Rather than ignore the Pok茅mon Go craze luring the city, the 麻豆传媒映画Aquarium decided to join in on the fun by throwing a Pok茅mania party Saturday.
There was already a casual Pok茅mon meet-up planned for Stanley Park, but it was cancelled at the last minute because 3,000 people on Facebook said they were going. The huge numbers meant the city would have asked organizers for permits yet, still, players 鈥� or in Pok茅mon lingo, trainers 鈥� still headed to the park in the hundreds to catch the cartoon pocket monsters.
Trainers held their smartphones like old-timey explorers with compasses while they walked up the short driveway through the park woods to the aquarium, refilling on Pok茅balls at the old, and thankfully empty, polar bear habitat and five other nearby stops. To the untrained eye, a group of about 50 people stood, rooted, around the fountain in the courtyard of the aquarium, fixated on their screens. But in the game鈥檚 augmented reality, the fountain is actually a 鈥済ym鈥� where trainers use their collected Pok茅mon animals to battle for dominance (p.s. Go Team Mystic!).
Instead of feeling befuddled by being part of an invisible world 鈥� which includes many landmarks, businesses and, inexplicably, electrical boxes across the city 鈥� the aquarium decided to level up its marketing prowess and capitalize.
鈥淥ne of the big things that we are always on the lookout for at the 麻豆传媒映画Aquarium is how can we reach more people,鈥� said Derek Jang, the aquarium鈥檚 acting assistant manager of interpretive delivery, a title that basically means he uses storytelling as a way of connecting visitors to animals and the aquarium鈥檚 displays.
鈥淭he sad truth is that nowadays here in 麻豆传媒映画and maybe in almost every part of the world, talk of biodiversity, ocean conservation, going out and exploring species on this planet is not something that comes up all the time.鈥�
The aquarium has a young workforce, added Jang, who is one of them at the age of 28. When Niantic, Inc. unleashed Pok茅mon Go in Canada July 17, aquarium staff saw the unique opportunity to overlay the game鈥檚 virtual animals on real aquarium animals to spark an interest in exploration, especially as Pok茅mon Go has its players acting, essentially, like real-life biologists.
鈥溌槎勾接郴瑼quarium staff and volunteers have gone a little Pok茅mon crazy in the last week, along with the rest of the world,鈥� Jang said. 鈥淚t was just yesterday I was kind of trash-talking my boss. 鈥楳y Vaporeon is going to beat your Ponyta!鈥� And we had a little moment of pause where, wow, this is really a conversation that鈥檚 happening.
You know, here we are, in our careers, and all of a sudden we鈥檙e back in high school again with our Pok茅mon cards and our Pok茅mon video games.鈥�
鈥淔or us, Pok茅mon Go really does seem to be grounded in a sort of love of animals and biodiversity,鈥� Jang added, referring to the game鈥檚 intelligence that links character types to natural habitat. For example, there were lots of sightings of 鈥淜rabby鈥� the crab and 鈥淢agikarp鈥� the mostly useless fish in the Pok茅mon world inside the aquarium.
In addition to offering discounted admission and discounts at the caf茅 upon showing a Pok茅mon profile, the aquarium also provided a phone charging station for the day 鈥� a must because the game gobbles batteries as it utilizes phone GPS, camera and graphics processor.
Outside of technological challenges, Pok茅mon Go can be frustrating for trainers just as it is for real-life biologists as some creatures are rare to the point of possible extinction while others evade capture. There isn鈥檛 much in the way of an instruction manual for Pok茅mon Go, rather the game is focused on learning as trainers explore. As an side: the creator of Nintendo鈥檚 Pok茅mon series, Satoshi Tajiri, collected bugs and insects as a child with a dream of being an entomologist.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e in the game, this is the world, figure it out,鈥� said Jang. 鈥淲hich you know any biologist who鈥檚 ever studied in the field to look at species can relate to immensely. You call your buddies, what have other people experienced? What are other people saying? I wish nature had an instruction guide.鈥�
@rebeccablissett
