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Pokémon phenomenon – what’s it all about?
It’s the worldwide gaming phenomenon that has now gripped the nation – but what is Pokémon Go and why are there thousands on the streets glued to their smart phones, playing it. As an enthusiast himself, CIAN O’CONNELL explains all.
If you take a half-hour walk through the NUIG campus at 1am these days, you are likely to encounter at least a dozen people, holding their phones in both hands; walking purposefully or standing next to a statue or monument that is otherwise of no relevance to them.
Pokémon Go, for those only looking to understand it (if you want to ‘be the very best’ there is far more in-depth and impressive research available online than in this article), is a simple concept – the aim is to catch every Pokémon available to you.
The Pokémon themselves are small animated characters that look like monsters or cute toys, depending on your point of view.
You should know that we’ve had Pokémon since 1996 – it’s only in the last month that they’ve been allowed into the real world.
It’s the second highest-selling video game franchise of all time, behind Mario which first released in 1981.
Pokémon has seen huge success in video games, card games, merchandise and television.
It’s got a worldwide fan base that grew up watching Ash and Misty and Bulbasaur and Pikachu, and guess what? Most of us are now about twenty and we all have smartphones.
So when you think about it, it shouldn’t really be that much of a surprise that people are willing to walk a few kilometres in the middle of the day – or the dead of night – to snare a Snorlax or a Flareon.
It’s not that surprising to people that play video games at least. I mean a lot of us have been doing it anyway – all that’s changed is the actual walking part. Why is it so different to be playing on your phone in a park late at night than it is to play on an Xbox in your room?
The fact that no official Pokémon phone apps have previously been available to download means there’s an immediate market for Pokémon Go.
If you don’t understand video games and the market for them, then none of this obsession will make sense to you – but you should know that it’s existed for a long time.
What’s new about this game is that it’s not on a console, though it is far more similar to a console game than any app before it.
Like the most popular console games of the last several years, Pokémon Go’s real attraction is its online community – there isn’t as much fun in evolving your Charmander if no one else cares.
The difference with this game is that the online community is no longer behind a screen. Instead of simulating a gunfight with people you don’t know, you’re outside looking at them and battling against them for control of gyms, or hunting alongside them for wild Pokémon.
Again, if you have no experience with video games, this might all sound ridiculous – but it’s been going on for a long time.
Games like this are highly addictive, and when you combine that with nostalgia you’ve got a powerful demographic that doesn’t need much encouragement.
The fact that the game places almost no emphasis on violence means you can add the post-Pokémon, iPhone from age five generations to that group.
Then of course with anything that blows up like Pokémon Go has, you get tons of people that start playing just to see what everyone’s talking about, and then before you know it we’re back to how addictive these games are.
It would be unfair to say Pokémon Go hasn’t changed anything within the video game industry. No app has really had a meaningful impact on video games up until this point, and like I said the concept of an online community having to participate in real life public spaces is a new one that is likely to be built on going forward.
I don’t think it’s incredibly important that you understand how or why so many people are playing Pokémon Go. It’s not something you should be afraid of – it even encourages a healthy lifestyle.
And while seeing people walk around glued to their phones may make us seem depressingly reliant on technology, it’s really only a good thing that we’re being encouraged to walk around doing it.
And if you still just don’t feel like you understand at all, it is free to download.
Some 60 tourism companies from Ireland attended ‘Flavours of Ireland’ 2022 in London last week – including Connemara Wild Escapes, DK Connemara Oysters and Killary Fjord Boat Tours.
‘Flavours’ is Tourism Ireland’s annual B2B tourism workshop, where tourism companies from Ireland meet and do business with top global inbound tour operators.
Now in its 20th year, ‘Flavours’ took place in the Guildhall, in the City of London, and was attended by around 100 global inbound tour operators who deliver business from all over the world, including the United States, Mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa.
‘Flavours’ provides an excellent opportunity for the participating tourism providers from Galway and Ireland to highlight and sell their tourism product and build valuable relationships with the key decision-makers in attendance.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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From the Galway City Tribune – The Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) has asked Galway City Council to roll back material alterations to the new City Development Plan proposed by councillors.
In July, elected members voted through a raft of changes to zonings in the Draft City Development Plan 2023-29, which went out on public display.
But the Planning Regulator has now warned City Hall that many of the proposed changes do not comply with the OPR’s recommendations, and are contrary to national planning guidelines.
The OPR specifically highlighted problems with proposals to rezone as residential land deemed at risk of flooding.
Anne Marie O’Connor, Deputy Regulator, wrote to the Council’s Planning Department outlining the OPR’s fresh advice on the changes to the draft plan proposed and approved by councillors.
The draft plan will come before elected members again this month.
Councillors will be asked to row back on some of their previous material alterations, which ran contrary to advice of the OPR.
Ms O’Connor said the OPR welcomed many of the changes made by the City Council in its draft plan. She said, however, that the OPR “has a number of outstanding concerns relating to the response of the planning authority to its recommendations and to a number of proposed material alterations relating to the zoning of lands”.
These relate to changes that conflict with national and regional objectives for compact growth; with legislative requirements regarding climate action and core strategies; and with rezoning land at risk of flooding.
The OPR highlighted a dozen or more material alterations by councillors that are “not consistent” with the National Planning Framework for compact growth.
These include re-zoning of land from agricultural or recreational and amenity to residential.
The changes voted on by councillors, the OPR noted, were done against the advice of the Council’s Chief Executive Brendan McGrath.
The OPR said the changes proposed by councillors represented a “piecemeal approach” to zoning and were “inconsistent” with national policy.
These comments related to proposed rezoning of land at Rahoon; Dublin Road; Quarry Road, Menlo; Ballindooley; off Circular Road; Menlo village; Roscam and Barna Woods.
The OPR also raised “significant concerns” over five material alterations proposed for residential zonings of land at Western Distributor Road; Terryland; Menlo Village; Headford Road and Barna Woods which are located within flood zones.
The approach by councillors “may place people and property at unnecessary risk from future flood events”, the OPR warned.
Ms O’Connor told planners that if the draft plan ignores the OPR advice or is at odds with its recommendations, the Council Chief Executive must inform the OPR in writing the reasons for doing so.
Save Roscam Peninsula in a 33-page submission to the draft plan echoed many of the concerns outlined by the OPR.
The Council has pencilled in four dates in November and December to approve the plan.
It will meet on November 21, 24 and 28 and December 1 when material alterations will be voted on individually.
This article first appeared in the print edition of the Galway City Tribune, November 4. You can support our journalism by subscribing to the Galway City Tribune HERE. The print edition is in shops every Friday.
JOHN HARNEY from Mountpleasant first joined the Ballinasloe Horse and Agriculture Show Committee, all of 60-years ago, on April 24, 1962. Both John and the show are still going strong as they celebrate their 183rd event on this Sunday. Here, he looks back on his involvement with this iconic show through the years.
THE Ballinasloe Show back in the early 1960s was going well with both the Showgrounds and Duggan Park both used for running the competitions.
My first introduction to the show was stewarding the pony competitions in the Mountpleasant end of the Duggan Park with the rest of the GAA field being used for trade stands.
At that time, it was a very big show with horses, ponies, cattle and sheep, pigs and fowl – also there was a big garden and farm produce section as well as a home craft and baking section with flowers and plants supported by a very large women’s committee.
At that time, showjumping took place in the afternoon with the top riders in the country taking part. I was elected Chairman at the AGM in 1975, a position I held for ten years.
During that time, the Duggan Park Committee approached the Show Committee for a piece of the showgrounds behind the GAA Stand for dressing rooms.
This was brought up a number of times at our committee meetings, and at first, the view was that the Duggan Park Committee would buy the ground.
However, after much deliberation it was decided by the Show Committee to ‘give the ground’ for the sum of £1 with the proviso that the dressingrooms could be used on show days by the local ICA to do catering for the event.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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