Pokemon Go

    As most everyone in the Pokemon Universe knows the new Pokemon Go app that is set to release in early 2016.

    This here is the logo, so what IS Pokemon Go? Pokemon Go is an Augmented Reality (AR) game coming to Android and iPhone. Augmented reality is by definition: a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world, thus providing a composite view. Think of that dinky game that comes on your 3DS where you take a picture of your face and it puts it on those creepy flying heads with propellers and you have to essentially shoot yourself, Face Raiders. Or the AR cards you got with your 3DS which made the character pop out of the card and it was fun for a whole five minutes till you popped Pokemon back in, or almost any robotic scifi movie in which you get a glimpse through the robot/cyborgs eyes. Yeah, so you have the camera viewing what is around you and you see a computerized overlay or interface. So shall we expect to see the Pokemon world around us through the screen of our cell phones? Apparently we will, of course we have yet to see any actual footage of said AR. 

The next question? What footage DO we have? Take a look: 

There you have it! Pokemon Go! Looks Awesome right?? I agree! Looks freaking amazing! Looks like what many people have dreamed of!

The good?

    It is POKEMON!, it is Nintendo, it is Pokemon and Nintendo ON a cellphone! We have all heard that Nintendo has partnered with cell phone app developer DeNa, awesome, proof that Nintendo isn't trying to shove their beloved products into our faces anymore and claiming we can only experience their beloved (thousands) of characters on their systems. It is a step they may or may not have been forced to make to survive. I understand why they preferred their content to only be on their consoles, they can monitor the games on their systems, it gives their brand a sort of exquisiteness, they could claim their products to be kid friendly. Now they head to mobile, but as far as I'm aware DeNa is not associated with Pokemon Go, a company called Niantic is. Niantic has another AR game that has become pretty popular among the players. More goodness, Niantic, Nintendo, and The Pokemon Company has been working on Pokemon Go for TWO years!?!?! Wow two years! It HAS to be good, right? We can hope so! The trailer looks amazing! I was stunned at the initial news of Pokemon Go, as I'm sure many were. This app will not only bring Pokemon and Nintendo to our phone, it will bring people together, to play, trade, and battle IRL! People all over look forward to the release of this app, set for early 2016 (2016 is also Pokemon's 20th Anniversary!)

The bad?

    Bad? What bad? Is there any bad? Unfortunately, there is... at least in my opinion. What can be so bad about this awsomeness you ask? Many things. First, remember that super awesome trailer? Yes it was super awesome BUT did anyone else notice 99.98475637% was CGI??? The harsh reality? you will not be able to see a Charizard laying on a hillside, at least with your eyes, you will have to look through your phone screen to see it. Okay, so not such a big deal right? We can't expect any VR or AR through our eyes rather than a phone screen yet. So the biggest screen many of us will see our Pokemon will be between 4-5.5 inches. Is this bad? Well we have no announcement of tablet support, yet. So we cant expect anything bigger. More bad news? THIS APP IS GOING TO KILL YOUR PHONE! Why? Well the game will be through your entire phone, at least a part of it will be AR, soo that means it needs to use your camera to get the "R" part of AR, it will probably need your location, and if you have the Pokemon Go Plus your Bluetooth will also have to be on to connect to that, and I don't know about you but when I look like a dork running around my college campus catching a Pokemon with my phone, I will do it on a nice-ish day, which usually includes the sun, and since I'm outside I will have to turn up my screen brightness just to see anything. SO Bluetooth, bright screen, camera use, and GPS use? I don't know about anyone else but I keep these things in minimal use to save my battery. More or less to say, this app will most likely be your battery's worst nightmare! But is it worth it? Many people will think so, I'll betray my battery too. Talking about the Go Plus brings me to the next point: Money. Three companies have been working for two years on a game everyone wants featuring Nintendo's second (behind Mario) largest franchise. They. will. be. rich. But where does that money come from? us. yeah yeah I know that's how companies and economics work, that is not the point, the point is Pokemon Go will be free, Awesome right!?!?! yeah, it's awesome alright, it also installs a deep dark fear that we will be converting our money into the beloved Pokedollars as a possible in-game currency. This is speculation, but the app is free, if you worked your butt off for two years coding and programming this super awesome app you wouldn't give it away for free either, so there has to be a way for them to make money built into it, as most games are headed towards free-to-play, with in-game purchases. What could we have to purchase? Hopefully they are fair about it... I don't want to have to spend money to open up pokeball slots on my pokebelt, just so I can have the 20 year tradition of carrying six Pokemon. I would however, if there has to be in game purchases, not mind stocking up on potions, or maybe repels? Don't want any annoying zubats attacking me while I'm on my way to class! They will also make money off of Pokemon Go Plus, which is the Pokeball-colored Google Map-shaped pin that will vibrate and flash colors when you are near a Pokemon or for other events, wearable as a clip on or a wristband. Another bad point is what we know the game will look like, all we have is: 

   Like stated before, 99.98475637% of the trailer is CGI, these are the only actual screenshots we have. Now based on the amount of good vs bad I have stated, it is obvious I maybe a little pessimistic about all this, in reality I just don't want them to mess this up, I have high hopes for this and look forward to it myself, as I hope you are too! Happy Catching!

Pokemon Company and Lawsuits

     Recently The Pokemon company has been having trouble with other people using their brand. They have recently sued two people over the use of Pokemon.

     The first instance was back in August, The Pokemon Company International, Inc. filed suit against two guys from Seattle. They claimed they broke copyright laws when they organized a Pokemon themed party to mark the kickoff of the PAX Prime gaming convention, the tickets for the sold-out event costed $2.
Here is a poster they made to advertise the event:

They have ran this party annually since 2011, making this year's their fifth annual party. It was said to feature Pokemon themed shots and drinks, Smash Bros. Tournament with a cash prize, Dancing, Giveaways, cosplay contest, and more. The poster for the event contains Pikachu and Snivy two of Pokemon's copyrighted characters, and Pikachu was used to promote it on Facebook. The manager of the restaurant where it was to be held cancelled the party and stressed the fact that it was not the restaurant that organized the event. Pokemon's lawyers say they aim to  "put an end to and obtain redress" for the "blatant and willful infringement." The company is seeking damages, attorneys' fees and an order to stop future parties. Ramar Larkin Jones and Zach Shore are both listed as defendants along with their company Ruckus Productions.

     More recently a Cleveland-based T-Shirt company, named RageOn is facing legal trouble after the Pokemon Company stated that some of the shirts they were selling depicted their Pokemon which infringed on their copyrights. Some of the designs were a "PikaJew" shirt depicting Pikachu as a Hasidic Jew surrounded by money, a Jigglypuff smoking marijuana, Jigglypuff with a black marker, a 'raver Pikachu', and Snorlax surrounded in marijuana leaves. The company RageOn does make other shirts depicting characters from other video games and famous franchises. They filed court documents arguing that the shirts are parodies and "clearly socially and politically-relevant commentary" and asked for the case to be dismissed, stating they are not guilty and did nothing wrong.

     Neither case has been finished yet, but The Pokemon Company sure has been set on suing for copyright infringement. In my opinion I understand why The Pokemon Company has decided to sue in both of these situations. I believe the Pokemon themed party was not harmful as it was a celebration for an event, although using Pikachu and Snivy to promote the party crosses the line as copyright infringement. As with RageOn I think that their shirts are funny but they could damage the brand's name and reputation as a kid-friendly game. Making parodies is one thing but relating it to antisemitic or illegal drugs crosses the line.