By now I’m sure you’ve all played, or at the very least heard of, the latest craze sweeping the globe. Pokémon Go is the latest success from the wonder boys over at Nintendo. The app uses your GPS and internet connection to pinpoint your location and display it on the apps map, following your every step and displaying Pokémon, Pokéstops and gyms when you get close enough to each option. The app has become such a huge hit for the way it combines the world of nature and nostalgia so perfectly, giving us Gameboy gamers the option to relive the world of the 151. Here we’re going to look at 10 facts about this fantastic concept that doesn’t show signs of stopping.
At one stage Pokémon Go’s downloads surpassed Tinder on Android devices, with 60% of US downloaders using it daily for around 43 minutes.
Nintendo are raking in the benefits of the app, even though Pokémon Go is of course a free download, Nintendo’s stock prices increased by 23% after the app’s launch.
Niantic used locations from Ingress, a previous game, to construct the Pokémon Go world. Niantic worked alongside Nintendo to create the app.
On 8th July 2016, near a Wyoming river, a 19-year-old girl; Shayla Wiggins stumbled upon a body floating in the water, and not the dream water Pokémon she was searching for. Don’t worry Shayla; it would only have been a Magikarp anyway.
Pokémon Go had 15 million downloads in it’s first week of release. It also set a new record by generating $200m in revenue in the first month, earning seven times more than Candy Crush in its first month, and nearly doubling Clash Royale.
The app can also be used for evil. A Missouri police report said that on 10th July, four teens used the geolocation option to “anticipate the location and level of seclusion of unwitting victims.” with other reports of thefts and armed robberies across the county all tied to the game.
To evolve an Eevee in Pokémon Go, initially it appeared to be random, however a trainer in the Reddit community noticed that by changing the name of your Eevee before you evolve it, you can actually get he evolution you want. For Eevee to evolve into a Vaporeon, you must rename it ‘Rainer’, for Jolteon, rename Eevee to ‘Sparky’ and for a Flareon, you must rename your Eevee to ‘Pyro’. These three names are based of the Eevee brothers from the TV anime series.
Pokémon Go was inspired by a 2014 Google April fool’s joke in which a job ad was placed for a Pokémon Master and asked players to explore a map catching Pokémon. The huge interest in the prank sparked an idea and here we are today.
The app has allocated Pokéstops, and other such in-game options to some very odd places. Many have reported graveyards as a hotspot. Even the Australian police station and MI5 have apparently fallen victim to this strange feature.
The Pokémon Go Plus is a device that connects to your mobile via Bluetooth, and allows players to carry on their day without the need for their mobile phone to be strapped to their hand. The device responds when something is near and a simple click will catch, or do the required action, and then later on via the app the user can see their rewards.
So whether you love or hate the game you have to admit that the way Nintendo and Niantic have married our world and theirs, and brought the genre to the ever popular mobile Gaming platform, truly has resulted in such a winner. Unlike the Pokémon Go servers themselves, the app and this craze shows no sign of stopping or failure, so enjoy it and remember, you’ve Gotta Catch ‘Em All!