By: Ashton Newton
Entertainment Editor

Summer 2016 can easily be described in two words: Pokémon GO. The augmented-reality Pokémon hunting game from Niantic was released in early June and quickly took over the world. It became nearly impossible during its peak to go out in public without seeing people playing. Pokémon GO hit 45 million players during its peak in July.

The game uses GPS to place players in an augmented reality where Pokémon spawn and players must walk from point to point to catch them. Players can stop at landmarks, which are denoted as either Pokéstops or Gyms, to get supplies and battle other players. Western has an abundance of these around; walking from one building to another could easily put a player within range of at least one new Pokéstop.

Niantic even made a deal with McDonald’s in Japan for a non-obtrusive corporate sponsorship by making Japanese McDonalds’ Pokéstops. This brought in more business for McDonald’s and more sponsorship revenue for Niantic.

After its release, Pokémon GO quickly shot up both the most downloaded and the top grossing section of the App Store. Even now, Pokémon GO is the third grossing app. The financial success for both Niantic and Nintendo gave them the funding for the anticipated “Detective Pikachu” film that is now in the works at Legendary Pictures.

Pokémon GO is both a social and active game. It forces players to go out and search for Pokémon around cities and parks meeting other Pokémon trainers as they go. The game features three different teams that players can join: Team Mystic, Team Valor, and Team Instinct. The team feature gives users either an instant connection or instant rivalry with other players they meet. As for the active side of the game, Pokémon GO features Pokémon eggs that players can hatch by walking two km,  five km or 10 km. The incentive behind putting in the miles is the chance to hatch a rare Pokémon that may not be found in your region.

The app has players going where they wouldn’t normally go to catch rare Pokémon. A Wyoming teenager climbed down to a river for a better chance of catching a water type Pokémon when she stumbled across a dead body. Luckily now the game has a periodical message telling players not to enter dangerous areas or trespass while playing, as well as messages telling players not to play while driving if their speed is over 20 mph.

In addition to the popularity of Pokémon GO, Pokémon’s popularity in general has skyrocketed since the release. Pokémon merchandise of all kinds can be found in stores everywhere. This includes clothes, backpacks, school supplies, toys and more. The success of the game has provided an opportunity to bring back all of Pokémon’s popularity and, so far, has been successful in doing so.

While Pokémon GO’s popularity is on a slight decline after reaching its peak over summer, Niantic is still actively updating it. The most recent addition to the game is the Buddy System. Players can choose a Pokémon to travel with them, earning candy as they walk, which can then be used to rank the Pokémon up. This gives players a chance to upgrade rare Pokémon without having to endlessly hunt for them.

Over the summer, Pokémon GO meetups became a very popular activity. By using sites like Reddit and Facebook, players found times to meet up and hunt for Pokémon together. The Pokémon GO subreddit is great for any player looking for tips, tricks, strategies, or people in their area to play with. Meetups are still happening often, including meetups here around Western! The most recent was on Sept. 24, so keep your eyes peeled for information on upcoming meetups.
Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu