A popular game capitalizing on the use of augmented reality was released this past summer and caught the attention of people worldwide.
Pokémon GO seeks to make a Pokémaster out of everyone. The game, developed by Niantic, Inc., requires people to use their cellphones to walk around and look for Pokémon so they can attempt to “catch them all” using the phone’s GPS.
The game is jam-packed with eveything a real Pokétrainer needs on their quest, including a Pokédex, Pokéballs and all sorts of other in-game necessities.
With the app being the top grossing game in the Apple Store, there have been many praises and outcries from the people who play it the most.
Evan Foat, business administration graduate student, did not give it a second thought when it came to playing the game when it was first released.
“It’s nostalgia; I used to play Pokémon when I was younger on the Game Boy, so it just brought back those memories of getting together with friends and playing Pokémon together,” Foat said.
Foat said it is also good because it gets people outside walking and hanging out with other people.
Despite his love for the game, he said he found some flaws that make it substandard.
“There is no sustainability with the game and the updates they’re pushing out are not what users want,” Foat said. “It’s difficult once you get to a certain level to start leveling up and you get to the point where you have to walk 10 miles a day in order to gain another level and that just made it boring and hard to play.”
Josh Aguilar, junior instrumental performance major, said with all the updates and tweaks, the game became user-unfriendly.
One of his major concerns is the fact the game distracts people from their surroundings.
“I have seen many people downtown who run red lights and somebody who’s not paying attention can just walk into the street and get hit,” Aguilar said.
Since the release of the game in July there has been a 10 million user decrease.
Developers are tweaking it to include updates that will ideally make Pokémon GO more user-friendly.
