Author Archives: wierzbic@usc.edu

Astrology

Nationality: African American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student at the University of Southern California, majoring in Game Design
Residence: Smyrna, GA
Performance Date: April 15, 2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Collected privately in an empty hallway while his friends played a horror game in the other room, which he returned to after the interview. I began by simply asking, “What do you know about astrology?”

The informant most likely first heard about astrology when he was a child from the Internet.
Informant: “[Pauses for a long time after I pose the question] I know… I’m a Scorpio.”

Interviewer: “Okay, what makes you a Scorpio?”

Informant: “Uh… Born in early November. At least, before the signs changed… somehow. I don’t know what’s up with that. But uh… yeah. Apparently different signs have different personality traits. Scorpios are very competitive. From my experience, that doesn’t seem to not be true [The informant is a rather competitive person]. I’m not saying that I’m competitive… but I am. Uh… That’s all I can think of, though. I’m not really sure what the other personality traits are because I don’t follow them, although I’m going to assume that Libras are smart.”

Interviewer: “Why?”

Informant: “Because it’s short for library…… Kidding! Because the book, it’s a book.”

Interviewer: “It’s a book?”

Informant: “Isn’t the symbol a book? I don’t know.”

Interviewer: Do you know if the symbols are connected to the star signs at all?”

Informant: “They just look like what they’re named after. So Scorpio’s a scorpion, aaaand Cancer’s a crab. Don’t quite understand that one… Uh, Gemini is twins. Makes sense.”
This informant does not know too much about astrology. Much like others who don’t know much, though, he does know his star sign, as well as an aspect of his sign. He is also aware of the connection to constellations, like many others.

Astrology

Nationality: American
Age: 34
Occupation: Program Coordinator at the School of Interactive Media and Games and the University of southern California, and freelance comic book writer
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 6, 2018
Primary Language: English

Collected privately in an empty hallway while his friends played a horror game in the other room, which he returned to after the interview. I began by simply asking, “What do you know about astrology?”

The informant first started looking into astrology in college, when he was inspired by a post he saw on the Internet.
Informant: “That is a pretty – I know a lot about astrology. Um, I’m pretty deep into the tarot major and minor arcana. Um, I’ve done some tarot research. Um, uh, in terms of astrology, I am a Libra with my moon in Cancer. Umm, I know all about the, the major cardinal signs, the wind, fire and earth signs. Um, I have a pretty extensive astrology chart built for myself that is oddly accurate. Um, I don’t think there is, I don’t think it is a scientific practice, but it is… it is too accurate too often to be completely disregarded, in my scientific opinion.”

Interviewer: “Do you know the traits of the different signs? Can you give me brief descriptions?”

Informant: “Uh, yeah, I can work through most of them. Uh, Libras are particularly good at balance, obviously. Umm, they sit in the center of opinions and work to normalize situations. That’s why I’m a good advisor. Uh, Virgos are, uh, anal, retentive neat freaks. Leos are fiercely dominate leaders, often, uh, ignoring of the needs of the people around them. Scorpios are hot-headed. Geminis are two-faced and often not to be trusted. My wife is a Gemini; It’s wonderful. Umm, uh… [Sighs] I don’t know, I guess Sagittarius’s, not quite sure so much about them. Taurus’s… we talked about, really straight-forward, bullish. Um… Yeah, I’m sure there’s some other ones that I’m forgetting, but… those are the main ones that I’ve primarily engaged with.”
This informant knows a surprising amount of astrology that delves into very specific aspects of the craft. He has fairly straight-forward descriptions of almost all the signs, and while he doesn’t necessarily believe wholeheartedly in it, he has noticed that it has been fairly accurate.

Pokemon Truck

Nationality: Australian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student at The University of Sydney, majoring in IT (Computer Science) and Business Analytics
Residence: Sydney, Australia
Performance Date: April 21, 2018
Primary Language: English

Collected privately in an empty hallway while his friends played a horror game in the other room, which he returned to after the interview. The informant mentioned this myth while I was interviewing him about another video game myth.

The informant, as a child around 7 to 9, had unlimited Internet access, and spent much of his time on forums looking for cheat codes. He was the one who introduced his peers to Pokemon, as well as the supposed “cheat codes” within it.
Informant: “Yeah so I know the 99 master ball thing under the, um, under the truck. So the idea was that… like, you know this was back in, like, the age when everyone had all the cheat code websites and, you know, people were talking on the playground and sharing, like, ‘Oh if you do this then you get this, you can unlock, you know, Sonic in… in, you know, you know, Super Smash Bros Melee if you beat the game 500 times and don’t die’ and so on. So like, you know, I can see how they spread. But yeah, like, there was this rumor spread that you could, you could unlock, you could get 100 master balls in which – There was only one in the game; you couldn’t find them any other way unless you won. I don’t know if they had the, the ticket thing, like the lottery, um, if you – I forget what you exactly have to do, I think you use, like, Strength on the truck in a certain circumstance or something. And then you unlock, you know, you get the master balls.”

Interviewer: “Was it real?”

Informant: “Not, it’s not real.”

Interviewer: “Who’d you hear that from?”

Informant: “I… I think… I don’t know where, I think it was, like, I read it on Cheat Code Central when I was looking through the cheat list. And of course Pokemon doesn’t have any cheats, so there’s nothing on the list. Though obviously someone had put that in there, cause they were like, ‘Oh yeah you can do it.’ I was like, I think if you got all three red G’s and you went to this special spot, then you would unlock something in, like, Pokemon Ruby, I forgot what it was.”

Interviewer: “How old were you?”

Informant: “My first Pokemon game was Pokemon Ruby, and that came out in, like, 2006? I don’t know when it came out. No, it was 2003, I think. So I got it around then, so I would’ve been… I was born in ‘96, so that would’ve been, I would’ve been, like, 7, 8? 9?”

Interviewer: “Anything else to add?”

Informant: “I mean, I re- I remember, um, trying a bunch of those. I think, [sighs], I think it was the red G’s. I’m not sure if I’m confusing it with the actual method to unlock them, cause that was weird enough as it was; It was, like, you had to read, like, the braille and then you had to, like, go through all these stages and find these specific Pokemon and stuff. And I remember, I think there was something in those cheat codes I actually did try, cause I was a kid. And it didn’t work, so me and my sister were very disappointed, cause we played it together.”
This informant has some beliefs that differ from other accounts of the truck in Pokemon. First of all, he claims that the truck has to do with master balls, not Mew. Secondly, he does not name Pokemon Red, but only describes a different secret in Pokemon Ruby.

Pokemon Truck

Nationality: Peruvian Jewish
Age: 20
Occupation: Student at the University of Southern California, majoring in Narrative Studies
Residence: Hollywood, FL
Performance Date: April 21, 2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish, Mandarin, and a little Hebrew

Collected privately in an empty hallway while his friends played a horror game in the other room, which he returned to after the interview. I began by simply asking, “Do you know any word-of-mouth secrets for video games?” Then I specified, “What do you know about the truck from Pokemon?”

The informant is well-versed in gaming culture, and knows a lot about Pokemon, but has never played some of the older games.
Informant: “So, uhh, rumor used to have it that you could get Mew in the first gen Pokemon games Red and Blue by walking up to a truck next to the, umm, next to the boat in Vermillion City. And I think y- you needed to get over a fence, and, like, press A on it, like, a hundred times, and then Mew would fight you. I think there’s also a version of it where you use Teleport at a Pokemon Center on a bike, and it teleports you to the truck, and Mew is there. There are a few different versions I’ve heard, but those are the two I remember.”

Interviewer: “Did you try any of them?”

Informant: “I never played Pokemon Red.”

Interviewer: “Do you know people who tried any of them?”

Informant: “Uhh, yeah.”

Interviewer: “But it didn’t work?”

Informant: “Didn’t work [laughs].”

Interviewer: “So it’s not real?”

Informant: “Not as far as I know? Maybe they were doing it wrong.”
This version of the truck myth has to do with finding Mew. The informant does not really believe the myth, but has no proof denying it. Like other versions, the truck is in Pokemon Red, but the informant includes all generation 1 Pokemon games.

Pokemon Truck

Nationality: African American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student at the University of Southern California, majoring in Game Design
Residence: Smyrna, GA
Performance Date: April 26, 2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Collected in my empty apartment. I began by simply asking, “What do you know about the truck from Pokemon?”

The informant is a big fan of the Pokemon franchise, and is very immersed in gaming culture. He has played many Pokemon games of different varieties, and loves the first generation of Pokemon (which includes the game he is referencing), though it’s not his favorite.
Informant: “There is a truck in Pokemon Red, I believe, either Red or – well, the first generation of games. So Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, all that good stuff. Umm, and apparently if you go to that truck and look under it, you can get Mew.

Interviewer: “What do you mean ‘Look under it?’”

Informant: “Like, y- you, if you, I guess if you just interact with the truck, you can battle and catch Mew.”

Interviewer: “Do you know what city it’s in?”

Informant: “It’s, ooh, I wanna say it’s one of the port cities so…. [inhales] I wanna say it’s one of the cities where you board the S.S. Anne, making it either… the city with Lieutenant Serge, which I cannot remember for the life of me.

Interviewer: “Vermillion?”

Informant: “Ver… million… Possibly, that’s probably it.”

Interviewer: “Um, where did you hear about this, and when?”

Informant: “Oh I have no idea when I heard this. I guess it was just, like, when I was still playing Pokemon Red, it was just a rumor that always went around.”

Interviewer: “Through word of mouth?”

Informant: “Mm, yeah, well or on the Internet.

Interviewer: “So you saw it on the Internet?”

Informant: “Yeah.”

Interviewer: “How old were you?”

Informant: “I don’t know. Probably a kid.”

Interviewer: “Is it real?”

Informant: “No… Well, no. First off, you can’t access the truck in the game by yourself. You have to, like, glitch over to it. Which is probably how… it kept people thinking it was real, cause they couldn’t test it out themselves. Um, yeah, but no, even if you glitch over to it and press A, it doesn’t do anything. However, uh, you can glitch the game and get Mew, just not through the truck.”

Interviewer: “For real? You can get Mew?”

Informant: “M-hm. I did it. I was 100 percenting all the games and I got all 151 Pokemon in the first game.”

Interviewer: “How?”

Informant: “Um, that is a question… I do not know the answer to. Uhh, it’s really complicated, so I forgot it, but I know it involves entering and exiting buildings and flying… to certain places. Yeah.”

Interviewer: “But it has nothing to do with the truck?”

Informant: “No. [Sudden realization] OHH!! I do remember! Okay so… above Cerulean City, there was, like, this path on the way to Bill’s house, and there was a bunch of trainers. And when you get to one of the trainers, it’ll, like, you know, exclamation point above their head when they see you. When you do that, you press Start, and then fly somewhere else. And then a bunch of other stuff. And that’s how you unlock Mew.”
This version of the truck myth has to do with finding Mew. The informant does not believe the truck has any real significance, though he is aware of the rumors. He does, however, know a real way to get Mew, proving that it is possible to get Mew in the game, even if it’s not through the truck. Like other versions, the truck is in Pokemon Red.