CORNWALL, Ontario – The Pokémon Go mobile app is generating a lot of buzz in media around the world and is very much the “it” thing right now. The brand itself has been around for more than 20 years, but it is catching fire again because it is doing gaming in a new way.
Pokémon Go is an iPhone game created by mobile gaming company Niantic where players walk through the real world to find and catch virtual creatures on their phone. This blending of real world movement and video games is called augmented reality, a relatively new concept to gaming that is the central feature of Pokémon Go.
Pokémon Go encourages its players to leave the house and travel in the real world, sometimes long distances, to find new creatures in the game. The longer you are up and moving around, and the further you go, the more likely you are to find a new Pokémon.
The game is taking over worldwide and Cornwall is no exception. Todd LeBlanc, a Pokémon Go player from Cornwall, co-founded an SD&G Pokémon Go group with Kaitlyn van Overbeek. LeBlanc says that his group currently has over 400 members.
There are a lot of opportunities for eager Pokémon trainers here in Cornwall.
“The best location in Cornwall when it comes to Pokémon Go is Lamoureux Park, LeBlanc said. “There are four gyms, and approximately 11 Pokéstops between Eco Park and the RCAF wing.”
The Pokémon brand had its first wave of popularity in North America in the mid-to-late nineties. At the time nearly every 11-year-old had the Pokémon trading cards and the Pokémon video game on the original Nintendo Gameboy.
That legacy of popularity has definitely contributed to Pokémon Go’s current craze as a lot of players are not just teenagers, but also 20 somethings.
“Certainly the attraction comes from a feeling of nostalgia,” van Overbeek said. “It’s hard to explain the feelings of heroism and adventure we had as kids, but as a child playing these games everyone had the idea that the world would have so much more wonder if we would actually capture and train Pokémon like we do in the game. Pokémon teamed up with Niantic’s augmented reality software and gave us what we’ve been looking for since we were children almost perfectly.”
There has been controversy surrounding the game however. There are stories of gamers trespassing, putting themselves in harms way and even being hit by car’s in their quest to catch ’em all.
“The thing with these stories is it plays on peoples emotions if you see an article about something bad you’re more likely to share it and give it a negative view,” LeBlanc said. “They don’t focus on the positives like the community it bring’s together a lot of these people down in the park are not people you expect to see playing Pokemon go in a park at night. Also it’s great therapy for people with depression anxiety and even getting people with mild to severe agoraphobia to step outside and interact with with world and soak up some much needed vitamin D People with social anxiety are finding a common interest to expand their social groups and meet new people.”
One feature of the game is that the in-game map incorporates important real-wolrld sites into the game. This has meant that some local businesses have seen an uptick in their trade because their shop or the area near by is now an important area for Pokémon Go players.
“Businesses near Pokéstops have also seen more exposure and a lot of them work with the app to bring in younger clientele and greater profits,” said LeBlanc.
