Picture: Jonathan TraynorSitting down to talk with Jonathan Traynor, a Glasgow-based artist and author, about his newly-released guide, POCA!, we had been anticipating a couple of issues. Y’know the type of stuff: how the Kickstarter went; the place the concept for the guide got here from; hopes for the long run; picks for the High of the Pops Xmas #1; and so forth.
Nonetheless, in spending an hour with this big fan of all issues Recreation Boy Digicam, we discover ourselves enthralled and engaged in methods we simply did not see coming. Why? Nicely, as a result of on the time we might been consuming eggnog all morning. But additionally, as a result of Jonathan’s ardour for one of many Recreation Boy’s coolest peripherals is infectious. You’ll be able to’t not discover out one thing you did not find out about this technological marvel while spending an hour on this man’s firm.
However what precisely is POCA? Nicely, earlier than we bought our palms on a duplicate of the guide, we assumed it was a dinky little pocket comedian a few speaking Recreation Boy Digicam (or Pocket Digicam because it’s identified in Japan) who goes on a giant time out snapping photographs in Glasgow. Which might have been sufficient to warrant a critical investigation, let’s face it.
The intriguing factor right here, although, is that it seems to be extra. Reasonably than make one thing that appeals solely to players, or followers of the Recreation Boy particularly, it is a celebration of the love and care that went into the creation of the Pocket Digicam that is welcoming to any reader. It is a heartfelt tip of the hat to composer Hirokazu “Hip” (or certainly “Chip”) Tanaka that melds its gaming origins with a cool story, plus some genuinely helpful vacationer pointers about Glasgow. What a combination! It could even be just the start of a worldwide journey for Poca himself.
We hopped over to Glasgow’s majestic Kelvingrove Museum — the place among the guide takes place — to talk with Jonathan.
Picture: Jonathan Traynor
Nintendo Life: Howdy there, Jonathan. Let’s begin off by speaking about the place the preliminary thought for POCA! got here from. It instantly feels prefer it’s one thing fairly private to you, so what was the preliminary spark?
Jonathan Traynor: Round this time final yr, I bought an Analogue Pocket, simply as a curiosity and it is the most effective factor I’ve ever purchased. I immediately knew it was such an excellent buy, as a result of I clearly owned a Recreation Boy after I was younger. And the truth that you possibly can plug Recreation Boy video games into this and play them right away has been such a marvel.
So, I bought this, and I’ve not too long ago additionally been taking over images as a passion. A few years again, I bought my first correct, devoted digicam. Previous to that, I used to be simply taking pictures from my cellphone, like anybody, however I wished to make a extra deliberate effort to take pictures of issues and carry a digicam round to new locations that I went to.
After I picked up this Analogue Pocket, one of many first issues I did was discover my outdated Recreation Boy Digicam, and I popped it into the Analogue and it nonetheless had pictures from after I was, like, 9 years outdated on it. Instantly I knew I needed to do one thing with that. It has a private side, completely, nevertheless it additionally takes such distinctive photographs.
Photographs: Nintendo Life
Then from the realisation you wished to do one thing, the guide was the primary thought? Or had been there different concepts first?
Initially, what I wished to do was possibly make a images zine or one thing like that. However I used to be additionally wanting into the historical past of the event of the Recreation Boy Digicam, and it is such a novel system relating to its improvement as effectively. It nearly by no means bought made, and the builders needed to actually strive exhausting to pitch [and] make it. However when it got here out, it additionally held the report because the world’s smallest digital digicam.
I additionally realised that there have been various variations between the Recreation Boy Digicam as they got here out within the West, and the Pocket Digicam because it was identified in Japan. And one of many huge variations was the branding and packaging. It is nearly like somewhat buddy character form of factor there, like a Tamagotchi. I simply had this concept of, ‘Oh, it is like this personal little standalone man with this eyeball.’ And it turns into this complete different factor once you put it right into a Recreation Boy.
It was round that point I began brainstorming this concept, I might flip this right into a small journey guide about somewhat Recreation Boy Digicam-style character, who travels round taking pictures of locations. Glasgow, as a place to begin.
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And you then got here up with the title Poca, which is clear in a approach, however is there extra to it?
I referred to as him Poca, after Pocket Digicam, and in addition to keep away from any authorized troubles. [laughs] It really works fairly effectively as a reputation, does not it? And, you understand, Pokémon was an enormous factor for me, and so Pokémon and Tamagotchis and Digimon and issues like that, this concept of getting somewhat companion who grew alongside you and levelled up and gained new abilities and talents. And I believed I might deliver that into Poca as a personality.
In order that’s a part of the idea of this guide – Poca is that this little digicam from the ’90s. He is somewhat outdated and he was developed and designed to be like similar to for the youngsters within the ’90s, possibly the Recreation Boy Digicam was the primary digicam they ever had. Proper?
Yeah, the levelling up of the character was one in every of our favorite elements of the guide – from a gamer perspective, how he grows and positive factors new abilities alongside the best way. The query marks over the abilities of Poca as he first boots up and comes again to life, had us excited to see how he would develop.
Yeah, that was one of many points of it that I actually wished to drill into, how he might be taught all these abilities that possibly trendy cameras use, issues like geolocation or time and dates, or possibly ultimately color images or one thing like that. As Poca levelled up and grew alongside you, he’d get higher and develop.
Let’s speak in regards to the Kickstarter somewhat bit. When did you resolve to leap into Kickstarter? Was that terrifying and the way did it go?
It was extraordinarily terrifying! It was essentially the most work…I did not realise how a lot work a Kickstarter is. Final yr I made my very first little comedian guide. It was a small ardour mission. I made this little 60-page comedian and I paid for the printing prices of that upfront, which was rather a lot, as a result of it isn’t low cost to print books, because it seems! And it was like somewhat black-and-white guide so the prices had been a bit extra affordable.
However I knew going into this that the prices had been going to be increased as a result of it is a full-colour guide that includes loads of pictures and issues. It needs to be of a sure high quality for pictures to work.
It is a danger, however if in case you have a good suggestion, it will possibly work, proper? And since the guide is such an excellent mixture of issues, in that it brings collectively the journey side, the tourism, the Recreation Boy, there’s one thing there for individuals who aren’t essentially into video games. You would give this to a child as a option to take pleasure in sightseeing across the metropolis, for instance?
Yeah, that was undoubtedly one of many pitches for the guide. That was what was vital to me – I am a large Nintendo fan, and I am an enormous video games fanatic, however I did not need to simply make the guide for gaming individuals. And particularly the Recreation Boy, it is already a distinct segment form of topic and the truth that it is a ’90s factor, who’s my viewers? Am I focusing on 30-year-olds like myself? Or am I focusing on youngsters?
Picture: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life
How do I take this topic and make it a bit extra all-around interesting to individuals? I believed the truth that it is centred and based mostly round Glasgow, town I’ve spent most of my life in, was a giant draw as effectively as a result of I beloved growing this curiosity in taking pictures of the locations I like. But additionally, I need to attempt to take this stuff and do one thing with them. So this was taking loads of issues that I have been concerned with over time, and making an attempt to place them collectively into one huge form of guide.
We need to contact on the end-of-chapter summaries that we have already touched on a bit, however to return to them, it is a very good thought, with the collected characters from the present chapter, Poca’s ideas, and so forth, all introduced on a last round-up web page. Was this at all times a part of the plan?
It was truly one thing that got here within the latter half of improvement of the guide, these end-of-chapter experiences. I name it the Pocadex, which is clearly impressed by Pokémon. There’s loads of influences in there.
I used to be creating chapters, and I had all these concepts for the characters that seem in each, and what I wished Poca to say and undergo. I used to be discovering that I used to be susceptible to making the chapters approach too lengthy. So I believed, influenced by Pikmin and the way the character Olimar writes somewhat end-of-day report and talks about sure issues – possibly it is one thing that occurred that day, possibly he discovered this merchandise or one thing, or he is simply speaking about Pikmin normally. And I used to be like, ‘Oh that’d be fairly a cool thought like on the finish of a chapter. Perhaps Poca might write somewhat end-of-day report alongside these traces.
Picture: Hip Tanaka
I’ve additionally bought him signing off on the finish and he is bought a stage, like “Poca, Stage 1.” once you had been a child and you’ll possibly draw an image or one thing, you’d at all times signal it “Jonathan, age 5,” I believed that’d be a cute wee factor to do.
And with the chapter titles, there’s one thing occurring there, too. We recognise them. We had initially guessed Tremendous Mario Galaxy, however we had been mistaken! It is Pikmin 4, proper? How might we not know that after guiding the sport? [laughs]
Nicely, I am an enormous Pikmin fan. Pikmin might be my all-time favorite Nintendo franchise. I do not know if you understand this, however I am nearly single-handedly accountable for bringing Pikmin again into the mainstream.
[laughs]
For about two years stable, each week on a Wednesday at 1pm, I’d publish a tweet saying that Shigeru Miyamoto had confirmed Pikmin 4 was in improvement. And this was in that interval after Pikmin 3, the place it simply went silent for like about eight years. And I used to be, as a Pikmin fan, similar to, the place is it? So I simply hammered it on Twitter till the day it was truly formally introduced, and I used to be like, ‘Okay, I am finished!’
There are some pictures of drawn characters right here that bought us considering, had you deliberate that shot beforehand, had you bought the photographs prematurely after which got here up with a narrative to suit what you had? Or did determine the story out first?
Yeah, 90% of the pictures had been taken earlier than the guide was in improvement, earlier than I might deliberate out the story or the characters and stuff. Quite a lot of the characters and story had been made to suit round what I might do with the pictures. I had all these pictures across the River Clyde as a result of I stroll down there rather a lot, I am close by and it is a good stroll on a pleasant day.
And that is the place we bought a shock at first from the guide, we realized one thing new (!) in regards to the River Clyde after dwelling right here for 20 years. There is a story working by way of the guide that includes it, proper?
I used to be making an attempt to think about somewhat chapter-length story that I might put Poca by way of as he travels round, and I bought this concept of, effectively, why is it referred to as the River Clyde? I did not actually know. And I seemed into it and what I found was that the River Clyde is known as after a Celtic goddess referred to as Clota. And because it seems, there’s not lots identified about this goddess. There are two references in historic textual content, or on a wall in some Roman place, referring to this goddess, and it is simply carried on since then.
And so I developed this concept of making Clota as a personality within the guide, she might pop up and converse to Poca. I wished this fantastical layer to the guide, nearly in a Spirited Away, Ghibli form of approach.
One factor we have to ask you about is the photographs of actual individuals dotted by way of the guide right here and there. Are they buddies, Kickstarter backers?
There’s a image right here initially of Phantom Donuts, of two individuals. So I am in Phantom Donuts on a regular basis. And, then, on the finish of the guide, the very last chapter is about in a sushi store referred to as Sushi Riot. And I knew at this level what I wished to do with the story and I knew that, to not spoil issues, however Poca’s story is ultimately going to result in Japan. And I believed it could be good if the ultimate chapter of the guide had that form of tie or that lead-in to Japan.
Okay, let’s get into that, so the plan is there for the subsequent guide to be in Japan? We weren’t certain whether or not it was to be continued or not.
Initially, initially of the yr, the concept began out as somewhat story about Glasgow. This summer season I used to be very lucky to have the chance to journey. Me and my companion went to Hawaii, and there was a possibility there. Presently I used to be simply actually into taking pictures with a Recreation Boy Digicam and stuff. I used to be like, ‘ what, I will do it. I will take my Recreation Boy Digicam to Hawaii as effectively.’ As we had been planning this journey to Hawaii, I additionally tacked on a visit to Japan on the finish. I had a sabbatical from work and it allowed me to do that.
And earlier than I went, I [thought], ‘ what, I might take a bunch of pictures in Hawaii, I might take a bunch of pictures in Japan, and I might make three books. I might make a Glasgow, Hawaii, and a Japan guide.’ And at the moment, the books had been nonetheless very … I used to be nonetheless considering they had been simply going to be quick, 30-page books or one thing.
So, once you had been in Japan as effectively, you obtain some extra Pocket Cameras and also you made a little bit of a discovery.
I knew that after I went over I used to be going to be in search of extra. So I ended up coming again with 4 Recreation Boy cameras, together with one boxed one. And that is possibly somewhat bit fascinating, however the Recreation Boy had pictures on them already from different individuals who had owned them beforehand. And I felt actually dangerous about deleting them. I did not need to delete different individuals’s reminiscences and images.
So, maybe somewhat controversially, I did resolve to make use of a couple of of those pictures within the guide and incorporate them into the story in a roundabout way. I requested round and I put out feelers and I used to be like, ‘Is that this okay?’ I do not know, is utilizing different individuals’s photographs with out their permission okay? I do not even understand how I’d ever discover these individuals, proper? I do not know if this {photograph} was taken within the Nineties or 2015.
I requested round and I put out feelers and I used to be like, ‘Is that this okay?’…You’ll be able to go right down to the market and purchase photobooks of individuals’s pictures down there. You should purchase postcards individuals despatched 100 years in the past, and I at all times discover that fairly fascinating, and somewhat bit unhappy.
So I believed, there is a sure stage of anonymity relating to Recreation Boy Digicam pictures, proper? As a result of they’re so low-resolution and black and white and stuff. You’ll be able to go right down to the market and purchase photobooks of individuals’s pictures down there. You should purchase postcards individuals despatched 100 years in the past, and I at all times discover that fairly fascinating, and somewhat bit unhappy. I believe that even when it transpired that they noticed the guide, they’d solely be pleased about it and I’d love nothing greater than to attempt to discover them.
You could have one other guide right here, a really cool-looking Japanese information to the Pocket Digicam, from all the best way again within the day and it is filled with stuff that the digicam might do.
This Pocket Digicam information is one thing I did not actually know existed till six months in the past or one thing. Anyone on Twitter posted an image of their very spectacular Nintendo assortment together with all these like Recreation Boy cameras and stuff, and this guide, and I used to be like, ‘Oh my god, what’s this guide? I have to see it, I would like to search out it.’ I ended up searching down a duplicate. I used to be like blown away by the guide. It is clearly all in Japanese.
It is principally simply fairly dense ‘Here is what you are able to do with the Recreation Boy Digicam’ and all this enjoyable stuff. You may make restricted animations, you are able to do this, you are able to do that. However one of many issues I did realise is that the event crew for the Recreation Boy Digicam was this very fascinating group of those that got here collectively and had loads of ardour for this mission.
Photographs: Nintendo Life
Particularly, the mission was led by Hirokazu Tanaka, who’s a music composer primarily, and he made loads of Nintendo tunes that you’d recognise immediately from the Recreation Boy period (Tetris, Tremendous Mario Land) and the NES period (Balloon Struggle, Metroid). He was the mission lead on this and he ended up occurring to work for Creatures Inc. [as president].
So here is this huge man and he retired from all that not too long ago, and he is now a chiptune artist. He goes round performing units in Japan with all these stage exhibits. He is simply an extremely, extremely cool man. You’ll be able to take heed to his music on Spotify, it goes underneath the pseudonym Chip Tanaka. I used to be wanting into it and I can inform he is nonetheless very passionate in regards to the Recreation Boy Digicam and the work that was put into it.
We really feel as if we actually have to make some type of an effort for Mr Tanaka to see this guide now. You had been contemplating this man as you labored on it?
You’ll be able to see in the direction of the tip of the guide, or in sure bits, there’s all these little tidbits that he is written in regards to the Recreation Boy Digicam after which on the very finish there’s all these comedian strips, and this was after I used to be growing Poca’s thought, and I used to be this, and I used to be considering, ‘There’s one thing right here, there is a connective tissue.’
What I discovered, one thing possibly not lots of people know, however the Recreation Boy Digicam has this hidden workers credit display screen. It is filled with secrets and techniques and easter eggs within the software program, however there are video games which you could play, and one in every of them is a button-mashing runner, and when you beat [it] underneath a sure period of time, you unlock secret workers credit.
Picture: Nintendo Life
And the key workers credit have music that Hirokazu Tanaka wrote, and it is like essentially the most — I do not know — I used to be listening to it for the primary time this summer season, and I used to be nearly tearing up. I simply thought it was essentially the most stunning music I might ever heard and it felt prefer it actually…it was immediately just like the theme tune to Poca for me.
I used to be considering, “That is every thing I wished from this mission.” And it is such an fascinating factor. If this guide reignites somebody’s curiosity within the Recreation Boy Digicam or in Tanaka, I really feel like that may make me very pleased. I imply, if I might discover a option to get a duplicate of this to him, it could undoubtedly be like a dream come true. I really feel like I made the guide nearly for him.
Oh wow. Think about if we might someway make a Christmas miracle occur and get a duplicate of this in Mr Tanaka’s palms.
Proper, you understand that may be form of excellent.
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This interview has been calmly edited for readability.
Due to Jonathan Traynor for his time, and to the workers at Kelvingrove Museum, for the beautiful espresso. “Poca! Vol.1 Glasgow” is now that can be purchased over on Kickstarter and you may comply with Jonathan (@Jofamo) and Chip Tanaka (@tanac2e) on Twitter.
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