Since its release last month, the virtual reality mobile game Pokémon GO has exploded in popularity.
Players are sometimes focusing on their smartphones to the point of distraction and danger in search of the titular "pocket monsters."
Ben Gilbert is a senior correspondent for Tech Insider. He explained the game to KNPR's State of Nevada this way:
"Using your phone, wherever you are in the world, it kind of locates Pokemon around you. And essentially the idea is you capture them using a relatively basic mechanic of swiping on your phone... you capture a Pokemon. You collect them. You get to a higher level in the game by capturing more of them by visiting various locations around the world called poke-stops."
Once a player has collected Pokemon, he or she can battle with other players in stops known as Pokemon gyms, gaining higher levels by defeating other Pokemon and gathering rare 'monsters.'
"It essentially puts things into the world using your GPS," he said, "So, in the case of Pokemon Go, the Pokemon are being populated by the game in the world around you and you hold up your phone and you can see them through your camera. They're not actually in the physical world, of course, but it looks as though they're in the world around you."
Gilbert said the Pokemon are placed at locations by a complex algorithm developed by the game makers. Pokemon are placed in different environments and locations based the type of monster they are.
"If you're near water their might be more Pokemon of a water type," Gilbert said, "And if you're near more of a mountain climate you might see more Pokemon that resemble animals that might appear in that kind of region."
Natasha Sushenko is a Pokemon enthusiast and UNLV student. She said the randomness of the game is one of the things she loves about it.
"It feels more real because it is not predictable," she said. "It's extra engaging and more random because they could appear anywhere.'
Sushenko said there is a nostalgia factor for many millennials who played Pokemon as kids, but she says she has plenty of other friends who didn't play as kids, but love Pokemon Go because of augmented reality it provides.
Pokémon GO players are in places you would expect, such as public parks and the streets of Las Vegas. But they're also in places you WOULDN'T expect, like casinos.
And in perfect Las Vegas fashion, those casinos hope to use the game to bring players into the casino.
David Strow is vice president of corporate communications for Boyd Gaming. He said the company is using the Pokemon stops at the Orleans Hotel-Casino to bring people into the property's new restaurant.
"The Orleans is a virtual gold mine of poke-stops," Strow said, "We saw an opportunity to capitalize on that."
Strow said when someone captures a Pokemon near the new restaurant they get a message letting them know about drink special for Pokemon players.
"We really see Pokemon Go as a real opportunity to connect with a new customer base and a younger customer base," Strow said.
Pokémon GO has given Las Vegans a whole new way of experiencing our city.
"I'm a local," Sushenko said, "I've been to lots of places in Las Vegas. But I've definitely been drawn to places I don't go very frequently."
Food offered by a pop-up vendor at Desert Breeze Park/Photo credit: Nikole Robinson Carroll
Ben Gilbert, senior correspondent, Tech Insider; David Strow, Vice President of Corporate Communications, Boyd Gaming; Natasha Sushenko, Pokemon enthusiast, UNLV student
