Pokemon GO - My first impression about this new phenomenon
It’s July 6th 2016 and the weather is very humid where I’m at.
I found out that Pokemon GO was supposed to be available on the App Store and Google Play Store so I kept checking. Nothing.
“Oh well, I will just keep checking...” I thought to myself.
Finally there it was..... I looked on the Google Play store and the game popped up when I searched! I was sure of it because the game was loaded onto the play store by Niantic, not some random person’s name with a Poke-clone like I had seen a hundred times earlier this week.
I eagerly installed the game and got started. At first the game seemed very glitchy, laggy and froze a ton. I know now that Niantic’s servers almost imploded at the sheer volume of people trying to log onto the game and it was a lot more than they could handle at first.
The game is fun and as I’m learning more and I’m level 15 now I’m starting to get new items, upgraded Pokeballs and my Pokedex has about 50-something Pokemon in it.
What I did NOT expect is how many people in my small midwestern city are playing the game and at all hours of the day/night. I went to the park the other day with my wife and we literally couldn’t move. It was elbow to elbow people gathering up all the items from the 7 or 8 Pokestops all nested in that one area of the park. I even heard a guy who was totally serious, standing on a platform yelling, “USING POKEMON MODULE ON THIS POKESTOP - FIVE DOLLARS!” Seriously? People standing at the park offering to sell you the benefits of using their Pokemon module on a particular Pokestop? (The module costs $1 from the in-game shop... I should’ve asked him if he would like to taste the back of my hand for free!)
Last night I was bored and taking a walk at about 11:30pm ( I know, that’s late for a walk but this game has me out walking at odd times) and I ran into a family of four walking up and down the sidewalks catching their Pokemon with their small kids that I was surprised were not in bed.
We’ve already seen lots of reports on the news of people playing Pokemon GO recklessly by driving and stopping frequently on the roads to grab Pokestops while moving or catch Pokemon on the road. There was a report that a 19 year old girl in Wyoming found a dead body while searching for Pokemon along a river.
There have been reports that Nintendo’s stock has soared with the release of this game (I’ve heard 9 - 12 BILLION dollars!)
Nintendo is usually quite slow in agreeing with their fans and giving them what they want because I know people have been begging Nintendo to be a “software only” company and to make mobile apps. The Miitomo game was successful but nowhere near as successful as Pokemon GO. (In my honest opinion Miitomo is a game aimed much more at Japanese culture as it gets old with us Americans FAST)
I’m not exactly surprised with the popularity of the sensation that is Pokemon GO.
Pokemon has always been very popular and now there’s a way for everyone to enjoy it regardless of whether they own a Nintendo system or Licensed Nintendo Handheld.
I was hoping Niantic had publicly traded stocks because I would definitely hopped on board and bought some if they did before the release of Pokemon GO.
There are lots of updates coming in the future to Pokemon GO and the Pokedex will probably be increased until eventually ALL the Pokemon that have ever been in a game are there. Right now I believe the Pokedex caps out at 133.
The Fire Emblem mobile game is another game that I’m sure will be a smash hit and everyone who loves strategy RPG games will be installing that on their mobile device as well. I am personally a HUGE fan of Fire Emblem.... Can’t get enough of those games.
What do you guys think about Pokemon GO? I’d love to hear your experiences, likes or dislikes with the game in the comments!!