Welp, haven't been here in some time, sorry Regina. So the big thing on Imgur.com recently has been all about Twitch Plays Pokemon. The basis of this is that it is a social experiment where as an unlimited number of users can can control the character in one single video game, all at the same time via a chatroom-type social media site. It's like 80,000 people holding one remote. Users can input commands to move the character, have him select various game options, etc. At its height there were 81,000+ users inputting commands into the game. Two sides have emerged from this experiment; Anarchy, those who ignore any order and planning in the game, and Democracy, those who wish to vote on moves together in the game. Despite 80,000 people trying to operate one controller, there seems to be some progress being made in the game. Although, not at any great speed or efficiency. One pretty great post that stuck in my head was an animated .gif of what is happening to the character in the game. It depicted a cartoon version of the game character repeatedly being slammed into a wall. It's great how creative people can be when these strange kind of internet occurrences happen. I don't really know much about Pokemon, so a lot of this stuff is confusing since I really have no point of reference. I do, however, know that Imgur loves content about Pokemon, so it was no surprise that the site picked up on this cool little phenomenon. Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Been a while.
Welp, haven't been here in some time, sorry Regina. So the big thing on Imgur.com recently has been all about Twitch Plays Pokemon. The basis of this is that it is a social experiment where as an unlimited number of users can can control the character in one single video game, all at the same time via a chatroom-type social media site. It's like 80,000 people holding one remote. Users can input commands to move the character, have him select various game options, etc. At its height there were 81,000+ users inputting commands into the game. Two sides have emerged from this experiment; Anarchy, those who ignore any order and planning in the game, and Democracy, those who wish to vote on moves together in the game. Despite 80,000 people trying to operate one controller, there seems to be some progress being made in the game. Although, not at any great speed or efficiency. One pretty great post that stuck in my head was an animated .gif of what is happening to the character in the game. It depicted a cartoon version of the game character repeatedly being slammed into a wall. It's great how creative people can be when these strange kind of internet occurrences happen. I don't really know much about Pokemon, so a lot of this stuff is confusing since I really have no point of reference. I do, however, know that Imgur loves content about Pokemon, so it was no surprise that the site picked up on this cool little phenomenon. 
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I find this event pretty entertaining. I haven't participated myself, or watched more than five cumulative minutes, but I do think that it is incredible that any amount of progress has been made at all (that and the fact that it has become so popular).
ReplyDeleteI know there is now a sub reddit dedicated to the stream, and websites have popped up that track the progress of the players in real time and keep documents on what gyms they have beaten and which pokemon and items they have in their inventory. Part of me wants to be proud that all of these people can come together and work towards a common goal, like the internet can actually crowd source and create physical change. Then I remember its pokemon, and I become a whole lot less impressed.