If you don’t closely follow the Pokemon franchise or spend all of your time on the internet, you may have missed the fact that Pokemon Go — an augmented reality mobile game — was released this week for iPhone and Android devices. If you don’t know what augmented reality is, imagine that you’re looking through your camera when suddenly, a Pikachu appears on your desk.
While Pokemon was already an extremely popular franchise, this game has managed to reach many people who’ve never previously played any video game, Pokemon or otherwise. Though the game still has a few bugs, many of its fans are avidly playing nonstop.
For those who have not played Pokemon Go, a PokeStop is a real-life location where a trainer can items like Pokeballs, potions and even eggs. Kennesaw State’s campuses contain many PokeStops, and a few Pokemon Gyms, too.
Many older adults complain that members of the younger generation are disconnected to each other because of things like video games, but Pokemon Go is showing the world how untrue this sentiment is. In the days since the game’s release, groups of students have been meeting up at KSU to catch Pokemon, go to PokeStops and battle at gyms.
If the idea of a large group of millennials running around their college campus and working together to catch Pokemon doesn’t warm your heart, I don’t know what will.
It started as a relatively small gathering, but as various players — or Pokemon trainers — called and texted friends to join them, the group grew. One trainer reported that a car of campus security officers approached their group, and when the trainers told them that they were playing Pokemon Go, the officers left, only to return with the original theme song from the “Pokemon” television song playing from their car.
I, for one, am excited to see news stories about Pokemon Go bringing people together. With all of the negativity in the news, it’s refreshing to see that something as simple as a video game can still bring people together.
