TRANSMEDIA, COLLECTIVE NARRATIVE AND URBAN SPACE: THE CASE OF POKéMON GO

The narrative contains the cognitive images that people needs for understanting themselves and their environments. Each media, written, visual or digital, have different effects on the narrative. Nevertheless, the presentation a narrative through multiple media platforms expands the influence of the narrative. Each version of the basic narrative is a whole in itself and, when all the pieces come together, they form a larger whole. These immersive narratives are named as transmedia narratives. Each piece contributes to the whole narrative by deepining one of the story elements such as characters, place, time or event. Pokémon is a famous transmedia example that has been going on for decades with anime, manga, games and cards. The latest version of the Pokémon narrative is “Pokémon Go!” which is called location based mobile games or augmented reality game. Pokémon Go that takes place in the intersection of Pokémon narrative, mobile devices, physical space and collective action, deepens the relationship between Pokémon narrative and urban spaces. The first layer of the double-layered Pokémon Go narrative is the location based mobile game narrative designed by game designers; the second layer is a dynamic and collective narrative that players create together while playing in the streets. The players catch the pokémons, go to Pokéstops for collecting items and constructs a player identity through urban elements, so they evolve new everyday life experiences and sense of urban place. In this study, it is aimed to reveal the influence of urban experiences emerged through location based mobile games on collective tranmedia narratives. In the light of participant observation and in-depth interviews on Pokémon Go, the integration of urban space on transmedia narratives is discussed