Top 10 Pop culture moments of the decade #9: Pokémon Go

An entire decade has passed and, surprisingly, we are still here. From the world ending in 2012 to fidget spinners, this decade has been filled with iconic and weird memories. In this segment, our writer reflects back on this decade and decides which pop culture moments were the most memorable or the most influential. 

Was there anything more unifying than Pokémon Go? 

From professors to makeup gurus, wherever you went, people were playing this game, either out of curiosity or because they were beloved fans.

On July 6, 2016, Pokémon Go was released, leading to the start of the Pokémon Go-mania. Eventually, warnings about not driving while playing or to be careful of where you step were issued as a growing epidemic of gamers ended up hurting themselves or others accidentally. That’s how addicting and powerful this one video game was — people couldn’t look up from their screens!

I am not advocating for distracted driving, but what I am saying is that there were some good things that came out of Pokémon Go. The game did provide some exercise for people and it actually brought people together. Even on campus, you can see huge groups of students playing Pokémon Go together (there’s actually a ton of Pokémon on campus that you can catch, so go for it).

I don’t think a game like this would exist ever again, in that, it will bring people together and would be fun for all ages. It’s a rather simple concept as well, yet led to a massive outcome.

Even though new Pokémon games have dropped, Niantic, Nintendo, and The Pokémon Company will probably never reach this level of popularity as they did with Pokémon Go.