By Ryan Gajarawala ’18

Early this summer, Pokemon Go took the world by storm. Released on July 6th, 2016, the Pokemon Go game is a free-to-play, location-based augmented reality mobile device game in lech players use their mobile device to locate, capture, battle and train Pokemon, who appear on the screen as if they were in the real world. As a continuation of the games produced from the Pokemon franchise, the augmented reality game requires evolving the Pokemon, hatching eggs, battling other trainers and “catching them all”. In order to play, you need to get off the couch and walk outside where the Pokemon live, to catch, battle and even collect items from Pokestops, which are real-world landmarks which provide the trainer with items to catch the Pokemon. While the game has become one of the most-used mobile applications of 2016, many negative reviews and responses have been gathered and reported throughout the media, governments, and even amongst people who play the game.

Users of Pokemon Go have also displayed enormous concerns over the game’s interruption of their daily routine. Many users, such as Dillan Gajarawala ‘17, are hesitant to download the game because as Dillan believes, “If I did play, it would become too large a part of my life; a major distraction.” In an effort to avoid the game engulfing his daily life, people like Dillan avoid the game altogether.  Additionally, some people who have downloaded the game, experienced the problem of increased antisocial behavior. From a personal experience as a user of the game, when hanging out with my friends during the summer, everyone was looking at their phone in order to catch the Pokemon or to receive the items from every Poke-stop in the area. Except for the occasional, “Ugh! Only a Pidgey,” or the rare, “OHHHH! Look a Dragonite!”, all conversation and communication between us was lost, even though we were physically together. Although some argue that the game could develop a social dynamic among people, the game often overtakes the social connections and becomes the primary focus of all people involved.

The game has also led to many dangerous encounters for a lot of people. Since it is necessary to walk and look at the screen to play the game, many users have become involved in accidents ranging from small bumps, to injury, to even death. An anonymous Newark Academy student who often played the game, walked into a pole, twice, while using the game and walking on the streets. Many people are frightened that this dangerous aspect of the game could be bad news for the future of location-based gaming. This game is also commonly used by criminals to commit unlawful acts upon unsuspecting pedestrians. In many cases, criminals use Pokemon to lure users to their sites and rob them or harm them in some way. In addition to the danger, the game is often a nuisance to other pedestrians in public and can easily become an addiction or obsession of many players.

Even though Pokemon Go is a pioneer in the field of augmented reality, the functionality of the game and application itself have endless flaws that users continue to encounter, even after adjustments have been made by Niantic. From the date of release, the game has continued to display many glitches ranging from an inability in completing the loading bar on the opening screen to Pokemon disappearing for no apparent reason. Durga Srivatsan ‘18 had some personal experience with the glitches, saying “the game was always very glitchy, no matter where or when you played it.” In addition to its glitchiness, the game continuously drains the battery of the users’ phones. As a past player of the game myself, I experienced my battery drop from 97% to 44% after just 10 minutes of playing the game in New York City. This prodigious use of a phone’s battery is a major letdown from Niantic because it only allows you to play if you have a full battery, which no one ever has these days. Also, in order to play the game, the user needs to access Poke-stops, which will supply the user with extra Poke-balls to catch the Pokemon. However, in many suburbs like where I live, there are no Poke-stops visible unless you go into a popular place. This is a major letdown and simply a complete annoyance because then I have to drive somewhere to get Poke-items, invalidating a major purpose of the game.

Recently, the hype surrounding the Pokemon Go game has been lessening. After speaking with many people, every single person explicitly noted that the popularity and thrill of the game was instantaneous. Lance Tan ‘17 also believes that the game has died down because most people prefer the traditional Pokemon games better, because they are used to the old games. There are currently students at Newark Academy interested in bringing Pokemon Go to the community as a social activity or a way to pass the time, however I believe that the game will provide no enhancement towards the community and will display no success as a social activity. 

The Pokemon Go game has some positive aspects, however the flaws in the functionality of the game, its relationship with the user, and even the idea of the game outweigh the positives. Pokemon Go was a quick summer thrill, something to pass the time on the train going home, but it is not meant to stay. The future of Pokemon Go is uncertain because Niantic continues to make updates and improvements upon the experience. Ultimately, the success of the app will be determined in the coming months depending on the daily active user count and the game’s ability to become stronger and  impress its users in the coming future; however, I believe that Pokemon Go should just remain as a past summer fad, not to be reinstated.