Pokémon Go! produced by Nintendo Co. and developed by American Software development company Niantic Inc. has had profound worldwide success since its release on July 6, 2016, as an augmented reality game built on the successful Pokémon franchise. In-application purchases allow users to buy PokéCoins, PG's in-game currency, to purchase game items for more convenient game-play.

As soon as I heard that it had come out, I eagerly downloaded Pokémon Go! from the play app store, created an account, and began the crucial process of choosing a starter. After some running through the game map of my neighborhood like a madman in the night, Pikachu appeared for the catching, and I was filled with nostalgia as my quest to 'catch them all' began (again).

I traveled the world of Clay County Florida looking for Pokémon to catch, and items at Poké-Stops to fuel my journey. Instant camaraderie was felt with anyone playing the game, and all manner of people seemed to come together to play around with their pocket monsters.

One week after the release, I had gone for a walk and had decided to play. Living in the suburbs there aren't many Poké-stops around so I was running horribly low on Pokéballs. As I threw my last one, I thought to myself, "Oh boy, now watch the good ones appear now", but before I turned the game off, a level 201 Bulbasaur (unregistered) appeared alongside a level 202 Eevee. In my mind I start the debate whether to make a purchase in the PG store so that I can get some Pokéballs to catch these imaginary beasts. That is how developers hook you in freemium gaming, with flashy immediate rewards that appeal to a factor of human addiction; the game is free to play, but an in-app purchase makes it easier to get what you desire. I finally rationalized that I could do it because it was such a small purchase (only 99 cents USD for 20 Pokéballs!).

I searched for a card. I didn't want to use my debit card because I didn't know if there could possibly be viruses, keyloggers, or something of the like on my phone. I checked all pants, and surfaces for my credit card (so I thought). I kept my wallet and phone on top of a lemonhead tin at the foot of my bed; I retraced my steps via wardrobe time, and remembered that I had left my credit card in my favorite dark blue jeans. I frantically retrieve the pair hanging from my fiery chariot artwork from across the room, pull out my credit card ready to make my purchase and catch my Pokémon.

As soon as I go back to my phone, I hear a loud ringing accompanied by vibration as both Eevee and Bulbasaur have disappeared as the phone locked out and disconnected its GPS signal.

'GPS Signal Lost'

I return the credit card to its rightful wallet home. I can only laugh to myself.

Nintendo is estimated to be making 1.5 million dollars a day from in-app purchases.

In the week following the release of Pokémon Go! Nintendo stock had increased roughly 70% in value from $14,935 to $25,300 a share. Nintendo (NTDOY) stock is currently (as of July 18th, 2016) increasing by the day.

Pokémon Go! is still in its beta form, with more updates like trading, battling, and more Pokémon types yet to be released.

Pokémon Go! has only been officially released in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, The United States of America, Asia, and Canada. PG is still officially unavailable for play in Africa, and South America with releases to extremely eager players on these continents planned for the very near future.

This is the estimated current world population by continent from the Ecology Global Network:

In 2016 a forecast of 2 billion Humans own a smartphone.

Nintendo stock continued to rise reaching a peak of $31,770 per share on Tuesday July 19th.

On Friday July 25th Nintendo announced to its investors that it doesn't actually make Pokémon Go! but that it owns a 32% share in Niantic Labs Inc. the company that produced the game. Nintendo, and Google are the primary contributors to the program.

As of August 8th, 2016 Nintendo stock has decreased to $21,280, a 24.6% percent decrease in value since the Friday announcement.

Pokémon Go! utilizes your smartphone's GPS, gyroscope, and phone camera to create its augmented reality experience.

Pokémon Go! is truly going for gold.

=^.^=

Sources:

Nintendo Stock Price: http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?sym...

Pokemon-Go release by country and region: http://www.polygon.com/2016/7/15/12196050/is-pokem...

World Population: http://www.ecology.com/world-population-continent/

Global Smartphone Usage: http://www.statista.com/statistics/330695/number-o...