Determination: Essays About Video Games and Us | Page 41

By Emma Puranen

The Summer of Pokémon G

1776 was the summer of independence . 1969 was the summer of Woodstock . 2016 was the summer of Pokémon GO .
In terms of big , momentous , season-defining events , a new alternate-reality video game is certainly something that would have been predicted in a sci-fi novella of decades past . So good job , 2016 - we are in the future .
The sheer magnitude of the phenomenon that is Pokémon GO and the speed with which it enveloped society made for an unprecedented summer for video games , and a summer of memories strangely tinged with the otherworldly glow of my cellphone screen competing with the orangey sunset to light up the mosquitoes hungering for my blood as I paused to capture my millionth Rattata .
One day in July , as I leaned on the seafood counter where I worked at my neighborhood Giant , catching my breath in a momentary lull in business , three teenagers loudly sped by . Their noses were almost pressed to their phones , their fingers scribbling against the screens in the anxious hopes of catching whatever animated Japanese collectable monster happened to be floating in the air , ghostlike , in front of them .
“ Hey , you guys playing Pokémon GO ?” I called , slipping off my freezer gloves and waving . “ Yeah !” they replied , excited that someone had recognized their journey . “ Anything good in here ?”
“ Not really , just Pidgeys . There was a Koffing by the Exxon , though !”
The real beauty of the game was the way it brought people together like this . I spent many an evening after work walking to the lake near my neighborhood , my path dictated by the placement of the virtual blue diamonds , known as PokéStops , on my phone ’ s GPS , and came across all manner of fellow players . There was the tenyear-old kid on a skateboard who breathlessly informed me that there was a Snorlax at the corner of Zion and Roberts . The dedicated middle-aged woman who I passed at the lake every night without fail . The young man who watched his toddler play at the lake until she found a Dratini , at which point she exclaimed “ Daddy , look , it ’ s a snake !” and he anxiously replied “ Let daddy handle this one , honey ” and took the phone from her despite her protests . The man who exited the REI as I was trying to catch a Pidgeot and asked me eagerly “ Did ya catch that big Pidgey ?”
Today , Pokémon GO is still going strong , releasing fun holiday bonuses and unveiling new changes like the buddy system and daily bonuses . I have no doubt that it will continue to be a popular app , and I ’ ll definitely keep playing . But there was something truly special about the summer of 2016 , a feeling that I ’ m not sure will be recaptured . Twenty years after the Pokémon franchise debuted , the world went crazy for it all over again . It provided an odd sort of connectedness in an otherwise tumultuous year .