Pokemon: real world and storytelling

Everyone’s got a view on the Pokemon Go phenomenon – over the last few days, I’ve seen some silly near misses down on the canal from players lost in their mobile worlds but here are 4 thoughts for you.

1. It’s been possible to do something like this for quite a while. Spent a lot of time a few years ago enjoying the wonderful world of David Bausola’s twitterbots and the storytelling opportunities they offered before he got zapped. And, yes, my failure to get anyone to fund an experience that used the bots in more than David’s creative proofs of concept still bugs me…
2. This interesting interview-ramble with Alan Garner around the landscape that features in his fictions such as Weirdstone of Brisinghamen shows how fiction and place readily intertwine in interesting ways. PG is just the latest fad..
3. The fact that the behaviour has exploded suggests that it’s a fad driven by copying rather than something that’s still going to be around at Christmas.
4. We’ve got a rat in our kitchen, what are we gonna do? According to Daniele Fiandaca, that is.