How Does Tobin Play Pokemon
In Tobin’s work on the Pikachu’s global adventure, Tobin describes how Pokémon became a global sensation in two versions. The first is based on the perspective of the corporation that produced Pokémon and the second is based on the perspective of the children.
In the first version, Tobin describes how Nintendo (the producers of Pokémon) aimed to brain wash children everywhere. Nintendo hired Tajiri Satoshi, a brilliant game designer who created the Pokémon game which was based on a mythical world in which the trainer had to capture and train imaginary creatures. Tobin explains how the plan of the game profited the company in real time. In the game, gamers try to catch all the creatures (“catch’em all”) mean while, in real world the children pressurise (nag) their parents into buying Pokémon merchandise. Nintendo believed that the Pokémon franchise would sweep the global market because they believed young minds were “vulnerable, gullible and would spend most of their time and money on buying Pokémon merchandise.” Tobin explains that the Pokémon franchise was a success because “Nintendo has created the perfect synergy between its interconnecting domains (hardware, software, toys, TV, …show more content…
movies, cards) and one whose purchase can never be completed. It is in fact impossible to catch them all.” This version of Pikachu’s Global Adventure can be portrayed through Globalization from above because Nintendo is recognized as being driven by a combination of economic, technological, and cultural factors. Nintendo produces merchandise so that people of all ages across the globe can consume them. Using means of marketing and advertising Nintendo are successful in penetrating the global market.
In the second version, Tobin describes the adaptation of children towards Pokémon. In this version he explains that Nintendo’s success was not based on good marketing and advertising but was because of the interests of the children. Soon after release, Pokémon swept the Japanese market, “Japanese kids take an immediate liking to the challenge of capturing, training and fighting pocket monsters.” Nintendo then produced television shows that became a sensation. Soon enough Nintendo decided to make Pokémon global. Tobin explains how the children of the world were bored of power rangers and Lego and points out how the design of the game was taking the world by storm. Soon Nintendo started producing game cards, comics, movies and toys. This version of Pikachu’s Global Adventure can be portrayed through Globalization from below because in this version Nintendo has nothing to do with Pokémon being a success.
The children out of their own interests and liking adopt the Pokémon franchise making it popular. Children across the world adopt Pokémon and start to create their own culture, creolization takes place.
Tobin’s work on Pikachu’s Global Adventure in my opinion basically talks about globalization. We hear the word globalization nearly every day. It 's a word used by journalists, politicians, economists, and academics. But what does globalization really mean? “Globalization is a broad term used to describe the interpenetration of states, markets, communications, and ideas across borders. Globalization signifies the processes through which the people of the world are united together into an interdependent whole.”
In my opinion, television is one of the most cost effective and time consuming and tools for globalization.
Further, the mode of mass media could also fall under the two categories of Globalization. Television sets are produced by large corporations across the globe. These corporations just like Nintendo hire the best people and come up with strategies to market, advertise and sell their products. This falls under Globalization from above. Now the second part, the audience (people) adopt the television. It is not because of the advertisements, or marketing strategies but because the people decide to adopt and welcome the television as a source of entertainment. Watching television has become a part of life, people have started to shape the way they live according to television
shows. | |
In June 1999, when King Jigme Singye Wangchuck welcomed television and the Internet into Bhutan, he cautioned his subjects that this modern technology could be "both beneficial as well as negative for the individual and the society."
I believe that the television is useful based on the content being watched. There are TV shows that can be helpful to children, such as Sesame Street and other shows that entertain as well as educate and there are shows that are violent, sexual and a bad influence on young minds.
If children watch educational and proper television programs, Television can teach children how to communicate by listening to cartoons or movies. Television can show and explain something at the same time. For instance, children can see wild animals and hear expert commentary on what the animals are doing. Most of us grew up sitting in front of a TV and most of us turned out fairly well adjusted, but that was before the introduction of cable TV.
Nowadays, scenes of explicit violence, sex, drugs and crime have started showing up on television as standard programs. Children across Bhutan are glued to their television screens watching cartoons, wrestling, sports, etc.
I believe that children do not know what is right from wrong, nor do they know what they want. I think parents raising children these days should limit the kind of shows their child watch and use any and all technology available (child lock on television sets) to control what their child is watching. Children who consistently spend more than 4 hours per day watching TV are more likely to be overweight. Kids who view violent acts are more likely to show aggressive behavior but also fear that the world is scary and that something bad will happen to them. TV characters often depict risky behaviors, such as smoking and drinking, and also reinforce gender-role and racial stereotypes. Overall, I think television is more useful than harmful. However, I think it is the responsibility of the parents to limit what their child is watching.
I fear that the current generation might be at risk from all this Globalization. Etho Metho Cable (Thimphu’s cable operator) provides 60 channels, out of which some 60% are Indian shows, 35% Shows coming from America, Europe, Australia and only 5% are Bhutanese shows (three channels; Etho Metho, BBS 1 and BBS 2). This could be disastrous if left the same in the coming years. With nearly every house hold owning a television set Bhutanese youth are subjected to immense amounts of external information. How can three channels compete with the remaining 57? I think that more Bhutanese based channels should be introduced, show casing Bhutan’s rich beauty, culture, religion and traditions. In times like this, when Globalization is an unavoidable circumstance, all we can do is change, but change for the best.
References
Stief, Colin, Globalization, An Overview of Globalization and Its Positive and Negative Aspects. Retrieved on 11th Sep 2012, from http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/a/globalization.htm
Tobin, Joseph, (2004) Pikachu’s Global Adventure, The Rise and fall of Pokémon (pg 1 – 11). United States of America, Duke University Press.
How TV Affects Your Child, Retrieved on 12th Sep 2012, From http://kidshealth.org/parents/positie/family/tvaffectschild.html
In the first version, Tobin describes how Nintendo (the producers of Pokémon) aimed to brain wash children everywhere. Nintendo hired Tajiri Satoshi, a brilliant game designer who created the Pokémon game which was based on a mythical world in which the trainer had to capture and train imaginary creatures. Tobin explains how the plan of the game profited the company in real time. In the game, gamers try to catch all the creatures (“catch’em all”) mean while, in real world the children pressurise (nag) their parents into buying Pokémon merchandise. Nintendo believed that the Pokémon franchise would sweep the global market because they believed young minds were “vulnerable, gullible and would spend most of their time and money on buying Pokémon merchandise.” Tobin explains that the Pokémon franchise was a success because “Nintendo has created the perfect synergy between its interconnecting domains (hardware, software, toys, TV, …show more content…
movies, cards) and one whose purchase can never be completed. It is in fact impossible to catch them all.” This version of Pikachu’s Global Adventure can be portrayed through Globalization from above because Nintendo is recognized as being driven by a combination of economic, technological, and cultural factors. Nintendo produces merchandise so that people of all ages across the globe can consume them. Using means of marketing and advertising Nintendo are successful in penetrating the global market.
In the second version, Tobin describes the adaptation of children towards Pokémon. In this version he explains that Nintendo’s success was not based on good marketing and advertising but was because of the interests of the children. Soon after release, Pokémon swept the Japanese market, “Japanese kids take an immediate liking to the challenge of capturing, training and fighting pocket monsters.” Nintendo then produced television shows that became a sensation. Soon enough Nintendo decided to make Pokémon global. Tobin explains how the children of the world were bored of power rangers and Lego and points out how the design of the game was taking the world by storm. Soon Nintendo started producing game cards, comics, movies and toys. This version of Pikachu’s Global Adventure can be portrayed through Globalization from below because in this version Nintendo has nothing to do with Pokémon being a success.
The children out of their own interests and liking adopt the Pokémon franchise making it popular. Children across the world adopt Pokémon and start to create their own culture, creolization takes place.
Tobin’s work on Pikachu’s Global Adventure in my opinion basically talks about globalization. We hear the word globalization nearly every day. It 's a word used by journalists, politicians, economists, and academics. But what does globalization really mean? “Globalization is a broad term used to describe the interpenetration of states, markets, communications, and ideas across borders. Globalization signifies the processes through which the people of the world are united together into an interdependent whole.”
In my opinion, television is one of the most cost effective and time consuming and tools for globalization.
Further, the mode of mass media could also fall under the two categories of Globalization. Television sets are produced by large corporations across the globe. These corporations just like Nintendo hire the best people and come up with strategies to market, advertise and sell their products. This falls under Globalization from above. Now the second part, the audience (people) adopt the television. It is not because of the advertisements, or marketing strategies but because the people decide to adopt and welcome the television as a source of entertainment. Watching television has become a part of life, people have started to shape the way they live according to television
shows. | |
In June 1999, when King Jigme Singye Wangchuck welcomed television and the Internet into Bhutan, he cautioned his subjects that this modern technology could be "both beneficial as well as negative for the individual and the society."
I believe that the television is useful based on the content being watched. There are TV shows that can be helpful to children, such as Sesame Street and other shows that entertain as well as educate and there are shows that are violent, sexual and a bad influence on young minds.
If children watch educational and proper television programs, Television can teach children how to communicate by listening to cartoons or movies. Television can show and explain something at the same time. For instance, children can see wild animals and hear expert commentary on what the animals are doing. Most of us grew up sitting in front of a TV and most of us turned out fairly well adjusted, but that was before the introduction of cable TV.
Nowadays, scenes of explicit violence, sex, drugs and crime have started showing up on television as standard programs. Children across Bhutan are glued to their television screens watching cartoons, wrestling, sports, etc.
I believe that children do not know what is right from wrong, nor do they know what they want. I think parents raising children these days should limit the kind of shows their child watch and use any and all technology available (child lock on television sets) to control what their child is watching. Children who consistently spend more than 4 hours per day watching TV are more likely to be overweight. Kids who view violent acts are more likely to show aggressive behavior but also fear that the world is scary and that something bad will happen to them. TV characters often depict risky behaviors, such as smoking and drinking, and also reinforce gender-role and racial stereotypes. Overall, I think television is more useful than harmful. However, I think it is the responsibility of the parents to limit what their child is watching.
I fear that the current generation might be at risk from all this Globalization. Etho Metho Cable (Thimphu’s cable operator) provides 60 channels, out of which some 60% are Indian shows, 35% Shows coming from America, Europe, Australia and only 5% are Bhutanese shows (three channels; Etho Metho, BBS 1 and BBS 2). This could be disastrous if left the same in the coming years. With nearly every house hold owning a television set Bhutanese youth are subjected to immense amounts of external information. How can three channels compete with the remaining 57? I think that more Bhutanese based channels should be introduced, show casing Bhutan’s rich beauty, culture, religion and traditions. In times like this, when Globalization is an unavoidable circumstance, all we can do is change, but change for the best.
References
Stief, Colin, Globalization, An Overview of Globalization and Its Positive and Negative Aspects. Retrieved on 11th Sep 2012, from http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/a/globalization.htm
Tobin, Joseph, (2004) Pikachu’s Global Adventure, The Rise and fall of Pokémon (pg 1 – 11). United States of America, Duke University Press.
How TV Affects Your Child, Retrieved on 12th Sep 2012, From http://kidshealth.org/parents/positie/family/tvaffectschild.html