September 15, 2015 by

A look at why games like Pokémon GO may become the next big thing.

When Pokémon GO was announced a week ago, my Facebook feed exploded with excitement and hype. It was my generation that grew up between Pokémon generations II and III, a period of time when the Pokémon franchise was arguably at its peak. The Pokémon Company was not just booming in the video games industry, but it was also making waves within the movie and merchandise sectors as well. I myself was never personally invested in Pokémon (I did not play the games, nor did I watch the movies, until relatively recently), but I could still feel the influence of Pokémon around me everywhere I went.

Today, Pokémon remains a very influential force in the environment I live in. It is no secret that the largest demographic for the Pokémon games are college students. As an incoming third-year at my university, I can see this fact first-hand. Even Pokémon Shuffle, a match-three spin-off puzzle game featuring Pokémon characters, blew up within my group of friends. And let us be real here, as much as Pokémon Shuffle marks an important point in Nintendo’s timeline, it is by no means the best game of its kind. However, the mere fact that it features those cute little Pokémon characters that we all know and love made it the biggest mobile game to catch on here since 2048.

So what is Pokémon GO? First, please watch the announcement trailer here.

“Imagine Pokémon in real life.” The core concept is simple: you, as a Pokémon trainer, run around the real, physical world with your smartphone, and fight, collect, and trade Pokémon, with the goal of catching them all and being the very best that no one ever was. It is, in essence, everything every kid growing up with Pokémon could have ever wanted. Now, it is finally happening.

Could it really be as good as it looks? The developer of the game, Niantic, is a former Google startup company that developed the popular augmented reality mobile game, Ingress. As good as Ingress was, I am sure Pokémon GO will be just as good. The trailer may seem like it is overselling on a novel concept, but the things you saw in that video were not unlike how things played out when me and my friends discovered Ingress when it first came out. We would organize portal runs, trying to capture as many points as we could throughout campus and beyond, and created our own guilds, legions, and lore. Trust me when I say Pokémon GO is going to be big.

Virtual reality may be making its way onto store shelves within the next few months, but I believe it is augmented reality that will make the biggest splash. When Nintendo of America COO Reggie Fils-Aime called virtual reality “not social,” he was not completely wrong (though I do disagree with his overall sentiment towards the technology). That is the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality. Augmented reality lets you, the player, see the world from a new perspective, and experience that new perspective with your friends. Virtual reality cannot do that, at least not as easily.

That is, to me, what makes augmented reality more exciting than virtual. It has a social aspect, one that allows you to experience a whole new alternate dimension with those around you. Not only does this idea sound cool, but it also feels great. I think most people would agree that some of the best video game memories are made with friends, and that is why Pokémon GO is so easy to explain, because it is exactly that kind of game. And yes, to some random passerby, you guys may seem completely insane, running around the world capturing strange, invisible pokey-men -- But in your mind, you are experiencing something truly magical.

In a world where video games often make us stay in our homes and consume an unhealthy amount of Doritos and Mountain Dew, where social interactions consist of poking friends on Facebook and begging for more hearts in Tsum Tsum (I am being facetious here, of course), games like Pokémon GO feel like a breath of fresh air (literally!). I am excited to see where the future of social augmented reality games go next.

Are you excited for Pokémon GO? How about augmented reality as a whole? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Submit Blog
Love this blog? Send it to submissions@ign.com to help us recognize and promote great bloggers on IGN.