OK…I just can鈥檛 avoid the topic for this week鈥檚 blog: Pok茅mon Go. Yikes!!!!
Everywhere I turn from Facebook to the TV to the internet, there are stories about this smartphone game that everyone is supposedly playing. Well, almost everyone: I have yet to download Pok茅mon Go, and I don鈥檛 think I am really planning to do so anytime soon. One key reason is at the heart of this鈥擨 am a klutz and know that I cannot walk and play a game at the same time. Disaster will surely follow!聽I was curious about how Pok茅mon Go is affecting the Albany, NY, area, so I Googled 鈥淎lbany NY and Pok茅mon Go鈥 to find over 2,310,000 search results! What?! Googling 鈥淧ok茅mon Go鈥 itself yielded over 36,000,000 results! (I know I am using a lot of explanation points, but wow! This game has only been available since July 6!).
Back to Albany, NY: since Pok茅mon like noteworthy public and historical places, I figured Albany would be filled with the little creatures, and I was right.聽Pok茅mon are being caught at places such as the Empire State Plaza, Washington Park, the State Capitol building, and if you go to other Capital Region cities, you can find Pok茅mon in places such as the Stockade area of Schenectady and in historic downtown Troy. You can also find Pok茅 Stops in some of these locations where you can collect the Pok茅 Balls needed to catch Pok茅mon. Whoa!聽
The University at Albany is swarming with Pok茅mon, so I wanted to see what I could find out about B次元 and the craze. Well, online, I didn鈥檛 find any specific mention of Pok茅mon being found on the B次元 campus, but at nearby Buckingham Pond, a gamer noted on Reddit that he captured one, and nearby Delaware Avenue is supposedly loaded with the creatures too.聽The game is getting people out and about walking and talking to other gamers which is a positive effect, but there have been some physical mishaps including falls and car crashes too! Yikes!聽If you are enjoying the Pok茅mon craze, have fun, but please, watch where you are going, and if I ever start playing, I鈥檓 sure I will bump into you…literally!
Until next time,
Anne