Ben Warren, a resident and business owner in Windsor, said he started playing Pokémon Go as soon as he could.
“Oh there’s a Pidgey right over here,” Warren said while walking around with his iPhone. “Since I was five years old I wanted to be a Pokémon master. Until I was 18, I dressed up as the main character every Halloween.”
Warren said there’s already a huge number of people playing, adding that he’ll be overwhelmed by the numbers when it officially releases.
RELATED STORIES:
Canadian gamers embrace Pokemon Go — once figuring out how to get the mobile hit
Players in hunt for Pokemon Go monsters feel real-world pain
The game uses augmented reality, tracking the players' movements and placing digital Pokémon in the environment, where they show up on the user’s camera.
The player then attempts to capture the creatures, find items and compete at ‘Pokémon gyms.’
“You can recognize other players because they’re coming to the same spots, where you get items or a gym,” he said.
“I’ve met more people through this app than apps designed to meet people.”
Connecting with others
“People who would normally be sitting at home on their Xbox or PlayStation are out walking around playing games,” Warren said. “It makes you have to move and go outside.”
Warren said he recently took a trip to Wolfville just to play Pokémon Go.
“Most people are out looking to just catch more Pokémon, just to capture their favourites,” he said.
“People aren’t super competitive about it. But, I mean, Treehouse Board Shop controls the gyms in Windsor,” he said. “It’s heavily controlled by Team Mystic, the blue one.”
Warren has also headed to Hantsport to change the gyms there to his team.
“I think people will start to get outside more and realize how good it is to walk 10 kilometres to hatch their Pokémon egg,” he said. “And you get achievements for walking around; it’s a low-key exercise app.”
Warren said he’s sure the game will have its critics, but he said people are negative towards just about everything.
“We’re just out having fun and we’re doing that in an active way,” he said. “We’re getting out and exploring our town, seeing parts of it we didn’t even know existed.”
Warren said his biggest goal is to catch all 151 Pokémon before more are released.
The app is free to play and players can pay for more items like pokeballs, which are used to capture Pokémon, however, those items can also be collected by exploring and walking around.
'Pretty hyped' about app
Liam French, who lives in Brooklyn, drove to Windsor to see how many Pokémon he could find.
“I started playing the game two days ago,” French said. “There’s quite a few Pokémon around here.”
The game still isn’t technically available in Canada, but people are finding workarounds to play anyways, like French.
“I was in Halifax yesterday and there were at least 60 people at (the) Public Gardens playing it,” he said. “We’ve been hearing about it for a while and there hasn’t been a new Pokémon game out for a while, especially one like this for your phone. Everybody is pretty hyped about it.”
French said he’s found the collectable creatures all over the place, including in his own bedroom.
“I’m just trying to find as many as I can,” he said. “You find them everywhere.”
Pokémon Gyms, where players compete with each other to claim a specific landmark for their team, are also found around Windsor.
In Windsor, gyms can be found at the Shand House Museum, West Hants Historical Society, The Acadian Mural at the Windsor Mall, and the Haliburton House.
“I think so many people will be checking out this game when it’s out for real,” he said. “Everybody was into Pokémon at some point, and now people just want to get back into it. It’s a really sick game, it’s really fun.”
French said he’s really hoping to catch a Pikachu, one of the more iconic creatures from the franchise.
Ben Barker, from Windsor, said he appreciated that the app doesn’t drain too much of his device’s data plan.
He did say he tries to connect to the town’s public wi-fi whenever possible.
Golden opportunity to play
Chad Sapieha, a senior writer for Post Arcade, said nostalgia plays a big part in Pokémon Go’s early success.
“A lot of people who were obsessed with Pokémon when they were kids in the late nineties or early aughts probably haven't played any Pokémon games since,” Sapieha said. “Now that they can play for free on a phone; there's nothing stopping them. It's a golden opportunity. Revisiting Pokémon after a decade or more away is giving rise to floods of warm, happy childhood memories.”
Sapieha said he hasn’t played the game yet as it isn’t out officially in Canada and Pokémon doesn’t hold any nostalgic importance for him.
“I didn't really dive into any Pokémon games until my own kid started playing Pokémon. Then we played complementary versions so we could swap Pokémon,” he said. “I haven't felt the need to go through the hassle of changing regions and setting up a U.S. account in order to play.”
Despite not playing the game, Sapieha said he’s impressed by what he’s seen and read so far.
“It doesn't look to have the depth of a traditional Pokémon game, and I'm not sure it will have much staying power for players who aren't dyed in the wool Pokémon fans,” he sad. “But even then, with nearly 300 million games sold since the first one launched back in 1996, its potential global audience still sits in the tens if not hundreds of millions.”
Sapieha said he’s not sure if we could expect more games like Pokemon Go to see the same level of success.
“The difference with Pokemon Go is that it's leveraging an existing franchise that ranks as the second best selling game series in the world,” he said. “Finding hidden monsters lends itself perfectly to augmented reality. It's a perfect convergence of factors that doesn't come along very often.”
Sapieha said Nintendo will start to take mobile phones as a more serious market for its games from now on.
“With just its second mobile release, (Nintendo)'s got one of the hottest apps around,” he said. “If its next system flops in a manner similar to Wii U but its apps continue to do well, it might make unavoidable sense for Nintendo to leave its pricey hardware design and manufacturing business behind and just make mobile games.”
Did you know?
- Pokémon is one of the most successful entertainment franchises in the world, since launching in 1996, with a best selling series of video games, television shows, movies and merchandise.
- The original Pokémon game featured 151 collectable creatures, which has since expanded to 722.
- Pokémon are split into types including fire, water, and grass. Some types are strong against others, while weak to other types. For instance, fire type is strong against grass, but weak against water.
- The name Pokémon comes from the contraction ‘pocket monsters.’
Ben Warren, a resident and business owner in Windsor, said he started playing Pokémon Go as soon as he could.
“Oh there’s a Pidgey right over here,” Warren said while walking around with his iPhone. “Since I was five years old I wanted to be a Pokémon master. Until I was 18, I dressed up as the main character every Halloween.”
Warren said there’s already a huge number of people playing, adding that he’ll be overwhelmed by the numbers when it officially releases.
RELATED STORIES:
Canadian gamers embrace Pokemon Go — once figuring out how to get the mobile hit
Players in hunt for Pokemon Go monsters feel real-world pain
The game uses augmented reality, tracking the players' movements and placing digital Pokémon in the environment, where they show up on the user’s camera.
The player then attempts to capture the creatures, find items and compete at ‘Pokémon gyms.’
“You can recognize other players because they’re coming to the same spots, where you get items or a gym,” he said.
“I’ve met more people through this app than apps designed to meet people.”
Connecting with others
“People who would normally be sitting at home on their Xbox or PlayStation are out walking around playing games,” Warren said. “It makes you have to move and go outside.”
Warren said he recently took a trip to Wolfville just to play Pokémon Go.
“Most people are out looking to just catch more Pokémon, just to capture their favourites,” he said.
“People aren’t super competitive about it. But, I mean, Treehouse Board Shop controls the gyms in Windsor,” he said. “It’s heavily controlled by Team Mystic, the blue one.”
Warren has also headed to Hantsport to change the gyms there to his team.
“I think people will start to get outside more and realize how good it is to walk 10 kilometres to hatch their Pokémon egg,” he said. “And you get achievements for walking around; it’s a low-key exercise app.”
Warren said he’s sure the game will have its critics, but he said people are negative towards just about everything.
“We’re just out having fun and we’re doing that in an active way,” he said. “We’re getting out and exploring our town, seeing parts of it we didn’t even know existed.”
Warren said his biggest goal is to catch all 151 Pokémon before more are released.
The app is free to play and players can pay for more items like pokeballs, which are used to capture Pokémon, however, those items can also be collected by exploring and walking around.
'Pretty hyped' about app
Liam French, who lives in Brooklyn, drove to Windsor to see how many Pokémon he could find.
“I started playing the game two days ago,” French said. “There’s quite a few Pokémon around here.”
The game still isn’t technically available in Canada, but people are finding workarounds to play anyways, like French.
“I was in Halifax yesterday and there were at least 60 people at (the) Public Gardens playing it,” he said. “We’ve been hearing about it for a while and there hasn’t been a new Pokémon game out for a while, especially one like this for your phone. Everybody is pretty hyped about it.”
French said he’s found the collectable creatures all over the place, including in his own bedroom.
“I’m just trying to find as many as I can,” he said. “You find them everywhere.”
Pokémon Gyms, where players compete with each other to claim a specific landmark for their team, are also found around Windsor.
In Windsor, gyms can be found at the Shand House Museum, West Hants Historical Society, The Acadian Mural at the Windsor Mall, and the Haliburton House.
“I think so many people will be checking out this game when it’s out for real,” he said. “Everybody was into Pokémon at some point, and now people just want to get back into it. It’s a really sick game, it’s really fun.”
French said he’s really hoping to catch a Pikachu, one of the more iconic creatures from the franchise.
Ben Barker, from Windsor, said he appreciated that the app doesn’t drain too much of his device’s data plan.
He did say he tries to connect to the town’s public wi-fi whenever possible.
Golden opportunity to play
Chad Sapieha, a senior writer for Post Arcade, said nostalgia plays a big part in Pokémon Go’s early success.
“A lot of people who were obsessed with Pokémon when they were kids in the late nineties or early aughts probably haven't played any Pokémon games since,” Sapieha said. “Now that they can play for free on a phone; there's nothing stopping them. It's a golden opportunity. Revisiting Pokémon after a decade or more away is giving rise to floods of warm, happy childhood memories.”
Sapieha said he hasn’t played the game yet as it isn’t out officially in Canada and Pokémon doesn’t hold any nostalgic importance for him.
“I didn't really dive into any Pokémon games until my own kid started playing Pokémon. Then we played complementary versions so we could swap Pokémon,” he said. “I haven't felt the need to go through the hassle of changing regions and setting up a U.S. account in order to play.”
Despite not playing the game, Sapieha said he’s impressed by what he’s seen and read so far.
“It doesn't look to have the depth of a traditional Pokémon game, and I'm not sure it will have much staying power for players who aren't dyed in the wool Pokémon fans,” he sad. “But even then, with nearly 300 million games sold since the first one launched back in 1996, its potential global audience still sits in the tens if not hundreds of millions.”
Sapieha said he’s not sure if we could expect more games like Pokemon Go to see the same level of success.
“The difference with Pokemon Go is that it's leveraging an existing franchise that ranks as the second best selling game series in the world,” he said. “Finding hidden monsters lends itself perfectly to augmented reality. It's a perfect convergence of factors that doesn't come along very often.”
Sapieha said Nintendo will start to take mobile phones as a more serious market for its games from now on.
“With just its second mobile release, (Nintendo)'s got one of the hottest apps around,” he said. “If its next system flops in a manner similar to Wii U but its apps continue to do well, it might make unavoidable sense for Nintendo to leave its pricey hardware design and manufacturing business behind and just make mobile games.”
Did you know?
- Pokémon is one of the most successful entertainment franchises in the world, since launching in 1996, with a best selling series of video games, television shows, movies and merchandise.
- The original Pokémon game featured 151 collectable creatures, which has since expanded to 722.
- Pokémon are split into types including fire, water, and grass. Some types are strong against others, while weak to other types. For instance, fire type is strong against grass, but weak against water.
- The name Pokémon comes from the contraction ‘pocket monsters.’
What is Pokémon Go?
WINDSOR, NS — People walking around with their phones out is nothing new, but you might start seeing it more often with the impending release of Pokémon Go.
The latest title in the monster-catching video game franchise has jumped ship from Nintendo handheld gaming systems and onto mobile phones that run Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS operating systems.
It’s already tearing up the app store charts, with parent company Nintendo reporting a massive jump in its share price.
Here’s the thing — it’s not even technically out in Canada yet.
Pokémon Go was released in the United States on July 8, and in Australia and New Zealand around the same time. It quickly became the No. 1 free app in the U.S. App Store on iOS.
The game is slated to roll out in Asia and Europe in the coming days. An official Canadian release hasn’t been announced yet, but people are finding ways to get their hands on the game already.
iOS users have been switching their App Store accounts to the U.S. version to play the game, but that blocks out some of the functionality, such as not being able to make in-app purchases or play other games downloaded from the Canadian store.
There are issues with getting the game early, with reports of Android users who downloaded the app in Canada being exposed to malware and other players are reportedly facing potential bans from the game’s developer Niantic.
The game uses augmented reality and GPS tracking to put the player in a persistent Pokémon world. Wherever they go, whether it’s a park or a café, the player could track down a Charmander (a fire-type lizard) or a Squirtle (a water-type turtle) just waiting to be captured.
The Pokémon appear on the users screens through the phone’s camera, giving the illusion that the Pokémon is right next to a bush or bench in the real world.
In order to find more Pokémon to catch, the user has to walk around their environment.
There’s also a competitive side to the game, with players attempting to claim Pokémon gyms, which usually inhabit a landmark in a populated area. Players challenge the leader’s Pokémon in order to take the top spot.
Fans of the game are already anticipating updates, such as more Pokémon being added to the roster. Currently only the first 150 Pokémon are available to catch.
Interesting stories have already come out of people wandering around to find Pokémon, including one Wyoming woman who found a body floating in a river while using the app.
