I was too old already when the original Pokemon craze hit some 20 years ago, so I never was into the card trading game featuring weird little Japanese monsters.
In fact, I thought it was kind of asinine.
But, in the past year, the craze and cards have returned, thanks to a marketing push during its big anniversary. My seven-year-old now collects the cards, watches the animated TV show, and can name every single one of the “pocket monsters,” or Pokemon.
Both he and my teen daughter were also quite excited when they heard about a new Pokemon Go game that was coming to smartphones, allowing people to see and catch Pokemon in the real world using augmented reality (AR) and their phone’s camera. I still couldn’t believe the whole Pokemon thing was lasting for two decades and generations. Although, having collected and traded baseball cards as a kid, I was starting to understand why my son liked Pokemon. He liked ripping open packages of cards like they were treasure hordes, hoping to find a coveted character or rare Pokemon. It was social as well, with my boy racing outside with his stack of 300 cards to trade with other kids in the neighbourhood. Plus, the little monster guys were kind of cute.
Now, the Pokemon Go game is out, which you’ve undoubtedly heard about unless you are just waking from a coma, and the whole world has gone Pokemon mad. So, Pokemon Go uses your smartphone’s GPS to locate you in the world, and show your avatar walking around the streets on a map. Every once in a while, a Pokemon creature pops up on the map and you tap on it to try and catch it. When you tap on it, your view changes to what your camera is seeing in front of you, plus the Pokemon superimposed on the screen, appearing to be standing on the street, or in your bathroom. Then you throw your “pokeballs” at the creature to try and capture it for points, experience and the chance to evolve it possibly into a more powerful Pokemon. To get more pokeballs for your hunt, you need to go to “Pokestops” or locations of interest like churches, landmarks and businesses. You can also set up Pokemon “lures” at these pokestops to attract more powerful and rare Pokemon for your collection. Once you have more powerful Pokemon, you can battle at “Pokegyms” to be the master at the gym.
I know, if you’re not playing, it sounds asinine, right?
Well, I can say after two weeks of walking around Squamish with my kids collecting Pokemon and pokeballs, this is a really fun, addictive game, and there are a number of reasons to play it.
The first big reason I’m enjoying this game is I have something to share with my kids. We can talk about the little monsters we’ve caught, where we caught them and how hard they were to catch. My kids like walking and hiking anyway; however, the game has them out and about even more (chaperoned by me or my wife of course)in an effort to “catch ’em all” as the Pokemon motto goes. Health practitioners have actually praised the game for getting some lethargic gamers outside and moving around.
Of course, some Pokemon Go players have made it into the news for wandering into traffic, off cliffs and across the US/Canada border illegally in their hunt for creatures. This has led to parent groups and some governing bodies to freak out and demonize the game.
Others I know call the game “stupid” merely on the logic they themselves don’t derive any pleasure from it; therefore, it can’t be useful.
But, one night when my kids and I went to a Pokestop and used a lure, it didn’t just attract Pokemon, it attracted other people. You see, others can see when you place a lure on a Pokestop, and can benefit from its affects. So, in about 10 minutes, there were several people milling about the park, socializing, comparing Pokemon, and having a great time. In fact, that was the game developer’s idea in the first place, to create a geo-mapping app that brought people together to explore landmarks, points-of-interest and discover their surroundings. So, it’s a success, both thanks to that idea, and the nostalgia of Pokemon being taken up by another generation.
So, don’t be a Pokemon Go hater. If you never liked Pokemon, give it a try. You may find the game quite addictive (even my 70-year-old father-in-law is playing). But if not, let others enjoy their new diversion.
