Gotta catch'em all
“Gotta catch’em all…” I held out for a couple of weeks. The “Pokemon Go” app was released on July 6th across all the social media platforms, and was an instant success. Me, being the knee-jerk contrarian and iconoclast, announced that I wasn’t going to join the herd of hipster zombies playing the game. But, watching everybody have fun, and participate in the social aspects of Pokemon Go -talking about, comparing, and competing-made me wonder what I was missing. And then, about a week ago, I gave in, and downloaded the app for my iPhone. Now, I’m kinda obsessed with the damn thing.
I was too old for the Pokemon phenomenon when it hit America back in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Cartoons, trading card games, toys, video games, a pop culture super nova that instantly hooked the youth, and then entered their sense of nostalgia as they grew into twenty and thirty-somethings. In a sense, it is a kind of pop cultural mythology for Gen Y and the Millennials, much in the way a certain set of Saturday Morning Cartoons are for me. Although I am having fun playing it, it doesn’t have quite the same impact for me as someone who grew up playing it.
Of course, it’s a fad, a temporary little diversion that’s fun to play while at work or going about town, and will eventually go the way of all fads. Eventually, something new will capture my interest. There are still a bunch of PS4 video games that are scheduled for 2016, and I’m eager to investigate whether or not they are worth investing in. Which reminds me, I have never finished some of the ones I already have…
And speaking about nostalgia and mythology...Metallica's album, "Ride the Lightening" turned 32 years old, today.
I was too old for the Pokemon phenomenon when it hit America back in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Cartoons, trading card games, toys, video games, a pop culture super nova that instantly hooked the youth, and then entered their sense of nostalgia as they grew into twenty and thirty-somethings. In a sense, it is a kind of pop cultural mythology for Gen Y and the Millennials, much in the way a certain set of Saturday Morning Cartoons are for me. Although I am having fun playing it, it doesn’t have quite the same impact for me as someone who grew up playing it.
Of course, it’s a fad, a temporary little diversion that’s fun to play while at work or going about town, and will eventually go the way of all fads. Eventually, something new will capture my interest. There are still a bunch of PS4 video games that are scheduled for 2016, and I’m eager to investigate whether or not they are worth investing in. Which reminds me, I have never finished some of the ones I already have…
And speaking about nostalgia and mythology...Metallica's album, "Ride the Lightening" turned 32 years old, today.