Since July 6, Pokémon fans have spent time fulfilling their childhood dream of becoming the very best Pokémon Master, like no one ever was.
That’s when Pokémon GO was released as a collaboration between the Pokémon Company and Niantic Labs took over the world in a matter of days..
“I think it’s really nostalgic for a lot of people,” said 25-year-old Michaela Jacobson. “When you’re a kid you’ve always to do that and so now you can do it and I think that’s great.”
More than longtime fans were attracted.
Newer generations had a crack at the game as well.
“I’m kind of new to the Pokémon world,” said 18-year-old T.G. Roberts. “Everyone was talking about it and now I’m kind of addicted.”
The game gave a nostalgic feel as it allowed players to walk around and catch Pokémon like in the games.
Players could make their Pokémon stronger by giving them “candies.”
Delta has almost 30 “poke stops” and two gyms, making it an easy area for players to level up between classes.
Pokémon eggs can be hatched by walking around.
Students can hatch eggs as they walk from their car to campus.
The players were also allowed to join one of three teams – Instinct, Valor and Mystic – as soon as they hit a certain level.
Gyms are a little bit different. Instead of battling gym leaders and collecting badges, the gyms were being led by the different teams.
A little bit confusing but people seemed to enjoy the mix of old and new features. Pokémon fans old and new gathered from all over to play the game.
During summer, the creator of Stockton Con, Mike Millerick, with the help of several local businesses, created and hosted a Pokémon GO meet up at Weber Point.
More than 200 people showed up and walked through downtown as a group to “poke-stops” and gyms.
In the recent months, however, there has been a 20 percent drop in user activity. Some went as far as deleting the game entirely. Complaints have been seen and heard from all around about various things, including the lack of updates.
“I definitely don’t play as much as I did when the game first came out,” said Brooke Becker, a student at Delta College.
Starting Sept. 5, however, Niantic stated there would be big updates on the game that would hopefully bring players back to the game.
“I think that’s amazing!” Becker replied, when told about the rumors of a big update. “I still feel that the game was released too early. There were a lot of issues with the app but at least now they have a chance to improve it and make it even better! I’m excited to see what they have in store for us, I’m sure it’ll be great!”
With these updates, time will tell if the game goes back to being No. 1, or if it’ll stay where it is.
