The newest game in town is Pokémon Go.You read it first on the Bluffton Icon.
You, too, can play.
Here’s how: Join for some hunting around town from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays starting at the Bluffton post office. All ages are welcome. For more information contact Noah Friesen at: [email protected] or 541-912-3970.
He added: “Bluffton residents have been hunting high and low for wild Pokémon using the Pokémon GO mobile-app. You know who you are!”
Last night, for example, there was a group of 12 or more younger Bluffton residents outside the public library talking and playing the game, according to Kerry Bush, who has created a Facebook group for local players.
Click here to view it: https://www.facebook.com/groups/295373837477916/
Any time of day - but especially in the evenings when it's cooler - you're liable to find several youths walking Bluffton streets while looking at their phones and playing this game.
What’s it all about?
Apparently if you were born after 1984 you understand. Those reading this born before 1984 should continue reading.
With the assistance of an article by Casey Newton at Cnet.com, the Icon learned the following:
Pokémon is a Nintendo franchise launched in the 1990s. In its world, "trainers" travel the world to catch varied monsters called Pokémon and use these critters to fight each other.
The trainer’s goal is to "catch them all.” If you succeed you become a Pokémon master.
So what is Pokémon Go? Unlike previous Pokémon games, it’s not for Nintendo’s handheld consoles; it’s a free download for Android and iOS devices.
It also doesn’t play at all like previous Pokémon games: Although the goal is still to catch them all, Pokémon Go mixes real-world elements with the game.
Pokémon Go uses cell phone’s GPS and clock to decide which Pokémon appear in the game.
If you’re at the park, more bug and grass types appear. If you’re by a lake, more water types appear. If it’s night, more nocturnal ghost and fairy types do.
So Pokémon won’t just come to you; players have to traverse the real world to catch them all.
Why is the game taking off now?
Quick answer: it just came out, so it’s new and exciting those people who enjoy the game. And it taps into nostalgia for those who played Pokémon in the 1990s.
Pokémon Go realizes a vision Pokémon fans have had since the series came out: What if Pokémon were real, and inhabited our world?
