Jack Clayton
Lantern Staff
Last year in June, video game companies Nintendo and Niantic released the app, Pokémon Go, and immediately the app took the world by storm. The basis of the game was to walk around in the real world and catch Pokémon. The app was a major hit when it came out, getting people to actually go outside for a change. However, over time, the app lost popularity, as people realized it was the same thing and grew bored of it quickly. The app had several small updates to try and appeal to their former audience, but nothing gave them the success that they once had.
Then suddenly, in February, Niantic was announced that a significant update was coming to the app, and the update came indeed. The update added several new attractions, including 80 new Pokémon. Now, not only can you catch a Pikachu or a Charizard, you can also catch a Teddiursa or a Murkrow.
Many students are excited about the update and loved what was added.
“I liked that you can get new things at Pokestops and that there’s new baby Pokémon that can be hatched from eggs now,” sophomore Emily Graves said.
While the update did many fans justice, some fans like sophomore Ben Clark wish that the app had done more with one of the biggest parts of the game, the battling system.
“I hope that they add one on one dueling and more character options,” Clark said.
Despite the decline in playing of Pokémon Go, Pokémon Go has remained the biggest mobile game ever. It ended 2016 as the most downloaded app and made $950 million in revenue, according to Express.
This was not the first update that the game had done. Before updates had introduced both baby Pokémon, as well as the extremely rare Pokémon, Ditto. However, these updates did not seem to do as well as this most recent update did.
A possibility for that could have nothing to do with the game, but rather current weather conditions.
“It died out for a while because of the school year starting, but it’s starting to regain popularity because the weather is getting warmer,” sophomore Kevin Burke said.
Regardless, it seems that the fans got what they wanted from this update and are happy about it as well.
“I really just wanted more Pokémon, so I’m glad they answered that,” Graves said. “I’m excited for more events in the future.”
As it stands now, Pokémon Go is not going anywhere and will not go anywhere until we catch ‘em all.
