So I have been a fan of "Pokemon" ever since I was old enough to play video games. Like many nerds out there, it was one of my first games ever and made me fall in love with video games. The plot of a young kid going out and competing with amazingly powerful monsters and earning international acclaim was and is highly appealing. Now those dreams of the young kids are realities with the new game. Basically, you walk around outside Pokemon appear on your phone, you catch them. Along the way you challenge gyms, and help your faction conquer different areas. The game has generated a lot of buzz online and is probably the hottest game out right now, so I gave in and tried it out.
Okay that last sentence was a bit of a lie, I apologize. I downloaded the game the first chance I got and I don’t regret it. The game itself is pretty revolutionary. In just a few weeks it has combined exercise and a huge competitive gaming. I mean the game makes you walk around to progress (wow a video game that makes you go outside, who would’ve thought), it makes the Wii look like the lazy person’s game. The walking to progress in the game has also sparked a bit of a cultural movement. If you go online you can see that people constantly post about how they met new friends and got to experience parts of their hometowns that they ignored for most of their lives. Me being the person that I am, I had to try it out, so last Saturday I went for my first "Pokewalk."
The night was fun, to say the least, and honestly, I have everything positive to say. The game brought me to the historic downtown part of my hometown (I hang there a bit, but nothing major considering there are newer and more updated places that I can be). As my friend who is a bit of a veteran player dragged me around I noticed the game was bigger than expected. All around me in historic Toms River, New Jersey, people were hanging talking and shooting the breeze in a very open and relaxed environment. I know at this point you are thinking it was probably all creepy looking nerds out there, but you’d be wrong. The crowd was diverse a mix of young and old, male and female, even some families were out and about. I was pleasantly surprised.
Throughout the night I walked around catching Pokemon and trying to improve my dismal stats as a new player. I met a lot of new people, some who honestly I wouldn’t give the light of day before (it also helped that my friend knew a few of the players in the area). They being the great gamers that they were helped me out. Some showed me tips on the game others directed me to big hubs to catch some great Pokemon. The entire time I got to nerd out with some cool people, in a very familiar yet new environment. The ironic thing is that I had to shove my face into my phone in order to experience it.
"Pokemon Go" in my opinion is the next huge social movement. The game is simple to play and leads you to a lot of new places. The night that I spent playing the game was honestly fun. It was chill and I enjoyed being around people who were gaming and honestly spending their night doing something they loved. I recommend that you download the game and start playing. For another viewpoint look at my fellow Odyssey writer Alyssa Bicknese who has her own spin on the game.
