Tag Archives: Pokemon

Pokemon 20 Years Later

Posted on February 28, 2016 by joffeorama

Ash Ketchum peeled himself out of his sleeping bag. He vaguely remembered when the sight of the sunrise over Kanto was still inspiring to him. Now he just thinks of each new stiffness in his joints. Each morning the routine … Continue reading →

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Pokemon Battles in Context Part 3 – That’s Just Not Cricket

Posted on July 12, 2015 by joffeorama

In our last two entries into this series, we looked into the history of bloodsports such as cockfighting, dog fighting and animal baiting. We saw how our species’ weird obsession with forcing other species to compete has had significant sociological … Continue reading →

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Pokemon Battles in Context Part 2 – Those Of Us About To Faint Salute You

Posted on July 10, 2015 by joffeorama

Last time we looked at the origin of bloodsports, particularly cockfighting. Our species’ fascination with forcing other species to fight for our own amusement lead to the domestication of the chicken, and only after that to the development of the … Continue reading →

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Pokemon Battles in Context – Part 1: Poffins and Circus

Posted on July 9, 2015 by joffeorama

There are many things that separate humans from other animals, though few of them are things we may expect. Tool use is not one of those things, as apes and crows invent new tools when needed. Self-awareness is not one … Continue reading →

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Tarot and What Is Winning Anyways?

Posted on October 24, 2014 by joffeorama

I’ve been thinking about Tarot more than usual these days, in no small part due to Mattie Brice’s recent writings on the subject. I think what is most interesting to me about her recent exploration on Tarot is how it connects … Continue reading →

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Cultural Keystone Pokemon

Posted on May 21, 2014 by joffeorama

The phrase “cultural keystone species” was introduced in 2004 in a paper by Ann Garibaldi and Nancy Turner. The whole paper is available to read online, and its worth reading. The idea is similar to that of the ecological keystone … Continue reading →

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Poemmon… Pokeom… Po-em-ke-mo- You know what? Forget it.

Posted on January 29, 2014 by joffeorama

Back before people knew games had to have points, narratives and guns to be proper games, the surrealist movement was using games as a method of creating and engaging with art. Surrealist games were designed to remove the player’s creation … Continue reading →

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The Jofflocke Challenge

Posted on January 27, 2014 by joffeorama

Lately I’ve been interested in the idea of creating new games within existing games. Using a game to create an entirely new game, system or narrative. So every day this week I’m going to present a new way you can … Continue reading →

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Jade Cocoon – A Pokemon-Knockoff of the Oppressed?

Posted on April 20, 2013 by joffeorama

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Once upon a time God, in the form of a great tree, created a vast forest and gave birth to divine beings to help him populate it with creatures. The divine beings … Continue reading →

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Pokemon of the Oppressed

Posted on March 6, 2013 by joffeorama

The world of Pokemon is designed to be as close to the imagined ideal world of an 11-year old child as possible. There is no school, work, chores or responsibilities of any kind. Parents and authority figures are easily accessible … Continue reading →

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