Parents looking for a way to get children moving and off the couch this summer have found a surprising new ally: Pokémon. The Pokemon craze is here, there and everywhere. The game has quickly grown into a massive hit, with millions of registered users flocking to the hot Pokemon catching grounds. Collecting pocket sized cartoon monsters is a stroke of genius.
Unlike most video and smartphone games, the phenomenally popular Pokémon Go, which has been downloaded by millions in the past week, requires the player to be active. The game uses map technology and local landmarks to make it seem as if mythical cartoon creatures are lurking in the real world all around you.
Walking has become a fitness regime. Many parents seem to be relishing the good in Pokémon Go, while recognizing that they will need to create limits. Even teenagers are inviting siblings and parents along. Add in the likelihood of meeting other players at Poké-stops, and the game begins to feel like a social event. Pokemon parties are planned by many game freaks. Pokémon Go brings up unexpected summer memories of Hide-and-seek and Treasure hunt.
According to Sensor Tower, Pokémon Go has been downloaded over 30 million times worldwide since its release, and has generated $35 million (roughly Rs 235 crore) in revenue. It is barreling its way through the download charts, and is poised to soon unlock the 50 million downloads achievement. It was the fastest game to reach the 10 million downloads mark, and here is how long it took to do it compared to other games.
The game is built with Google maps which covers certain landmarks in your vicinity as Pokestops. These locations gives various Pokeballs and other useful goodies. As you walk around, nearby Pokemon will show up on your map. And, it’s just chasing them around as it shows up on the Map directions.
Tapping on them will activate your camera and show that Pokemon super imposed into the real world in front of you. Toss Pokeballs at them and a short mini-game later, these Pokemon become part of your collection. This is the essence of Pokemon Go and it’s this very concept that has the whole world fascinated, but there’s more to the game, like visiting gyms to pit your Pokemon in battles, incubating eggs to gain rare Pokemon, and items like lure modules that increase your chances of catching more.
The average American child already spends more time consuming media via a screen than at school. Adults aren’t doing much better. Many of them say that they spend too much time on smartphones and the internet. In one study, about 70 percent of children under 18 said their parents spent too much time glued to the phone.
Richard Freed, a psychologist and author of “Wired Child: Reclaiming Childhood in a Digital Age says, “I’m wary of promises that more technology is the answer to problems caused by the overuse of technology.” He adds, “We’ve been hopeful in the past that certain games, like the Wii system, would promote family time or get kids moving, he said, but those games ultimately failed to live up to the hype.”
In India, Pokemon do not support some of the features and is not available for official download as yet. However, The game is presently only launched in the US, Australia and New Zealand, but the amount of downloads have crossed the handling power of the servers, that the international launch had to be halted. The international launch for Pokemon Go has not yet been announced, but it will soon be out.
Though the Pokemon Go game is not officially available for download in many countries, here in India, there are other methods that can be adapted for downloading and playing it. While the game is available on various torrents and app hosting websites, some can even download them using a VPN to tunnel through the three countries. Since using the VPN to download the game is usually ineffective, the game is yet downloaded through certain links where iPhone users will have to wait for an official release unless they prefer jailbreaking their devices.
