Sometimes, we here at Digital Trends have strong opinions. And when that time comes, we take to the internet and fight. For this debate, we’re talking all about the new Pokémon Go game from Niantic Labs that’s been sitting at the top of the app charts this week. DT Mobile Staff Writer Julian Chokkattu defends Pokémon Go against Gaming Writer Mike Epstein, who says it doesn’t have enough gameplay to be called a game.
I’m not sure what Pokémon Go is, but it is not a video game! The new app from The Pokémon Company and Ingress developer Niantic is just a stupid geo-cacheing app with some social hooks and an AR camera overlay: It’s an amalgamation of app features tied together by your nostalgia for an old video game and/or cartoon.
Yes, you can “catch” Pokémon, insofar as you slide your finger at them, but does that count as playing a game? Hardly. In the primary Pokémon series, catching a Pokémon means fighting it and knowing when to throw a Pokeball to catch it. In this game there’s no finesse or tactics to speak of in this game. They barely even move!
Plus, once you have them, your Pokémon don’t really do anything. You can’t “release” your Pokémon in the world and play with them; you can’t fight other players you bump into on the street; you can’t do anything. Once you collect a Pokémon it’s basically a sticker with stats attached that you can pay real money to upgrade.
The point of Pokémon Go isn’t to play Pokémon, it’s to let fans pretend they’re living the life of Pokémon trainer. It’s cosplay for your phone. That’s pretty cool, I guess, but without any kind of direct competition, narrative, or even a means of building a community, there’s nothing making me like an active participant. I don’t feel any different looking at the Pokémon Go map than I do looking at the Google map, except I don’t know where I’m going.
This is not a game, and it’s not a good app, either!