The “Pokémon GO” craze has swept its way onto the Oswego State campus.
“Pokémon GO” is a free-to-play augmented reality mobile app that utilizes the user’s smart phone GPS capabilities and camera to allow players to catch Pokémon anywhere, anytime.
The app was developed by Niantic and was released on July 6, and features many of the same things that are present in the original Pokémon games such as gyms, catching, egg-hatching, evolving and item collecting. The main feature of the game that differs from the originals is the ability to join one of three teams, “Instinct, Mystic or Valor.”
Almost every building on campus is the site of at least one Pokéstop or gym. There are six gyms on campus that players can fight for to claim for their team: the statue in front of Sheldon Hall, the triangle dome sculpture by Rich Hall, the Hercules sculpture on Lee Hall, the sculptures on the lawn in front of the Campus Center, the Pan Am Flight 103 Memorial next to the bridge to west campus and Onondaga Hall.
Team Instinct member James, who has been playing Pokémon since he was five years old, spends most of his time walking all over campus hitting the various Pokéstops. He has risen an alarming number of levels in just a week of being back on campus.
James’ favorite aspect of the game is the rivalry between the three teams. He most enjoys fighting gyms and claiming them for Team Instinct. However, he is disappointed at how few Instinct members there seem to be on campus.
Alexis Traina, another user on campus, is one of the few players who has yet to choose a team. She isn’t as interested in battling for gyms as she is in walking around and having fun catching Pokémon with people around her.
Her favorite thing about the app is that it allows players to “get closer to people you know.” Through “Pokémon GO,” she has bonded further with her cousin back home and with her boyfriend on campus.
Traina and Erick Benavid, a member of Team Valor, have been fans of the show since they were kids. Both are glad about the renewed popularity that the game has brought to the Pokémon franchise.
“People thought you were a loser if you played Pokémon,” Benavid said. “Now it’s cool and everyone loves it.”
Niantic has released information about their plans for future updates to add a new feature called “PokéBuddy,” which will allow players to “walk” their Pokémon for candies, which are used for powering up and evolving. Players hope that future updates will also include player versus player battles outside of gyms, the ability to trade items and Pokémon with other players and the replacement of Pokéstops, which award items by chance, with Pokécenters, which would allow players to buy exactly the items they want.
