Pokémon Snap & the Evolution of Photography Games - Tama Hiroka 

You've probably heard this from several others but I'm glad you've been posting regularly again. It seems like you're really enjoying it and that's what expressing your interests through content should be all about

It’s kinda interesting because with the rise of cell phones, in particular smart phones, photography is no longer a niche interest. Back in the day, getting a camera and taking photos was an investment of time and money, unless you were going to go the route of a disposable camera. But even then, once you get your pictures it’s up to you to do something with them creatively which typically takes even more time and money. Nowadays almost everyone can take a picture anywhere they are, and it will be a higher quality image than the ones of yesteryear. Apps like Instagram and Snapchat have clearly shown people are invested in interpreting the world around them visually. Yet we went without even word of a new Pokémon Snap until 2020, and as you illustrate in your video, few games focused on photography since. It’s almost like since it’s something so easily accessible in real life, developers have thought there was no point in gamifying it, but I don’t think that’s actually true.

I'm happy that you're so active again recently!

Broke: Tomoyo has/is using a camera on a drone Woke: Tomoyo is a future military grade high speed high tech spy drone

I used to watch your channel so much when I was a kid, so now that I’m bored during quarantine, rediscovering it and finding out that you’re still making content is such a pleasant surprise!

WTF you're back!? You've been back for a while!? THANKS RU-vid!!!

I actually remember having a photography game for the GBA, except is was a licensed Nicktoons Game. You wandered well known spaces and took pictures of specific Nicktoons characters. The gameplay was straight up identical to Gekibo, just with Nicktoon instead of "LA"

Seriously, your videos are extremely insightful and I feel like I learn a lot from them

Interesting topic to explore. I like your analysis and I’m glad to see you posting more often. A photography game I remember playing as a kid that wasn’t mentioned was Nicktoons Freeze Frenzy on GBA. It’s an a title I don’t hear many people talk about, but it’s about taking pictures of classic nicktoons characters and going to different worlds to save nicktoons characters who are trapped in a different universe. You have to rescue the characters by taking multiple pictures of them to help to transport back to their own universe. It’s a unique concept and I hope to see more photography games.

There’s something so strange about your channel and you that I love so much. I remember finding your channel years back and never subscribed but watched a whole lot at the time. At the time it was so great to see and learn fun facts about my favorite childhood games but than your videos slowly drifted from my suggestions. My interest changed and my life went on. A few years later I found your channel again and it gave me so much joy to see you were still around. It was like seeing and old friend again after such a long time. Again your content drifted from my suggestion and I lost contact with you. But once again now I’ve found your videos. Even though I know you don’t know me at all (only commented once before about a similar re-finding) I’m so glad to see you’re still around and doing well. I’ll try to stick around a while longer, but when I do wander off again I can’t wait to one day find you and your lovely channel again. :)

In most of the games shown, I feel like there were great ideas and concepts that were never used to their full potential. I think the CardCaptor Sakura game in particular showed a lot of cool concepts and tried several new things for both photography games and video games as a whole, even if kinda flawed. The genre died out before it could really start perfecting these ideas.

Its interesting that photography used to be a fairly "niche" interest (as you said) considering how popular it has gotten. I guess the advances in technology have made photography more accesible to everyone and therefore more popular.

I love how indepth you go with your videos its really interesting. Missed your postings

I’m loving that you’re putting so many videos out! They’re really good and interesting too! Nice work Tamashii

Great video as always. Love seeing the Tama notification go off. Keep it up! Totally looking forward to the new Snap coming out for the Switch 👏🙌

i’m so happy you’ve been posting recently, i love watching your old videos! 😁

you should check out Umarangi Generation! It’s a game released this year all about taking photos and has a nice art style

this was a really good video! i think you hit the nail on the head in explaining how pokemon snap 2 is being aptly released in a time where people are constantly sharing screenshots of gameplay as a means to appreciate games, pick apart specific details, and make copious amounts of memes

makes me so happy seeing that you’ve still been posting over the years!!!! i discovered ur channel from ur old pokemon green video all those years ago

Have you played Umarangi Generation? It‘s a 2020 game about photography and it‘s basically what you predicted at the end.

Love all the videos you've been putting out! So glad to have you back!

Great video glad to see you are back

I appreciate this video and your channel so much!

Love the recent activity! Keep it up :)

This was SUCH an interesting video! Photography-based games were always a subject I was curious about, but never quite enough to look into it myself. It was super cool seeing a Dreamcast game featured here, it's actually surprisingly easy to play imported games on that console if you ever wanted to revisit it without emulation.

Thank you so much for all videos you made. You are one of my absolutely best youtubers ever. :) Jsi borec.

I'm so glad to see you making videos again Tama, I missed you!!

I've heard about the cardcaptor game in the past, but this is my first time seeing the gameplay in action and it looks super fun. Fun video. Also glad you're back to regularly uploading.

I've been watching several Photography Video game videos lately and I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Bioshock games yet. While not a huge mechanic, I had a lot of fun playing around with the camera in those games. Great video btw, it's nice to see someone go so in depth on this niche genre

I had subscribed to you a while back and had noticed that you hadn't posted which made me feel worried because your videos are really interesting but I'm glad to see that you are at it again. Don't loose your fighting spirit keep at .

3:17 HOL' UP! Is that a man flashing, in the first cell of the roll?

wonderful video! welcome back

I love these videos. You are a great content creator! Nice break from the world

I don't have the time to watch this just yet, but it makes me really happy to get upload notifications from you more frequently. :)

Ive been watching you since i was 10, im 20 now, im so happy your back tamashii!!! Ive missed you!

This channel is so nostalgic for me ugh

Wow, great vid! After not watching you for 5 years and seeing on my dads laptop that you uploaded, I was shocked. I used to love your vids and watch everything you posted, I can’t believe there hasn’t been a change in your content. I hope you continue to make new videos because I am hooked like i was in 2015

While not a Japanese game, Unarangi Generation is an excellent photography game that's got a unique style that feels very much like an open world version of Pokemon Snap in a dystopian setting. It's got a wide range of options for the camera, rather than tools to interact with the world, which really lets you see everything in the city from the same lens as someone living there. Totally worth a look!

BRB just gonna rewatch your whole channel to relive some good memories lmao

Great vid! Never made the connection that Pokemon Snap was a Creative Rail Shooter/FPS before, wow. So excited that they're finally making a sequel. You made a great point that it was strangely "ahead of [but firmly a] product of its time," so I wonder how much of the original gameplay they'll include or update? Can you imagine snapping a shot of Ho-oh after chucking an apple at the rainbow or something lmao Looking forward to how they'll creatively explore social features. It might've been fun with the Wii U Gamepad (lol rip) but thinking of its potential on the Switch is so exciting - especially after they toyed with the idea in Gen 7. Thanks for the vid and fingers crossed for the Tama Plushie! (Also was not expecting to get hit with the Cardcaptor Sakura nostalgia but I'm here for it

In México we had the original version of Sakura, with some minor censoring, but still almost an unadulterated experience. It was quite successful over here despite being a shojo.

Lovely video as always. :-)

Another great video :)

A really great video as always! I had no idea there were so many camera games (and based on your findings in the Discord, neither did you until recently!). I knew about Pokémon Snap, Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker and that minigame in Mario Party, but I had no idea how far stretched this idea had been in the past! Oh yeah, they also did it in Game & Wario too, lol. I'm surprised it's taken this long for us to get a Pokémon Snap sequel. I hope it's good! And who knows, maybe it will inspire even more camera rail-shooters in the future! Oh also, didn't they have a Camera mode in Metal Gear Solid as well..? …Nevermind, I think that was just an Easter Egg the developers put in to see references to the development team haha

I'm so happy she is talking about snap and other photography games. Because The New Pokemon Snap is coming out in April 2021. I cant wait to play it. Photography games are some weird yet awesome games. So much cheaper than real photography.

New fan to the channel, great content! Camera games have an an odd spot in my heart over the years, huge Pokémon snap & fatal frame fan. Too bad there would never be a Pokémon horror crossover, maybe taking pictures in lavender town?

Ty for the upload

Pokemon Snap might be my favourite Pokemon game, I never really thought about other photography games like it outside of I guess the photography elements of Dead Rising or where it came from in general. I also loved the Cardcaptor show when I was younger and I'd never heard of any games based on it especially a videoing one even though yeah in hindsight it makes sense. Congrats on willing New Pokemon Snap into existence by working on this video, I'm real grateful. Just a quick note the final segment is labelled Concusion instead of Conclusion

The one thing I saw in this video I didn't know (regarding Snap itself) was getting pikachu to run on top of Electrode! Can't believe I've never done that

I played Pokemon snap so much when I was younger. It's so nostalgic.

Am I dreaming? Are we living in a blessed timeline?? I’m so happy you’re active again :D It’s like the days where you were regularly uploading! Hallelujah 💗

I sure do hope a video about photography in games has a Dark Cloud 2 segment in it? I won't be surprised if it doesnt tho lol

This wasn't in my sub feed ._. Thanks for posting about it on your Twitter!

That cardcaptors game looks super interesting. Also always loved those Fatal Frame games!

Tamashi is pretty and well spoken. Pokemon snap was so awesome back in the day. My mom worked at blockbuster so I would venture up there every friday night to get my pictures printed out on stickers.

Awesome video

started watching cardcaptor sakura because of this video just a few days ago and its super cute so far! it seems like it tries pretty hard to do things differently from other entries in the magical girl series made just before them and i really appreciate that in a show. thanks for the suggestion! :))

OMG THANK YOU!!! I love games with photography so much. also, have you ever heard of Touhou Project? It's a bullet hell franchise that has some games based on taking photos of bullets, its really good imo (tho its not that similar to the ones you listed)

You're one of the very few that mentions Fatal Frame. Would be nice to hear your take on the series sometime in the future sense it's my favorite horror series. A new game is much needed.

awesome video

Good video! Here's hoping the next one doesn't get buried.

Considering how crucial photography and filming are to skateboarding, in that there's no real "score" or such to capture the artistry/breadth of the sport, I'd say that the EA Skate games, especially the third one, had enough focus on camera work to be considered at least partially in this genre. A lot of the missions were focused on photography and filming, but gave no guidelines as to how it should be done, leaving it up to the player to both perform and capture the performance in whatever way they liked. It also had the replay feature, where at any point in this open-world experience that encouraged you to get creative with the environment, you had immediate access to what you just did, and could frame and stage it afterwards with a plethora of realistic and completely fictional camera angles. The movement engine made these games expressive in the first place, but the control over presentation adds a whole world of depth to them that you can't really get from anywhere else.

Fascinating on Gekibo. I actually played a lot of Nicktoons: Freeze Frame Frenzy growing up and loved it, which unknown to child me, had very similar gameplay to this but with some differences. It's just interesting to see how a licensed game I'm nostalgic for took a lot of inspiration from here.

Wish you would’ve talked a little more about the game “Afrika”, I love that one. Great video, though.

Cardcaptor Sakura is my favourite anime and although I’d heard of this game, I’d never seen any footage until now.

Coming back to watch this gem in anticipation of New Pokemon Snap.

I was not really excited by the announcement of the New Pokemon Snap but seeing this reminded me how much I loved the original game and I think I've changed my mind. I'm excited to see how this new game will turn out.

Beyond Good & Evil 1 (2003) had a great photography feature

Nicktoons freeze frame frenzy is by far the best photography game EVER 👍

I'm glad that you're back to posting more regularly and that you've taken on board the comments made by people who are calling you out over getting a bit... complacent. We only say it because we care!

Hi, Tama. I've been a long subscriber of your channel. It's great that you finally released a new video! If you don't mind, can you redo your top 10's again? Most of them are old videos, I would love to know your opinion of top 10 Pokémons again 😁

Everyone knows that if you were a child in the 90s and you do not know by memory the opening of Sakura Cardcaptor you have failed as a child of the 90s (just listening to it my manly tears fall), and Tomoyo is the first stalker I met in the audio visual medium XD.

Dead Rising had photography as another way to get PP (experience points). There are five categories your photos are ranked on: •Drama: dramatic events and scenes •Brutality: violence and blood •Outtake: funny scenes •Horror: scary scenes, zombies in general •Erotica: a woman’s...... “assets” Some side missions require you use your camera, and some achievements/trophies require it too (for example, photograph all psychopaths). Don’t worry, Frank West has covered wars, y’know.

13:33 Spider-Man/Peter Parker is an photographer! So it's really not that weird that it's a photomode in a Spider-Man game.

A VR photography game could be a really cool concept

7:25 "Blockbuster", eh? That's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

Wait: Card Captors Sakura was dubbed in the USa to give protagonism to Shaoran and the fights? Holy Arceus. Everyone: I can't recommend you enough to watch the original japanese CCS with subtitles. 11/10 would watch again. Also, the drawing and colouration is beautifully beautiful.

I'd never heard of that card captor game, looks interesting

Pikachu Riding on Articuno was the best thing about Pokemon Snap

Been watching since 09' You and Jenna Marbles ARE RU-vid for me. I'm so happy you're back Tama 💕

Back in the day Cardcaptor Sakura was a huge success here on Mexico so I'm honestly surprised that I have never seen this game ... Which actually looks pretty awesome visually and gameplay wise. I wish I can read Japanese so I can import it. Thank you for letting me know about it :D

Funny how photography never quite left Pokemon since Snap, like in-depth camera of X&Y, the Contest Spetacular in ORAS, the finder in Sun and Moon...

I was surprised you didn't mention the Fatal Frame series. The first one came out in 2001, so it's a little later than Snap, but it's basically hunting ghosts using a special camera. I'm sure there's tons more examples, and you mentioned the most relevant ones - using a camera to adapt a FPS into a more family friendly genre. EDIT: AND OF COURSE THIS WAS THE ONLY VIDEO I DIDN'T WAIT TO THE END TO COMMENT. IGNORE ME.

9:15 Maybe the Dash card has been used on the player character? I love Cardcaptor Sakura though, and didn't even know there was a game, though it looks super difficult to me, even if it was in English. I grew up watching the Cardcaptors dub! I love seeing the original that just got added to Netflix and enjoying the scenes that got removed or altered, but the english voices from this dub seem so weird to me, almost in whiny even. I still love it though. Love your video too, it was wonderful to watch!

CARD CAPTORS A MYSTIC ADVENTURE CARD CAPTORS A QUEST FOR ALL TIME

I hope there’s a future camera game that tell me the purpose of some Instagram filters because I have no idea when or why I should use some

7:18 The classic Charmander swarm! lmao

Whoa, no joke I just played that Gekisha Boy game for the first time 2 weeks ago! I still couldn't beat the first stage yet, but it was fun. WI will try it again soon.

I think the only other photography-oriented game I played besides Snap was Nickelodeon Freeze Frame Frenzy for GBA, almost exclusively because Danny Phantom was in it. 😂

I'm excited to play New Pokemon Snap! I never had an N64, so my entire exposure to the original was the demo level at the kiosk in Blockbuster. Now I can play the real deal! I wonder if there won't be any limits on how many shots you can take in a level since film is no longer really a concern.

Its interesting I just saw Cardcaptors on Netflix last night and thought it may be interesting to watch. Glad I saw this video today! Maybe I'll give the show a go.

Keep up the videos

For people interested in games like this. Check out Umurangi generation on steam. Great 3D photography game based on bounties for certain shots

cool video and as a card captor sakura fan I would play the shit out of the game you showed here if it is ever localized

I just bought the Entire series of Card captor Sakura a gem from my childhood! Tama have you heard of The Cardcaptor Sakura Tetris game? I never knew about Tomoyos game

QUEEN IS BACK 🥰

nice video! also worth mentioning are GBA Nicktoons photography games

This game I think was very interesting, it didn't get that much popularity as the original games but it sure was a cool idea.

Applied for a preorder to offer some support. Hope it gets its funding!

There was also a NickToons game, that was similar to the first game you showed, that was released on GBA.