From Bloomsday to Pokémon Day

There is little to add that has not already been told in this newspaper about Bloomsday, the festive movement that fans of James Joyce's novel

do by repeating through the streets of Dublin, on June 16 and suitably dressed for the occasion, the footsteps of the protagonist of that book of books, Leopold Bloom,

.

But perhaps some coincidences can be pointed out around cultural celebrations.

The augmented reality game developer Niantic has decided on the 25th as its community day. As if it were a Bloomsday on a global scale, several company ambassadors will distribute rewards in various places throughout cities around the world related to their star games.

Which are, on the one hand, the

.

And, on the other hand, the

, which to the coincidence in the date adds the coincidence in the nomenclature.

Coincidences of life (or reflections between the analog and digital worlds).

More information

It's the (digital) economy, stupid

No, it's not that

has anything to do with

(beyond the

that its protagonists recreate in one way or another), but rather that the name strictly refers to its English translation: to

.

In the same way that

is the augmented reality version of Pokémon,

is the augmented reality version of the Pikmin universe: that is, both are played through the mobile

on the landscapes that our camera captures at the protagonists of the games, thus mixing fantasy and reality.

The first game emerged in 2001 for the Nintendo Gamecube under the baton of Shigeru Miyamoto himself, the game, of platforms and adventures in three dimensions, followed the adventures of a friendly astronaut who, crashed on an unknown planet, had to use some nice creatures called pikmin (creatures halfway between animal and vegetable, hence the relevance of the concept

) to avoid obstacles and overcome dangers and enemies.

The color of the Pikmin, who were following us in a small dancing army, defined their special abilities, and we could launch or send them during the adventure according to their own particularities.

Over the years, the little pikmin (and the astronaut Olimar) earned a place among Nintendo's most beloved pets and the franchise jumped from platform to platform until, in 2021 and in the heat of the success of

, Nintendo collaborated again with Niantic to bring to the world of augmented reality (that is, to the world) the Pikmin universe.

different types of pikmin in 'Pikmin Bloom'.

On the 25th, nine days after writers and fans from all over the world walk through the streets of Dublin recreating the adventures of

, thousands of people from all over the world will take out their phones and walk through their cities looking for the pokémon and pikmin that Niantic will have released for the occasion.

And it is that, in the same way that in the 20th century literature (and culture in general) developed a series of liturgies that formed the backbone of a large part of society, the culture of the 21st century is sowing, little by little, its own rituals and milestones.

Perhaps the screen is displacing the page, but the culture is still the culture, regardless of the format;

regardless of whether people celebrate it with a monocle in their eyes or with a pokeball in their hand.

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