The Summer of Pokemon Go!
September 5, 2016
For years, Nintendo has been begging gamers to go outside and interact with other human beings. They tried to make it so easy: you could trade Pokemon cards, your GameBoy could connect with other GameBoys so you could battle, and your 3DS you didn’t even have to search for other players because the game did that for you and all you had to do was go to a public area. All these attempts, but there was no obvious success. This ongoing struggle began in 1996, and it wasn’t until now, 2016, that Nintendo finally struck gold.
Pokemon Go is iPhone or Android app that encourages users to get off their lazy butts and go find virtual Pokemon that are located around the world. The Pokemon are randomly placed by the server and all users are able to view and potentially catch the same creatures. There are also poke-stops that are scattered across the map, which some companies pay for in order to advertise and use these stops as an enticement for their services and entertainment. At these poke-stops, you are able to collect poke-balls, lures, eggs, and other good stuff.
The crème de la crème of this app is the pokegyms, which are usually found near heavily populated areas. Users that are level 5 and above are able to battle it out at these gyms, pitting the best Pokemon against each other. The goal is to take over the gym to help your team show off. (You pick your team once you upgrade to level 5).
So what’s all this hype about? Money? prizes? It would be assumed that if people were going so wild about catching and luring and evolving and hatching Pokemon there must be some kind of reward. But there isn’t. So what’s the appeal?
Well, as Nintendo had been striving for all along, people are getting out of the house to participate in mindless fun and meeting others who are doing the same.
Nostalgia plays an even bigger role in the success of this app. It reminds people with office jobs what it was like when they were teenagers and they got excited to show all their friends their pikachu card. Who doesn’t want to feel like a kid again?
So get out there, literally, and catch some Pokemon. It’s easier than ever.
