Pok émon Go craze comes to Cochrane

Everyone's wearing chokers and crop tops, Hillary Clinton is relevant, and Pok émon is sweeping the nation … is it 1995 again?

The world can thank Google for the idea of Pok émon Go, the augmented reality game that lets users venture out into the world to catch the fictional videogame creatures, after the company suggested the game as an April Fool's Day joke in 2014.

The joke garnered so much attention that Google, Nintendo, and Niantic soon partnered to create the game that has swept North America.

Pokemon Go is relatively simple to play - players design an avatar to be their Pokemon trainer and then use the map system within the game to wander around looking for Pokemon to catch. The famous slogan for Pokemon is ‘Gotta catch ‘em all!' and with those intentions, users can train, battle, and level up their caught Pokemon.

“If other apps follow with the augmented reality, it's going to be very hard to beat Pok émon. Because Pokemon is a game generation that has influenced so many different age groups of people - I've seen people in their 50s playing it all the way down to like five year olds, ” said the page administrator for Pokemon Go Cochrane Facebook page.

Since the game involves choosing teams, the administrator, who also plays the game, asked to remain anonymous so users in the area do not view him as biased when he is organizing team events. He started the Pok émon Go Cochrane Facebook page last week and already it has garnered just shy of 110 likes.

“I'm using the page to get everyone connected so they know the other people out there playing, then they can start groups up. I, and two other administrators, also update people when we're walking around town and when we find things, ” he explained.

The administrator said that while anyone can play Pokemon Go, Cochrane users are at a slight disadvantage for now.

“Cochrane does have a lower spawn rate of Pok émon than Calgary. How the maps work is it's all based on area and population size. Because the map by Niantic was taken from one of their older games, Cochrane got the bad end of it since it's four or five years old now. Like the Quarry is technically a quarantined area in the game, ” he explained.

He said the game is supposed to be updated every two weeks and it is his hopes that they will update the maps for this area as well. There is also a website users can access to request Pok éstops and gyms in certain areas.

The administrator said Cochrane's “hot spots ” include the Historic Ranche Site and MacKay's Ice Cream. He said some nights he's seen as many as 50 or 60 people out battle and collecting Pok émon.

Meghan Tayfel, of MacKay's Ice Cream, said her business is happy to be a part of all the hype.

“It's kind of cool that we're one of the Cochrane locations. We definitely see some customers who are just milling about on their phones and we're kind of under the assumption that they're playing the game, ” Tayfel said.

As the Facebook page grows and the number of users in the area increases, the page administrator is looking at ways to incorporate the rest of community. He suggested partnering with local businesses to donate gift cards that could be hidden at the “hot spots ” so people don't play the game while driving.

Overall, the page administrator and Tayfel consider the game to be beneficial to the community regardless if everyone plays.

“I have gone out more thanks to the game. I used to just sit inside playing on a console and then this game out - it just changed my idea of going for a walk and possibly catching Pokemon rather than thinking ‘Well I don't need to go on a walk.,' ” he said.

“We love it as long as everyone playing is careful and remember to look up before crossing the road and all those good things. We're pretty proud to be selected and if it brings more people to Cochrane to see our beautiful town then great, ” Tayfel said.