MNBrian
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2015
- Messages
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So, over the weekend there's been an explosion of people downloading a new game called Pokémon Go.
Now, being this is becoming a social and worldwide phenomenon, I wanted to fill everyone in who isn't following the story.
Here are some stats.
1) In the first 5 days of going live, Pokémon Go already surpassed the total number of downloads of Tinder (the popular hookup app), and more amazingly, also surpassed the total number of downloads of Twitter. And that's in 5 days. It's going to break records.
2) But as most of us know, just downloading an app doesn't show a true metric of popularity. The real metric is average usage time. There's a fancy name for this in data analysis, but who cares. The point is, how long do people use the app at a time on average. Well, currently people are on Pokémon Go for an average of 42 minutes per use. That ALSO surpasses twitter, and the popular Instagram app (where users share photos like facebook but without all the profiles and words and nonsense).
3) Now, for a little more of an idea, the total downloads of the app are so high that 6% of people who own smartphones actually have the app. That's a lot of people.
So what is a Pokémon?
A Pokemon is a made up animal that usually mixes different qualities of different animals, and has special powers (like shooting fireballs) that can be used to battle other pokemon on Gameboy. In the game, you'd wander the wilderness and find pokemon (like animals in the real world) and use a Poke-ball to catch them instead of a net. Because net's are scary and Pokeballs make the Pokemon shrink down to the size of a marble to keep in your pocket. In Japan, Pokemon literally means "Pocket Monsters".
The game had a storyline (usually someone threatening to kill all the Pokemon or something like that) and the goal was to go beat that person's Pokemon up. Because people don't fist fight. They throw monsters at eachother and let their monsters do the talking. Usually everyone also wanted to "Catch Them All" as in catch all 300 unique Pokemon.
Back in the hay-day of handheld gaming, Pokemon came out with a red and blue version of the game. There were 300 total Pokemon. About half of the total were on each version, so in order to "Catch 'em All" you had to get a friend who had the other version and trade using a cable and two Gameboys.
What's Changed with Pokemon Go?
A lot. For one, phones can communicate with one another a lot easier than Gameboys. Secondly, phones have GPS units, and since the beginning of Pokemon, every kid (who grew up with it) loved to play make believe games where they'd go out into the woods and catch Pokemon. So add this idea of Pokemon and add geocaching (going to real world locations to find items using a GPS) and you get Pokemon Go.
Players download the app, then physically walk around a park or around their neighborhood, and as their phone moves, so does the character in the game (just like Google Maps follows your car). The Map shows up on the screen and you see rustling grass in areas where Pokemon are hiding. When you go near it, a Pokemon pops up on your screen and you can throw a Pokeball at him to catch him.
Once you have a few Pokemon, players can go to "Pokestops" which are real world points (like signs at the entrance to a park) to get free items that aid in catching pokemon. Players also are forced (once they've played for a few hours) to pick a team. There are 3 teams (Red, Yellow, and Blue). Players can then find a "gym" which is just another random GPS location like the entrance to a church or a public park sculpture or something (Think the spoon in MPLS/St Paul or the Giant Ball Sculpture in Chicago) and "battle" with their pokemon to take control of the location. If your team has control, you can make the gym harder to beat for other teams by "training" at the gym and then leaving one Pokemon behind at the gym. If someone else beats the gym your pokemon simply returns to you. If your team doesn't have control, you can take control by beating all the pokemon that have been left at that gym.
So there you have it. Cultural phenomenon in a nutshell.
I can tell you already this is changing how people play games. It really is the first big win for Virtual Reality type games and Pokemon Go is already talking to big people like Google about installing it in Google Glass (sunglasses that show digital stuff mixed with the real world) and other technology tycoons.
Hope this little guide helps people who don't get it. And if you're playing, feel free to reach out. I'll teach you all kinds of tips and tricks for leveling up. My wife and I are just loving playing it because it makes us go outside and not just sit on the couch and watch Netflix. We've walked 15 miles in the last few days and I'm sure a few months from now we'll be in much better shape.
Now, being this is becoming a social and worldwide phenomenon, I wanted to fill everyone in who isn't following the story.
Here are some stats.
1) In the first 5 days of going live, Pokémon Go already surpassed the total number of downloads of Tinder (the popular hookup app), and more amazingly, also surpassed the total number of downloads of Twitter. And that's in 5 days. It's going to break records.
2) But as most of us know, just downloading an app doesn't show a true metric of popularity. The real metric is average usage time. There's a fancy name for this in data analysis, but who cares. The point is, how long do people use the app at a time on average. Well, currently people are on Pokémon Go for an average of 42 minutes per use. That ALSO surpasses twitter, and the popular Instagram app (where users share photos like facebook but without all the profiles and words and nonsense).
3) Now, for a little more of an idea, the total downloads of the app are so high that 6% of people who own smartphones actually have the app. That's a lot of people.
So what is a Pokémon?
A Pokemon is a made up animal that usually mixes different qualities of different animals, and has special powers (like shooting fireballs) that can be used to battle other pokemon on Gameboy. In the game, you'd wander the wilderness and find pokemon (like animals in the real world) and use a Poke-ball to catch them instead of a net. Because net's are scary and Pokeballs make the Pokemon shrink down to the size of a marble to keep in your pocket. In Japan, Pokemon literally means "Pocket Monsters".
The game had a storyline (usually someone threatening to kill all the Pokemon or something like that) and the goal was to go beat that person's Pokemon up. Because people don't fist fight. They throw monsters at eachother and let their monsters do the talking. Usually everyone also wanted to "Catch Them All" as in catch all 300 unique Pokemon.
Back in the hay-day of handheld gaming, Pokemon came out with a red and blue version of the game. There were 300 total Pokemon. About half of the total were on each version, so in order to "Catch 'em All" you had to get a friend who had the other version and trade using a cable and two Gameboys.
What's Changed with Pokemon Go?
A lot. For one, phones can communicate with one another a lot easier than Gameboys. Secondly, phones have GPS units, and since the beginning of Pokemon, every kid (who grew up with it) loved to play make believe games where they'd go out into the woods and catch Pokemon. So add this idea of Pokemon and add geocaching (going to real world locations to find items using a GPS) and you get Pokemon Go.
Players download the app, then physically walk around a park or around their neighborhood, and as their phone moves, so does the character in the game (just like Google Maps follows your car). The Map shows up on the screen and you see rustling grass in areas where Pokemon are hiding. When you go near it, a Pokemon pops up on your screen and you can throw a Pokeball at him to catch him.
Once you have a few Pokemon, players can go to "Pokestops" which are real world points (like signs at the entrance to a park) to get free items that aid in catching pokemon. Players also are forced (once they've played for a few hours) to pick a team. There are 3 teams (Red, Yellow, and Blue). Players can then find a "gym" which is just another random GPS location like the entrance to a church or a public park sculpture or something (Think the spoon in MPLS/St Paul or the Giant Ball Sculpture in Chicago) and "battle" with their pokemon to take control of the location. If your team has control, you can make the gym harder to beat for other teams by "training" at the gym and then leaving one Pokemon behind at the gym. If someone else beats the gym your pokemon simply returns to you. If your team doesn't have control, you can take control by beating all the pokemon that have been left at that gym.
So there you have it. Cultural phenomenon in a nutshell.
I can tell you already this is changing how people play games. It really is the first big win for Virtual Reality type games and Pokemon Go is already talking to big people like Google about installing it in Google Glass (sunglasses that show digital stuff mixed with the real world) and other technology tycoons.
Hope this little guide helps people who don't get it. And if you're playing, feel free to reach out. I'll teach you all kinds of tips and tricks for leveling up. My wife and I are just loving playing it because it makes us go outside and not just sit on the couch and watch Netflix. We've walked 15 miles in the last few days and I'm sure a few months from now we'll be in much better shape.
