You’d be forgiven for thinking it’s the early 2000’s with all this talk of Pokemon again but rest assured, it’s 2016 and the future is now.
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The sight of teenagers with their heads in their phones is nothing new, but there’s a new craze eating up all of their data – Pokemon Go.
It’s similar to the old Pokemon games where the aim is to ‘catch them all’, and train your Pokemon by battling others.
Using the phone’s camera and GPS, players physically walk around searching for the little creatures in their area.
So far I’ve heard an overwhelming amount of praise for the game but no doubt there’s people out there who aren’t convinced.
The game has had more downloads then both Twitter and Tinder, so millions of people putting Pokemon over social media and dating can’t be wrong.
Whilst conducting “serious research” for this piece, I’ve seen groups of kids and kids at heart running all around Cowra, catching and battling for control of Gyms.
Whilst I fully expected people my age to find themselves sitting at the Cemetery eating pizza and attempting to find rare Ghost-type Pokemon (it’s all in the name of accurate journalism), I did not expect the older generation to be so excited about the game.
From my mum driving my sister around on the hunt for Pokemon to some of my colleagues genuinely excited to see a Pidgey appear on my desk in the office, it seems Pokemania has become infectious and, instead of driving a further wedge between generations, it appears to be bringing people together.
Take our photo on the front cover today – a group of people brought together with a common interest and goal – to be the very best there ever was.
Then there’s the well-documented health benefits of the game. My friends and I have been, in the name of research of course, raking up the kilometres.
One unexpected result of the game seems to be how it is helping people cope with their depression and anxiety, helping people get outside and meeting new people.
Not convinced? That’s fine. To me, this is the best gaming craze in a very long time and, for the purposes of research, if someone could direct me to a Squirtle, I’d appreciate it.
Trainer in the making,
Kelsey Sutor
