Pokémon go has given people something to look forward to in times that have not been so great. Here are three reasons why:
1.) It Tricks You Into Exercising
2.) People Love Imaginary Rivalries
Two, you're asked to join a team. Much like how Iron Man was asked to join the Avengers, except if there were three different teams with three different colored Samuel L. Jacksons. You're not given much of an explanation as to why or what the benefits are to joining a team. Indeed, as far as I can tell, there isn any. Well, anyway, there are three teams to choose from: Valor, Mystic, and Instinct. The differences between the teams are pretty ambiguous. Valor claims to be all about power; Mystic is values wisdom; and Instinct... umm... likes eggs.
As I said before, the team you join doesn't have any actual affect on the gameplay, but that hasn't stopped players from turning it into a three-way rivalry that has completely overtaken the internet. While most people seem to treat it as a friendly rivalry, for some, it has become incredibly intense. I think the reason this works is because people love to be on a team. More importantly, people love to be on a team opposing other teams that aren't them. Doesn't matter who or why, just as long as there is a "them" to hate. I'm pretty sure that's the foundation of every sports league ever. So it's no surprise that people I've taken to the idea of being part of these teams even though it means absolutely nothing. It's actually a pretty nice analogy for the game, it's a feature that doesn't really mean anything but somehow works in some insane way no one could have predicted.
Pokemon Go is incredibly broken and dysfunctional, yet somehow cobbles itself into something that works. Like a car put together with spare parts or any kind of political ideology.
3.) It represents the best aspects of video games
So why is Pokémon go popular? It's terrible. But then again a lot of terrible things are popular. But I think it's a lot more than that. Pokémon go really isn't about the game. The game itself is simply just a gateway into the community. I think this is one the most powerful aspects of video games. When you find other people that like the game you play you become part of a secret club, a community that is yours. It's one of the reasons why there's so much intense competition video games. We all want to belong to something. And video games allow us to belong six bigger than ourselves. I finally figured out why Pokémon Go is special one night while I was observing some other players in my downtown area play. I noticed that but huge group gathered in one spot in front of the library doors.
When I went over to check it out I learned that someone had spotted A Wartortle nearby and that everyone was trying to figure out where to go on. People were talking to each other taking each other's phones laughing showing mutual frustration. None of these people knew each other, and yet they were all connected by this one event. It may seem strange and even a little silly for a bunch of people to be so intensely hunting down a virtual monster. But it's not really about the monster, it's about camaraderie between people. Pokémon Go does the one thing video games of always done better than almost any other entertainment medium, it brings people together.
