Pokémon GO – Ten Days Later
Ten days on from the launch of Pokémon Go the game has finally been officially released in the UK. However judging by the amount of gyms that have been claimed in my neighbourhood, it would seem that many people have already opted to download and install the client unofficially, like myself. Pokémon Go has gone beyond being just a popular mobile game and quickly morphed into a pop culture phenomenon. It’s everywhere at present and Nintendo are obviously enjoying the fruits of their labour. However it will be interesting to see in the weeks to come whether the level of enthusiasm the game currently enjoys can be sustained.
Ten days on from the launch of Pokémon Go the game has finally been officially released in the UK. However judging by the amount of gyms that have been claimed in my neighbourhood, it would seem that many people have already opted to download and install the client unofficially, like myself. Pokémon Go has gone beyond being just a popular mobile game and quickly morphed into a pop culture phenomenon. It’s everywhere at present and Nintendo are obviously enjoying the fruits of their labour. However it will be interesting to see in the weeks to come whether the level of enthusiasm the game currently enjoys can be sustained.
As for me, I’ve already dialled back by excitement for Pokémon Go. All the local Pokégyms are beyond my current level and none of my existing Pokémon are sufficiently robust enough to provide a significant challenge, so I’m mainly focused on collecting at present. Due to where I live, there are plenty of Pokéstops. It would appear that pubs, churches and parks all meet the games criteria to be a designated as such and there’s no shortage of these in South East London. Avery Hill Park next to the Halls of Residence for Greenwich University has over twelve Pokéstops and two gyms. The park itself can also offer a variety of Pokémon, which change according to the time of day.
The twenty minute walk that it takes to reach this particular open space, plus the time needed to walk round the entire park provides a great opportunity to hatch eggs. This is an additional facet of Pokémon Go that brings me pleasure, although it raised a curious look from Mrs Peril when I told her I was going out to incubate my eggs. It’s also the only aspect of the game that has so far made me contemplate spending money. I briefly thought it may be useful to purchase additional incubators but quickly shelved the idea. I already put enough money into several other games that I play and am still suspicious about the cost to fun ratio of mobile games. I also have a nagging doubt that I may get bored with Pokémon Go because I cannot invest the time that is needed to progress and succeed in the game.
One final part of Pokémon Go culture that is worth mentioning is the comradery. I was at the Crayford branch of Sainsbury’s yesterday and there was several families shopping while playing the game. A few friendly words were exchanged once everyone determined we were all doing the same thing, which makes for a pleasant change. I also noticed more people politely nodding and smiling when out and about. I guess the way we carry our phones and the manic grin is a bit of a giveaway that we’re all after the same rare Pokémon. Personally I find these minor but positive changes in social interaction a pleasant counterbalance to all the negative stories that have been associated with the game. It would seem that there are still many players who seem oblivious to their own and others safety.
Pokémon Go uses a popular franchise and combines it with the human compulsion to collect, as well as our love of gamifying the arbitrary and the mundane. I’m still not sure if the game is a stroke of genius or a case of the emperor’s new clothes. Certainly it has been nice to be part of a burgeoning craze while it actually happens, rather than being on the outside looking in. I also think that Augmented Reality may be the sleeper game format that gazumps the crown that Virtual Reality is striving for. We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime perhaps we should start placing bets on other popular franchises from the nineties that may be revived. My money is on Johnny Bravo.
Pokémon GO – The Madness Spreads
Well the world seems to be going crazy for Pokémon GO at present, myself included. I must admit the first thing I did today when I woke up was reach for my phone and log into the game. I ended up catching a Drowzee in my bedroom which came as a surprise to me. So much for me trying to temper my smart phone “addiction”. Just five days after the release of Pokémon GO, the Nintendo Corporation is enjoying a $7.5 billion increase in their market value. The game itself is certainly gaining a lot of media attention as well as traction with the player base, despite performance issues and bugs. I hope that Niantic release an updated client soon with various fixes.
Well the world seems to be going crazy for Pokémon GO at present, myself included. I must admit the first thing I did today when I woke up was reach for my phone and log into the game. I ended up catching a Drowzee in my bedroom which came as a surprise to me. So much for me trying to temper my smart phone “addiction”. Just five days after the release of Pokémon GO, the Nintendo Corporation is enjoying a $7.5 billion increase in their market value. The game itself is certainly gaining a lot of media attention as well as traction with the player base, despite performance issues and bugs. I hope that Niantic release an updated client soon with various fixes.
Although I applaud the notion of encouraging gamers to venture outdoors and exercise, it would seem that many of the problems that I and others pointed out last week, have indeed manifested themselves. PokéStops and Gyms are at times in inappropriate locations. Health and safety issues have also been raised over players pursuing their quarry. Sadly it’s the human factor that is the most upsetting and problematic. Stories have emerged of players behaving poorly in sensitive places such as cemeteries, churches and even the Holocaust Museum in Washington. The fact that some people don’t seem to have any grasp of social etiquette, decorum and old fashioned good manners both worries and angers me. Here are a few examples (and yes I know not everyone is an asshole but guess what, they’re far more than you think!)
Pokémon Go: Singapore company sacks Australian for rant
US Teens Accused Of Using Pokémon Go To Rob
Pokémon Go player finds dead body in Wyoming river while searching for a Pokéstop
However, it is not all doom and gloom. The Pokémon Company has since clarified that there is a system in place for buildings and businesses to be delisted from the game. "PokéStops and Gyms in Pokémon Go are found at publicly accessible places such as historical markers, public art installations, museums and monuments," a Pokémon Company spokesperson said. "If you want to report inappropriate locations or content, please submit a ticket on the Pokémon GO Support website https://support.Pokémongo.nianticlabs.com." In the meantime, let us hope that at least some of the offending individuals reflect upon the situation and moderate their behaviour.
Pokémon GO
"Okay, it's 1 AM in Seattle, and I saw no fewer than 12 other people roaming the downtown Seattle streets looking for Pokémon" Tweeted by Talarian 7th July 2016.
I’ve never been a big Pokémon fan. My exposure to the franchise was mainly through my son who was obsessed with it during the late nineties. Over the years I’ve played a few of the games on handheld devices and like so many other Nintendo products found them to be engaging and polished. In recent times I’ve watched with both sadness and fascination as Nintendo’s fortunes have waned, both within the console and handheld markets. For a company with so many good products and customer goodwill, they certainly seem to make a lot of poor business decisions. So when they finally announced a year ago that they would enter the mobile game market my interest was piqued.
"Okay, it's 1 AM in Seattle, and I saw no fewer than 12 other people roaming the downtown Seattle streets looking for Pokémon" Tweeted by Talarian 7th July 2016.
I’ve never been a big Pokémon fan. My exposure to the franchise was mainly through my son who was obsessed with it during the late nineties. Over the years I’ve played a few of the games on handheld devices and like so many other Nintendo products found them to be engaging and polished. In recent times I’ve watched with both sadness and fascination as Nintendo’s fortunes have waned, both within the console and handheld markets. For a company with so many good products and customer goodwill, they certainly seem to make a lot of poor business decisions. So when they finally announced a year ago that they would enter the mobile game market my interest was piqued.
One year on we now have Pokémon GO, a game that despite much publicity somehow managed to stay off my radar until Wednesday when my twitter timeline became filled with curious tweets such as that at the top of this post. Naturally I did some investigating and decided that this augmented reality game sounded like a lot of fun and I should join in. However Pokémon GO has not been officially released in the UK. For the present the game is only available in the US, Australia and New Zealand. However I see no reason why the regional marketing policy of Nintendo should stand in the way of me and casual gaming, so I found a third party website that hosted the appropriate APK file and installed the game manually.
So the first thing I noticed about Pokémon GO is that there aren’t any instructions with the game, or at least not with the version I installed. So I had to figure the basic mechanics of the game out for myself. It took me a while to work out how to throw the Poké Ball and capture the various beasties. It would also seem that some of the features of the game won’t load or have details missing. For example there is a Pokéstop at the end of my road but when I get there it doesn’t show anything other than the base template. It should also be noted that I haven’t yet encountered anyone else who plays the game. This aspect of Pokémon GO has the potential to be both great fun and problematic. Interfacing with other carbon based lifeforms is so often fraught with risk these days. How long will it be before we hear of the first Pokémon GO related assault or murder.
But enough of these moral conundrums and societal concerns; one of the biggest issues that comes with the launch of a new game is picking a cool name. The best ones go very quickly. I won’t burden you with the tortuous events and factors that lead to my current screen name but needless to say Uncle Trumpet was not my first choice. Furthermore, beyond a few circuits of my local streets, I’ve done precious little than capture a few low level Pokémon. Again, possibly due to the version I’ve installed there doesn’t seem to be a way to cleanly close the game. It may be prudent to re-install the game client once an official version becomes available in the UK.
From what I’ve experienced myself (which is somewhat limited) and read on other people’s blogs, it looks like Pokémon GO is proving to be a major shot in the arm for Nintendo. The game includes a ubiquitous cash store and shares in the company have risen over the last 24 hours. If I can convince my son to install the game then I think I should be able to get a much better handle on what Pokémon GO can offer. It must admit what I’ve seen so far is fun and I really like the way the game links to your location. If this provides an incentive for people who are usually housebound to venture outside, then so much the better. Mind you I wouldn’t be surprised to read of someone being run over while playing Pokémon GO; as if smart phones weren’t absorbing enough already.