In 1996, I played my very first "Pokémon" game. My parents got me "Pokemon Blue," and my brother got "Pokemon Red" for our respective Game Boys. I was eight years old.
The Pokemon Company
I loved "Pokémon," and I still do. I have fond memories of playing it with my brother down in Florida when we used to visit our grandmother. We'd hang out at the pool, or just in my grandmother's house, constantly catching and battling Pokémon and updating each other on where we were in the game, especially when a Pokémon evolved or when we beat a gym leader.
During the height of my love for the game, I remember sitting at the breakfast table in my home in Connecticut, staring out the window and wishing Pokémon were real. I mean, really real. (I was maybe 10 or 11 years old at this point.) I imagined looking out the window of our house and seeing a group of Pidgeys on the telephone wires, or seeing a Bulbasaur in the grass, and proudly announcing to my family I was going outside to catch something.
I had many daydreams about seeing Pokémon everywhere I went. And now, over a decade later, it feels like that dream has finally come true thanks to "Pokémon GO."
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The game isn't perfect. It's buggy, the GPS doesn't always work properly, and sometimes the screen freezes right when I catch an elusive Pokémon. And yet, I'm having a blast.
Walking around town with my phone app, as if I'm using Pokéradar to find Pokémon hiding in plain sight, is fun. Catching Pokémon is easy, but nuanced enough to make it enjoyable and unpredictable - even when you're catching your hundredth Pidgey. Leveling each Pokémon up to the point of evolution takes time, but it never feels like a grind; it feels like I'm gradually working towards a goal.
This is exactly the Pokémon game I wanted as a kid: Pokémon, but in real life. Something that's less of a game and more of a lifestyle.
This game is interesting for so many reasons - it's the first incredibly popular game to leverage the augmented reality + GPS combination, and the first major Nintendo title to make it to mobile - but the aspect I think is most interesting is the fact that it's actually better than the original Pokémon games.
My colleague Jeff Dunn said playing "Pokémon GO" made him want to go back and play the older games, but I actually don't feel that way! Playing "Pokémon GO" makes me feel nostalgic, sure, but I don't feel like I want to pick up a Game Boy. If anything, "Pokémon GO" makes the Pokémon concept feel fresh and relevant again, and I want to keep playing this game, not others.
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Many of us who grew up with Pokémon are already familiar with all the creatures currently in the game, so it's less of a surprise factor, but it's still incredibly fun to see Pokémon in the real world - in your home, in your office, at a nearby park - and catch them, either for battling or just collection purposes.
The social aspect is also fantastic: Seeing so many people playing this game on their phones out in public makes you feel like you're part of something big and positive and fun. And I love how multiple people can all see the same Pokémon pop up on their screen at the same time, so as to alert others what's in the vicinity. Here at Tech Insider, we've had several generous trainers drop those valuable Lure Modules around the office, bringing Pokémon to us as we work from our desks, and I love how one person can shout out "Hey there's a Tauros outside!" and everyone can grab their phones and see that Tauros to catch it.
There are so many reasons to love "Pokémon GO," but to me, the game's biggest appeal is how it nails the original spirit of the Game Boy games. The original concept of "Pokémon" games is that we live in a world inhabited by monsters that you can catch and train as pets, and you can travel to different places around the world to find all types of different "Pokémon." This concept worked well back then, but adding the augmented reality and GPS factors make "Pokémon GO," in my opinion, the ultimate "Pokémon" game. I can't wait to see how this game grows and evolves over time, but it's already off to a tremendous start.