Pokemon GO and Me
I have a habit about ranting about Pokemon GO. It’s a very simple game that has made a ton of money, but the company behind the game, Niantic, constantly make weird decisions about various game features. As of late, they have been constantly changing the item bundles in the store, and they’ve reduced remote raid usage by limiting remote raids to five per day. Niantic’s relationship with its players and customers is all over the place, and a lot of its Quality of Life changes have been slowly disappearing. Even right now, I could make an argument about how remote raid nerfs have made raid events more difficult, especially in smaller communities. But I want to look at something else today. I want to talk about how Pokemon GO has affected my life.
The first thing I want to mention is how Pokemon GO has allowed me to make a few friends, which can be very tricky when you’re in your early thirties. Okay, we’re not super best buddies doing everything together, but it’s nice playing a game and meeting up with a friend. I enjoy community days more when we’re in a group. Even if we’re just in a friend group for Pokemon GO, it does make things pleasant, meeting up to do events rather than playing alone. Being able to do raids that require more than 3-4 people is also nice.
Pokemon GO had made me do other things too. For example, it actually got me into playing actual Pokemon games. Before Pokemon GO, I didn’t care much for anything aside Ponyta and Growlithe. Now, only have I played Pokemon GO, but I also ventured into the main series games. I completed Pokemon Shield, and I’m (very) slowly working my way through Pokemon Violet. I don’t actually enjoy these games as much as I enjoy Pokemon GO, but it’s nice to experience where it all came from.
One of the bigger things Pokemon GO has done is make me lose weight. I’ll be honest, I’m not a very healthy person. While I don’t smoke or drink, I do like my food a bit too much, and I am almost always hungry. But, even if I’m still out of shape, Pokemon GO gives me a reason to not spend all day on my fat ass. After all, there are Pokemon to catch, eggs to hatch and buddies to level up. I can’t do those if I don’t go outside. Even if whatever I hatch is crap, the Pokemon I find have shitty stats and my buddies constantly need feeding, I still go outside and feel the wind or sun on my face. And, most importantly, I walk.
I walk all over the place. I’ve got a nice route around where I live, which is pretty quiet, just off a main road. While it’s not much, I find myself walking at least 2km a day, which is better than nothing. Without Pokemon GO, well, I’d be a fatter person at least.
It’s funny how some stupid pixels have really affected my life. Maybe I need to go outside more. But I already am going outside more. Ugh, this is awkward…