Pokemon Go

Have you caught the fever yet?  Well, if you haven't, perhaps you are under the impression that this is just a fad, that it's childish, or maybe you just don't quite "get" the concept of Augmented Reality (AR) games.  While this post is just about my own experience and why I got into the game, not meant to make an argument for or against it, if this post does convince you to get involved, you have my respect and support.

As a middle-aged man with teenage children, I tried to ignore the original Pokemon movement, but it sure didn't go unnoticed at the time.  Pokemon was big....HUGE, back in the day.  Unless you lived in a cave and didn't talk to anyone for years, you recognized the name, the main Pokemon creature (Pikachu), and the ball icon at the very least.  So when it hit the app store just a couple of weeks ago, I thought to myself "here we go again."  Then the news brought to my attention the staggering numbers, so I checked out what in the world was going on.  This led me to articles about Augmented Reality, city planning, and a few other stories that were only ancillary to the game itself.  Being a bit round around the middle (so to speak), and given that I saw there was a huge benefit to contributing to the data generated by the game, I decided to give it a try.  Another motivator was the teenage children in my household either already playing, or wanting to play the game.  Because I try to monitor the younger one's use of gaming and the internet, it gave me another reason to check it out.

So I downloaded it.  Keep in mind that other than a slight familiarity with the fact that it existed in the past, I had no knowledge of what Pokemon was all about, so I found myself at a disadvantage from the start.  Because I'm an intellectual, I went and did a lot of research on the game mechanics and the general world of Pokemon.  After doing all this, and playing the initial few levels in the game, I brought my younger teenagers aboard, giving me another experience on the back side of the game through the website.  So, here are my thoughts:

The game is dead simple.  At it's heart, you have a classic scavenger hunt where you run around looking for hidden things.  In this case, it's the literal truth as the game is played on the stage of the entire planet.  Think of it this way, Google has been mapping the planet Earth now for quite some time, and in doing so, has created enough public data that a game can be modeled to use it accurately through the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers.  Since most smart phones come with a GPS receiver as well as the ability to download an app, the concept of adding digital data tied to GPS coordinates is not only not new, it's now old hat.  We actually see this every day without thinking of it in navigation apps.  Waze actually was a game first before it became the popular navigator that it is today.  Those that used the original version may remember your car gobbling up candy on the road.  Pokemon Go is the exact same concept, except you don't automatically get the candy once your real life coordinates intersect with it.  Add to that basic concept a simple idea.  What if, once you get within range of the object that you are attempting to get through the coordinates, you could actually see it in the context of the real world?  Well, open up that camera to this app, and your wish is granted.  Welcome to Augmented Reality.  We now have a digital object that is tied to a real world location that you can see through the camera lens.  Not only that, but you can interact with the digital object AND the real world at the same time.

This is, of course, the entire purpose of the game, collecting these objects.  Pokemon Go accomplishes this by setting up a ball throwing game overlaid on the AR experience.  If you throw straight, and take your time, you are more likely to hit your target and capture the Pokemon you are seeing.  I can vouch for what this looks like to an outsider, not much different than what everyone else not playing the game is doing already, keeping their head into their phones, and then raising it to take a picture.  Kudos to the game makers for this, other than the walking around aimlessly, these "trainers" as they are called, look like a normal person out in the world.  It could have been worse, making the game require an unusual movement which would look completely out of place or inappropriate.  Here is where anonymity in reality depart company though.  Whether you catch the Pokemon or not, something compels you to exclaim with joy or despair (as the case may be), making the players of this game extremely easy to spot.  Fortunately for them, they usually have company when they are caught in this situation.  I've experienced this first hand and in realizing that I've probably embarrassed myself, looked around and been met with sympathetic eyes rather than not.  By far the most beneficial aspect here is you are getting exercise that you may not normally be getting.

Ok, great, so collecting Pokemon is the intent here, but to do so comes with the true benefit of the game.  In order to do this, you have to walk....a lot.  The whole game revolves around this simple fact.  There are location based interactive objects other than Pokemon in the game, in the form of rest stops (Pokestops) and community centers (Gyms).  These offer game enhancing items or a place to put your collected Pokemon against other trainer's Pokemon in battle.  The former are static locations where in the real world, you will find other players standing around.  This facilitates interaction with those people, solving another real world problem, that of the increased isolation of the individual.  Because you have a common interest, there is something to talk about, facilitating a social aspect.  While some may say this can bring about a negative encounter, it's far more likely to be a positive one.  One other aspect to these locations is they base themselves on real world points of interest.  Maybe it's a sign, a mural, or a museum piece, but the point is that it exists in the real world.  Why this is important is lost on most people, but not to city planners.  Using the data points generated from this game, they can now plan activities, track visits, and promote locations.

My last point is that I am getting to interact with my children as well.  Sure, not all parents will want to run around their neighborhood playing a game while dealing with kids, but it's nice to relate and build on the relationship with your kids while seeing a few things you may not know about your area and meeting others from your local area.  If this simply isn't for you, you can purchase in game items and not have to walk around to catch the Pokemon, but that will get expensive after a while.  Worried about your data plan?  T-Mobile is now offering an incentive to not count the data from playing the game against your limits.

That about does it for this post, so to all those out there playing, happy hunting!