Difference between revisions of "Pokémon Go"

Revision as of 12:10, 17 March 2020

Pokémon Go is an augmented reality (AR) game on mobile (Android, iOS) platforms developed by Niantic alongside The Pokémon Company. The game is part of the larger Pokémon franchise and uses GPS to find, capture and battle virtual Pokémon. The use of augmented reality in the game makes it appear as if the virtual monsters are appearing in the users’ real-world setting. The game follows a freemium business model, meaning it is free to play but supports in-app purchases that grant players access to additional in-game items. The game was originally released on July 6, 2016, with 150 Pokémon included for players to interact with but has now grown to include about 500 Pokémon as of 2020.^[1]

Pokémon Go had a turbulent release. Both critics and consumers were very impressed by the innovative game-play and hooked by the nostalgia, however, both parties also had many complaints regarding the technical problems of the app which caused it to lose a lot of the steam it had built up prior to its release. Nevertheless, Pokémon Go is still credited with popularizing AR technology and location-based games. The game is also praised for promoting physical activity, and helping local businesses grow. Simultaneously, the game received a lot of bad press due to the multiple accidents, incidents, and public safety issues it allegedly enabled with its inherent game mechanics^[2]. Since the game’s release, multiple governments have expressed concerns about security, leading to it being regulated in those countries. As of 2019, the game has had over one billion downloads with 147 million active users and has grossed $3 billion in revenue.^[3]

Official Pokémon Go Logo

Gameplay

Start Up

After creating an account in the game, players name and customize the appearance of their own avatar. The avatar is then placed on a map in the current location of the player’s real-world setting. The map contains ‘PokeStops’ and ‘Pokémon Gyms’ which are usually set as a real-world shop location, monument, or some other figure of local importance. PokeStops can be equipped with ‘Lure Modules’, which attract wilder and potentially rare Pokémon and Pokémon Gyms are meant to be team-based, capture-the-flag battles between three in-game teams the player can join, Yellow, Red, and Blue. Unfortunately, in the beginning, some of the gym locations were on private property or in dangerous locations, one particularly unsafe gym was located at the Korean Demilitarization Zone^[4].^[5]

As the player moves around the real-world, their avatar will move in the same way around the map displayed within the game. The Pokémon that appear in the wild to be caught varies upon multiple factors including, location, rarity, and weather. Pokémon of different types will appear in different areas that would fit with their fictional habitats. For example, on bright sunny days, players will encounter more fire-type Pokémon, whereas, on cold gloomy days, ice-type Pokémon would appear more frequently. Some Pokémon were also kept exclusive to certain continents and regions.^[6]

When players tap on a Pokémon appearing in the in-game map, they can choose to see the Pokémon in AR mode or with a virtual background. Both of the viewing settings include real-world aspects of depth and distance from the virtual creature thanks to the use of a smartphone’s inner gyroscope and camera. During the encounter, Players flick virtual “PokeBalls” to capture and Berries to aid in capturing the Pokémon. The different Berries increase the chances of a successful capture or increase the amount of “Candies” received. Candies, along with experience points, are received every time a Pokémon is caught. Every Pokémon evolutionary chain has its own candy which can be given to Pokémon of that evolutionary change in order to increase their Combat Power (CP) level or Evolve the Pokémon. The CP level of a Pokémon determines its effectiveness in battle and is a new edition to the Pokémon Series which previously used a Pokémon’s Health Power (HP) and Level to determine this.

My Pokémon Go Account

Updates

As the game has been updated, more game-play features and new Pokémon are added to the experience. There was the addition of Pokémon Eggs, one of the many items players can receive from PokeStops and by completing in-game missions, which can be hatched by walking certain distances that the game tracks using the smartphone’s pedometer. Pokémon Raids was another feature added to facilitate the game’s group-play features. In Pokémon Raids, many players show up to a Gym where a powerful, often rare Pokémon will be waiting and a group of up to 20 players can work together to defeat it and have the opportunity to catch it. Like eggs and raids, most of the features added to the game are meant to bolster the inherent mechanics of the game like getting outside and working with other players.^[7]

Controversy

As previously mentioned, Pokémon Go has had its fair share of controversy since its release. While issues such as inconvenient gym and PokeStop locations, buggy gameplay were resolved through early patches and updates, some of the more pressing issues surrounding the game are seemingly out of the developer’s control.

Accidents

One of the biggest issues since the game’s release has been the number of public accidents that have occurred due to people being distracted by the game. The first reports of traffic accidents came when the game launched in Japan. A driver who was playing the game accidentally struck and killed a woman crossing the road^[8]. Many more incidents like this have happened all over the world. In response, Niantic implemented a couple of features that would cause warning signs to appear if the game suspected a player was playing while driving^[9]. Also, every time the game is opened a message appears reminding players to be aware of their surroundings and avoid dangerous areas while playing. Governments can also reach out to the company and request the game to lower the traffic to certain areas if there are public concerns^[10].

A Tool for Crime

Since the game relies heavily on the physical movements of the player in the real world, many harmful people took advantage of this mechanic and would set up Lure Modules or camp around gyms and areas where rare Pokémon could appear and would then assault, rob, or do some other terrible thing to the players who believe they are just playing the game. Since the game is marketed to younger demographics, there have been concerns about sex offenders taking advantage of the game to do terrible things. Niantic and The Pokémon Company, cannot program things in the game to curb this without making major changes to how the game works as a whole. As of 2019, all that has been done to combat this issue is to make sure in-game monuments are located in dangerous real-world locations and making all public events like raid battles and rare Pokémon appearances occur during the day rather than 24 hours. Many places, like New York state, have restricted access to the game from sex offenders and violent criminals whilst on parole^[11].

References

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Go#Criticism_and_incidents
2. ↑ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2154881-did-pokemon-go-really-kill-250-people-in-traffic-accidents/
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Go#Criticism_and_incidents
4. ↑ https://www.dailydot.com/debug/pokemon-go-gym-north-korea-dmz/
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Go#Criticism_and_incidents
6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Go#Criticism_and_incidents
7. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Go#Criticism_and_incidents
8. ↑ https://mashable.com/2016/07/22/pokemon-go-japan-first-injury/
9. ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/pokemon-go-pokestops-washington-oregon-police-fire-sheriff-warning-jail-a7132751.html
10. ↑ http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Thailand-to-insist-on-Pokemon-free-zones
11. ↑ https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/08/02/488435018/new-york-bans-registered-sex-offenders-from-pok-mon-go