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.

Statement of Intent: Capstone Graphic Novel

I will be writing a graphic novel for my Project. Monica Larson has agreed to be my Director. I would like to go into a career of writing graphic novels and comics after I graduate. This project will give me insight on the process it takes if I want to accomplish my goals.

The story tackles the topic of depression and suicide. There are some elements of fantasy and supernatural stories meshed into this. The main character wants to help people who are overcome by depression by traveling into their minds and battling the depression inside them. The depression manifests itself as a monster and the main character must beat that monster and talk sense into the ailing person. The main character is a college student and a psychology major. Naturally this story will have to incorporate aspects of psychology and research needs to be done on depression in our society and what causes it. I should also research different stories similar to this and how they tackle topics of depression.

The art of the story is going to implement sprite art used in video games with some sprite backgrounds. I am able to accomplish this with my knowledge of Comic Life and Photoshop. I need to research methods of publishing and chances of getting a graphic novel turned into an animated show or live action movie. After I graduate this novel could turn into a series of graphic novels tackling the topic of depression. Right now I am not sure who this story idea and graphic novel will manifest but for now I want to make it a one-shot story. This means it could be just a short story or could turn out to be the beginning of a long journey.

My idea about this came about when playing the Persona video game series as it deals with character confronting their true selfs and accepting who they are. Perhaps my story idea could turn into a video game as well. I would like to see if there are stories out there that use fantasy elements while still dealing with real life problems. Also the effect that stories have on people and if they help others cope with feelings of depression.

Blog #2

Honestly it is not alarming to me because my father is one of the people who uses AOL as their main internet email service. He saw no reason to change it plus it still works fine for him. He doesn't use the computer often. Our internet service is up to date but my father's mail service is not. I would say though that the reason for people not upgrading their service is mainly money and the people who used aol have no need for a new service because they probably don't use the internet often. 

Post #1 Introducing myself

My goal for the class is to basically learn how to create a website and learn some coding as I learn how to make the website. My goal for the future is to be a comic book writer, video game writer, or any writer for any media. A TV show that I enjoy a lot is the boondocks, a movie I enjoy a lot is napoleon dynamite, I listen to jpop/jrock/jrap and one of my favorite books is "The Disaster Artist".