Go, Pokémon Go!! is Thorsten Sahlin’s second piece for Cult of AMERICANA
It’s been roughly a year and two months since the release of the phenomenological hurricane, Pokémon Go. Admittedly, I bought into the hype hard. It was the perfect amalgam the modern smartphone technology to which I am reluctantly dependent, and the nostalgia my generation (xennial, millennial) revels in. This combination contributed to the massive success PG achieved at its inception. In its first month, PG set the record for most revenue grossed by a mobile game in its first month, most downloaded in its first month, most international charts topped simultaneously by a mobile game in its first month (downloads, and revenue), and fastest mobile game to gross 100 million dollars. Clearly, I was not the only one under its spell. Despite its success, my interest waned quickly, as did the interest of basically everyone else I knew. The glitz of it all faded when we realized that it was a serious time investment, and let’s be serious, if you’re in your late 20’s/early 30’s, if you’re lucky enough to not be off work and outside, hurling poké’ balls via flicks of your smart phone is probably the last thing on your mind.