inch Nails in 1992. When comparing these two different versions of the song it is important to distinguish the difference between analog and digital forms of music. Analog music is recorded in its original form while digital music is recorded and the sound waves are sampled and stored into a digital device such as a CD. 

Here is a video explanation of the differences between analog and digital:

The listening experiences for me personally varied over time. I listened to both versions of the song 2 times each. The first time I preferred the Nine Inch Nails version of the song but the second listening experience I preferred the original. Although the sound quality of the first version was at a lower level than the Nine Inch Nails version the original was still more pleasing to me. The reason for the lower sound quality could possibly be that since the original was recorded in analog that means it is more prone to degrading over time. The original sounds like it has less instruments than the NIN (Nine Inch Nails) version. There could be more external sound effects added for the newer version and this seems like the most reasonable conclusion. The original just has the instruments and no external sound added. In the original the singer has more feeling and passion while in the NIN version the singer sounds angry. Later in the version for NIN, the singer is randomly panting sounding like he is either having sex or masturbating which could be seen as feeling but it could also be seen as strange and unnecessary. Personally I felt weirded out during the NIN version and I couldn't imagine an actual person on stage singing this. While I listened to the Adam and The Ants version of the song I got a clear picture in my head of someone singing this and the exact stage movements they would use. When music gives you a picture in your head of someone singing with emotion then you know it is true music.

Game Design Blog 1: The popularity of the Pokemon franchise and the journey to it's popularity

The Pokemon franchise has graced the Earth with its' presence for over 15 years. The fans of the Pokemon franchise range from very young elementary school children to college age students and even some individuals in their thirties. There is no denying that the series is so popular that people of all age groups enjoy this and even families enjoy them. This series of blogs is going to go over the entire journey the franchise took from being a small way for children to play together to the billion dollar powerhouse it is today. I will be going into detail on each game and the history of the franchise from Pokemon Red and Green to the planned for release remakes, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

I will also talk about most of the spinoffs and many products that the franchise has spawned over these past 15 years. This includes the television show, the many manga that have come out, and other spinoff games such as the recently announced Pokken Tournament. The history of the Pokemon franchise will also cover the lives of the creator Satoshi Tajiri and Junichi Masuda who is the programmer, music composer, director, designer, and producer. These two men are the pinnacle of the franchise and have truly made it what it is today. Not only will the history of the franchise be in depth but the answer to why the series is so popular be explored. The answer to this pivotal question needs to be explored and researched deeply. Many people who love this franchise are so confused as to how it got so popular and why they get excited for each new game that comes out years apart. This blog series will truly encompass everything the Pokemon franchise is today and how it became this way.