Issue 29.16
There are reports of what seems like the long feared Zombie Apocolypse happening as groups of strange people are seen wandering around, stopping and starting, standing or walking slowly without seeing what is going on around them but just staring at their hands and a strange glow. Don’t worry. It’s not the end of the world. At least we don’t think so. It is simply a new video game application for the cell phone called Pokémon Go.
A while back, a cell-phone app called Ingress was created by the Niantic Company. It seemed to be addictive to a lot of teenagers and a few others. They would wander the streets or drive around looking for locations where a team could do a type of capture-the-flag game on their phones, building points and power for future battles and securing locations for their team. Nintendo has built upon this technology with a new game that has not only teens, but whole families walking the streets watching their phone screens for cartoon characters to become visible through their camera as they scan for these otherwise invisible icons. The characters are from the game Pokémon that was very popular in the 90s in video games, a TV show and trading cards. The phrase “gotta catch ‘em all” referred to collecting or capturing all these cartoon personalities and the power they could bring to you.
On the positive side, this is one of the first computer games that actually encourages participants to get out of the house, do some walking (or running) and have fun together as a group or a family. My daughter says it is one of the most fun things she has done with her kids and they really enjoy the time together. The game is free to download and the fact that it only works on mobile devices makes it very easy to use for even the very young. As you look at your screen, the app uses your camera to show you occasional characters superimposed on the scene your camera is seeing.
There are concerns. People get so caught up in the game and trying to “see” the characters or capture them, they forget to be careful with the real world. One person who crashed their car into a tree said it was because they were distracted by the game. A couple of people fell off a cliff chasing a character and not looking where they were going – luckily it was a very small cliff and they came out of it okay. Police are having a bit of trouble with people wandering the streets late at night and moving about in groups. They are concerned that they may become careless or violent. The company also sells add-ons to the free game to help the player become more powerful or find more Pokémon. Estimates are that, because of the incredible popularity, the companies involved are making 2 or 3 million dollars a day. Nintendo stock has risen over 50% in just a few days.
It is an interesting phenomenon to watch and the interface between the cartoon world and the real world is very creative and interesting. One group has already claimed to hack the game servers and partially shut down the game in some areas. They say it was just to show they could do it, but game owners and millions of players were very upset. If you need to get out of the house and want to do something new, download it and give it a try – and remember to always have a backup of anything important.
Shaun McCausland has worked in the computer industry for over 33 years, 26 years of it locally with Bits ‘N’ Bytes and Musicomp and currently works as a computer consultant. If you have questions you can reach him at 435-668-7118 or shaun@musicomp.net.