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A Look At The Virtual Phenomena Pokémon Go

pokemon go

Have you recently noticed an increase in the number of kids wandering the neighborhood staring at their phone with an intense look on their faces?  Have you noticed small groups of people with the same intense expression on their faces speaking and gesturing with their phones?

Have you shouted out, “You’re going to get yourself killed!”  Do you feel as though you’re entering the Twilight Zone when they responded with a smile and a salute with the phone in their hands?

What appears to be inexplicable behavior is actually a burgeoning social phenomenon that is solely a product of the digital age.  Simply stated, it’s a virtual reality game where you hunt characters using a map and physically going to the displayed character and capturing it on the player’s smartphone.  It’s called  Pokémon Go.

Pokémon Go is a game with tremendous content that seems to appeal to an exceedingly diverse population spanning the demographics globally.  Why has it so enthralled the multitudes?  How did it pop up?  Did it come from the bland cartoon series many of our kids use to watch?  Well, its roots are rather complex, and I won’t pretend to give you the comprehensive and last word on the game.

Quick Historical Background

Pokémon Go (stylized Pokémon GO) defined by Wikipedia is a location-based augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic for iOS and Android devices.  “Its general global release was this July.  The game combines GPS with the camera of the iOS or Android phone.  The game is  free-to-play, although there are scads of apps and other items that are not free.”

One of its roots is in Pokémon in 1995 in Japan.  It has become a large media empire franchise between the Pokémon Company, and a Japanese syndicate composed of Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures.  Another root is the Ingress game which also touts it is a game of mystery and a lot more using the digital Intel maps, etc.

In fact, many of the Ingress apps can be used for Pokémon Go to find rare creatures and sharpen one’s hunting skills.  Ingress began with Google in 2014 and became a Niantic project released two years ago.

My Critique

While the financial prowess has had its ups and downs during the short time it’s been released, it has no doubt been a social media success.  It can’t really be labeled a millennial thing, because it has wider appeal than that.

READ MORE AT WOMEN’S VOICES MAGAZINE

Barbara Eber-Schmid
Barbara Eber-Schmidhttp://www.newmedia.org/
BARBARA Eber-Schmid is the Executive Vice President of the New Media Institute Inc.

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