If you haven’t noticed people of all ages suddenly wandering aimlessly on the streets and glancing on their smart phones, or what appears to be an influx of tourists taking photos of local points of interests, then you must not have stepped outside in the past week. Recently, a new app developed by Niantic and The Pokémon Company, Pokémon Go, has literally taken the streets. The popularity of the app can be seen all over major cities and remote locations alike. Locations such as the Santa Monica Pier, the Getty Center, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) have been swarmed by people of all ages young and old who gather to “catch 'em all.”
Pokémon Go is an addicting, free-to-play, augmented reality game that uses your location, GPS and Google Maps to allow players to capture and train Pokémon (animal-like characters with abilities and lore pertaining to a Nintendo franchise) as well as test them at gyms. Seems relatively simple. With the inclusion of three teams, however, the game turns into a series of turf wars between groups of players aligned with either Team Valor, Team Mystic or Team Instinct. Each team has their own personal set of values and code of ethics. The objective behind gym battles is to either increase the prestige of a gym controlled by your team by training with teammates, or to decrease the prestige of opposing teams by defeating all the players of an opposing gym and therefore capturing it.
The coolest feature of this game is the incorporation of real world locations as they are mixed with in-game lore. There are numerous PokéStops (locations where players can go to pick up handy in-game items) and gyms scattered between minor locations such as the neighborhood grocery store to major locations such as landmarks, malls and college campuses. This feature requires players to leave their couch and roam around looking for points of interest as they venture out on their quest.
Playing since launch day, this game caused some minor changes to my lifestyle. I now plan my running routes around PokéStops and locations where Pokémon are known to be found, as well as leaving the car in the garage in favor of my bike or skateboard. I also noticed a new level of interaction between the community, where players met others randomly and socialized. This makes this game one of the trendiest ways to interact with players in the real world outside of your social circle.
Naturally, being popular does have a negative side as well. Recently, Pokémon Go has received a plethora of media attention both positively and negatively. Although the game does bring people out of their homes and outside, it is also important to note that criminals have been known to use the game’s location feature to attract innocent people to remote hotspots set up with lure modules (in-game items that attract Pokémon to a PokéStop for everyone around to catch) and rob them. There have also been reports of players venturing into private properties, as well as dangerous areas such as cliffs and bluffs, in order to catch what they believe are rare Pokémon. This results in them being sent to a local hospital for minor injuries. Although situations like the ones above are rare, they do occur and it is best to play responsibly.
Pokémon Go became a huge hit out of nowhere and it is no surprise why. Attracting everyone from first generation Pokémon lovers to those who are new to the franchise, the game has done what very few have been able to. On the surface the game may seem simple and average, it is no doubt a great experience for everyone.
