Pokemon Go still draws crowds
It’s been one year since the augmented reality game hit the streets
A year after its release, the popular free augmented reality game Pokémon Go is still drawing a crowd in Peterborough – perhaps even bigger ones than what quickly became a common sight on city streets after its initial release on July 6, 2016.
Aspects of the game, which uses mobile device’s GPS to locate, capture, battle and train hundreds of virtual creatures called Pokémon (short for pocket monsters) that appear in the real-world location as the player, were overhauled as part of a recent update.
Players can now capture elite Pokémon in what are known as “raids” at gyms, locations where players normally battle, as the imaginary monsters appear for limited amounts of time.
Arguably the most-sought of the fictional creatures currently available, Tyranitar, has been known to draw large groups of players wanting to add it to their virtual stable.
Raid “bosses” are currently ranked from level one to four. Upper-tier bosses require larger numbers of players in order to first defeat the Pokémon before it can be caught.
A dedicated group of local players use social media applications, including Discord and Facebook, to communicate in order to attain the group sizes needed to capture the creatures from virtual gyms outside numerous public locations in the city.
The City Hall Carnegie Wing, Peterborough Armoury, Peterborough Memorial Centre, Peterborough Post Office, Art Gallery of Peterborough, the Mount St. Joseph Statue and Rube Brady Memorial Field and Peterborough Mattress Factory in East City are some examples.
Within that group is Mark Buckley, who is among the few who reached Level 40 – the highest experience level one can reach in the game – before the first anniversary.
“We’ve certainly built quite a good community,” he said, explaining how Pokémon Go is the first video game he has extensively played.
Buckley regularly organizes hunts where players meet at a specific location. This Friday, for example, a group is heading to Oshawa’s lakefront to try to catch an ultra-rare Pokémon called Unown that has yet to appear in Peterborough.
Buckley is in his mid-50s and said while it is those in their 20s and 30s who play the most, he regularly sees children and even those in their 60s and 70s enjoying the game. He also plans to attend the inaugural Pokémon Go Festival in Chicago on July 22.
He agrees the recent update has revived interest. Many players stopped playing last year, particularly as cold winter conditions set in. That in turn caused more cheating or “spoofing,” as it is known, where people use fake GPS co-ordinates to move around in the game.
Attending raids has forced players to work together, regardless of what team they are on. There are three in the game, Valor, Mystic and Instinct – red, blue and yellow, respectively.
“It’s something everyone can enjoy together,” said Corey Bushey, 26, who was part if a group that defeated a Charizard – a flying, fire-breathing dragon – at the former Rogers Building at the corner of Hunter Street East and Driscoll Terrace in East City on Wednesday morning.
The game brings many things together, but its the social aspect of it that he likes most. “The raid feature is definitely what’s getting people together now.”
Carolyne Shaw, 27, agreed. “It doesn’t matter if I’m (Team) Valor and I have a friend who is on Instinct .... (The game) has definitely evolved.”
Joshua Payne, 22, guesses he’s taken part in more than 100 raids so far, agreed that he has met “a lot of great people” in the process.
“That co-operation has been really helpful for people ... to see other players as allies,” Buckley said.
The game has drawn some criticism for contributing to accidents and causing a public nuisance at some locations – something regular players work hard to mitigate, Buckley said.
Just earlier this week, players who had wandered onto private property were asked to leave by a renter, sparking a verbal altercation.
Buckley reminded the group that the individual was well within his right to make the request. “Little by little we use it as an educational thing as well.”
For the most part, regular players who are often moving all around Peterborough are doing more to assist than hinder the security of the city, he added.
Like many, Bushey first played the game for nostalgic reasons (the first Pokémon video games were introduced in the late 1990s) before getting hooked.
The game has also improved his physical health – he now walks between five and 10 kilometres a day that he didn’t before he played as he captures Pokémon. Doing so rewards players who have to walk distances of two, five and 10 kilometres to hatch virtual Pokémon-producing eggs.
“My dog is just loving it .... This gets you out and around,” he said.
The game has also helped boost the mental health of many who have been isolated or marginalized by society, Buckley pointed out. He has met many who have now created, through the game, a network of friends who help each others’ healing process.
“I think that is a great aspect of the game as well,” he said.
Shaw also likes that the game provides the basic ingredients without costing money – although in-game purchases do enhance the experience and produce revenue.
“That’s something other games or fitness apps don’t have,” she said.
As of February, Pokémon Go had been downloaded $650 million times and reportedly made more than $1 billion in revenue – becoming the fastest mobile game to do so. As of June 8, the game had been downloaded 750 million times.
Until July 24 to mark the first anniversary, the game currently features Pikachus (the small, yellow electrictype Pokémon that has been the face of the franchise) that are wearing the same ball cap worn by Ash Ketchum, the main protagonist of the Pokémon anime series.
NOTES: To join the local Discord group, visit https://discordapp.com/invite/uYPpXs4 .... To join the Pokémon Go Raids Peterborough Ont. Facebook page, visit www.facebook.com/ groups/307381056382299/ .... There are also active groups dedicated to the game called Pokemon Go Peterborough Ont. and Pokemon GO Peterborough! Canada!