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Julius, M., 2011. Why Cubone is the Most Terrifying Pokemon Ever (According to Science). Wordpress. 30 04 2011. Available From: http://procrastinatorsrant.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/why-cubone-is-the-most-terrifying-pokemon-ever-according-to-science/

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Conclusion

As a franchise Pokemon has relied on the body of its success form its ability to tailor its needs to various audiences globally. By offering varying levels of maturity and complexion it has been able to bridge the gap between children’s media texts and that of adult texts. This is particularly notable in the gaming aspect of it. With an interface that is easy for a younger audience to understand and navigate through but with deeper involvement in gameplay for an older audience with further challenges and self set goals to an extent where a game can is near impossible the truly complete. The nostalgic influence of Pokemon on an older audience always allows for the introduction of new games into its universe, by having such a huge impact on a generation it has become something that has stuck with die hard fans since who are always willing to expend on something that makes them feel young again. The way in which all platforms work together playing upon each other also allows for a better overall product of the Pokemon franchise, with every game having a corresponding animated series of the same world which in turn corresponds into a movie and trading cards for the newest generation of Pokemon. It is apparent that originality is something that allows it to work with an audience and if this is something that is continued it can only move from strength to strength. With the balance of audience power slowly tilting towards the gamer or consumer self-created games are almost as big a part of the franchise as the official texts. Whilst this can be perceived negatively for original creators through intrusion of intellectual rights and copyright infringement, there is just as strong an argument that it offers a level of positivity towards the franchise. With users enjoying this bootleg games it turns them onto the official versions and further on towards other aspects of media platforms in which Nintendo can retake a more desirable level of control of its audience and the content that it is producing. In conclusion the entirety of the Pokemon universe strongly relies on consumer involvement to remain afloat in an ever evolving and hostile market place of not just gaming but with in its animated shows and movies. However this is not to be over estimated as the entirety of the Pokemon fandom mentality relies on constant evolution and originality to be injected into the world they love, the universe of Pokemon.

Self Reflection Into My Investigation

Throughout the course of my investigation I have come to understand how an audience can be more influencing on media texts than I once originally believed. I found it particularly interesting how transitioning between international audiences has a greater impact on the original text. Not just by the way the dialogue is altered and dubbed to match the target language but how different cultural opinions, beliefs and moralities impact on the ideas that are expressed through the texts themselves. It’s opened my eyes to how world events and political standpoints cause original media to be censored in different cultures, this will lead me to question in the future if the content I am consuming is in its original form the creators intended or if it has been altered and tweaked to viewing guidelines and audience requirements. When talking about how through the use of paratexts audiences have been given a higher balance in power I feel like I offer a bias towards the audience, due to my own personal fandom for the franchise and being a consumer of these bootleg games as well as originals. I find it this causes me to easily perceive Pokemon as an escapism text due to my own level of escapism felt when indulging in the franchise particularly towards the video games, animated series and manga aspects of the franchise. I find that with the research I have conducted into how western audiences react towards foreign originating medias will help me in future analysis of texts as I have gained a better understanding into the oppositions of Eastern and Western ideological cultures, with Eastern cultures offering a darker maturity into their content with different belief systems to that of Western media in which I primarily consume. I find it interesting in how merchandising can be used to intersect with media releases in order to boost the level of anticipation and reception from an audience, in what almost feels like a form of bribery into partaking in a particular media text. This is something that I will take into account when creating my own productions as I feel that with every media text there needs to be a degree of marketing and cross convergence in order to entice an audience in and create a successful piece of work. I think it has also been made clear to me that when creating a media text be it a feature film or a game it is always key to understand who the audience your intending to target is learning their interests and knowing what will evoke a positive reaction from them. I think if I were to conduct this investigation again I would ensure to focus not just on how Pokemon is tailored to fit a child audience but also dive deeper into how it has been created in a way that does not narrow it to gender specific interests or even that of young to late childhood. I would also like to investigate more into the orins of the entire franchise, looking at original target specific audiences in Japan and how this altered as the franchise began to snowball into something bigger.

Pokemon Paratexts

Over the past decade we have seen a leap in technology accelerating more than ever before commercially and publicly, allowing anyone with the relevant know how to produce media texts of their own form the comfort of their own bedroom. Most notable would be in the gaming world of Pokemon, although there are well over twenty official games for the Gameboy console franchise alone there are hundreds more unofficial games or paratexts created by fans of the series. This takes user control to the next this takes user control to the next level in gaming. By taking an official base game these users are able to alter it into their own game in a completely new world with a new story and in some cases even new characters and Pokemon. This combined with the easy availability of the web 2.0 to majority of all nationalities these would be creators can share their own paratexts with thousands of other fans and consumers. This control almost creates a Frankenstein’s monster effect to the gaming franchise derived by Nintendo. With games having a level of evolution without the original creators input it takes all power away from the creator and gives it all to the user making it their game, offering a deeper sense of ownership.

Trading Cards and Hardcore Fandom

As a product of all the global hype created by the Pokemon games and animated series it was undoubtedly inevitable that the franchise would burst strongly into the merchandising world with everyone looking to cash in on the phenomenon officially and unofficially. Most notable would be the trading card series, which in itself offers a treasure trove of media texts. Whilst allowing for a competitive rule based game the real appeal to a majority child audience was the collectability towards them. With cares of varying rarity they allowed for an in playground trading currency with everyone wanting to get their hands on their favorite or most sought after cards. The franchise used this new found love of trading cards to cross converge and promotes other aspects of the ever growing Pokemon empire. With the release of the first Pokemon Movie (1998) fans were offered the chance to get their hands on limited edition Pokemon cards by attending special cinema screenings or buying limited edition copies of the VHS. Whilst meaningless to the battling aspect of the trading card game, this idea of limited rarity brings fans together in a desire to collect them all. This is an idea utilized throughout the life span of Pokemon and one that has been borrowed by similar franchise such as Yu-Gi-Oh (1996 – 2004). Stopping not just at trading cards Pokemon has hands in nearly every aspect of media platforms and the merchandising worlds. With its own magazines and websites fans are able to read about the latest Pokemon news and connect with other like-minded people all caught up in this fandom world that has become a cultural lifestyle in itself for so many thousands of people. The cult like mind state those most hardcore fans is what drives the franchise to still excel twenty years down the line, even if not to the level it once did. This world created for and also by fans acts as a family for some with Pokemon specific conventions and events still taking place commonly all over the world. This community primarily consists in the current day of adults who fell in love with the franchise as a child and still hold onto that love, using their new found adulthood wealth to purchase the newest games and consoles required to enjoy this bit of a lost childhood.