It’s finally happening! For some of the world, that is. For twenty years, Pokemon has delighted fans across the world (I know this because on my current Alpha Sapphire save file I have traded with people on every continent at some point using the Global Link System) and today they have released their newest game: Pokemon: Go in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. What makes this mobile game distinction important is that most games in the Pokemon series have been for handheld consoles (the GameBoy, DS, and 3DS) which although smaller than the Nintendo Wii U, are not exactly as portable as a smartphone which has never had an official Pokemon release.
What makes me jumpy with anticipation for playing is that apparently you will be able to trade your Pokemon with people around the world as you are in the handheld console versions, which is important because collecting all the Pokemon is still over thirteen years since I first picked up my copy of Pokemon Crystal, a critical selling point. More important than that is the actual game-play which is something called an augmented reality game which means that the Pokemon will be found in the real world versus in a created universe. This means that fans will have an even harder time putting down cell phones than other people in a society where smartphones are all but glued to everyone’s hands because playing the game requires you to have the camera working and a GPS on your smartphone that is on so the game can determine which kinds of Pokemon the users will see and attempt to catch. The game will be available on both Android and iOS devices and it is free so you’d better believe that I will be one of the first people within the virtual line to collect this title because as the slogan goes “Gotta catch ’em all!”.
