Yes, Pokémon Go came out a decade ago today. Remember how great it used to be? It was awesome in a world-changing way, something we might never experience again, so let’s reminisce about that glorious bygone past. Table of contentsWas Pokémon GO’s era the best time in gaming history?Pokémon GOne but not forgotten Was Pokémon GO’s era the best time in gaming history? Making someone even imagine the height of Pokémon GO to someone too young is a tough ask. I mean, a free app that made anyone IRL feel like an actual Pokémon trainer? Sign me up. You’d likely find yourself outside having fun a lot of the time—even if you didn’t originally play the game. I know, because I lived it. My friends knew that I’d never really cared much for mobile gaming, but they knew how much I liked walking outdoors, and they remembered all the times I tried to get them outside to no avail because they were playing some hot new game. Pokémon Go made everybody happy. Image via Niantic I remember the very first day, before I’d even heard about the game, that a friend told me he needed my help with something in a Pokémon game. I hadn’t cared about Pokémon since Blue, Red, and Yellow, because I wasn’t too keen on paying for the same game in a different-colored cartridge for the fourth time. What did he need from me? Just my company, it turns out. And simply being there made me realize Pokémon GO wasn’t just a fresh game for those who played, but a fresh experience that appealed to everyone, even if just for a while. Most of what made Pokémon GO tremendous had less to do with the game’s simple gameplay and more to do with how people reacted to it. Without trying, Pokémon GO transposed not only the dreams of the would-be Pokémon trainer to the real world, but it even created the same kind of dynamic from the show; going on random adventures. Whenever a rare Pokémon was set to show up somewhere, you’d face an absolute stampede of gotta-catch-em-all-ers. No heat, no darkness, was enough to stop them. And though I’ll never forget those evening strolls meant to catch some legendary Pokémon, my adventures were rather tame in comparison to the stuff we kept reading about and seeing on the Internet. Every day, I’d read about people kayaking or swimming to conquer gyms located in bonkers areas, accidentally finding missing people, and sometimes even getting themselves mildly hurt. Oops. Then, naturally, bad actors began abusing the system and ruined the game for everyone. Instead of just walking around as they should, many began driving around, looking at their phone (or phones), while they should be looking at the road, which caused a rise in auto accidents. We even saw the creation of some unofficial Team Rocket-like cells IRL, as petty criminals started using the location of rare Pokémon as bait to rob the lesser-prepared trainers. Still, the phenomenon as a whole left a massively positive mark on most. Pokémon GOne but not forgotten Why did Pokémon GO fail to remain as big as it once was? Well, mostly because nothing can stay that big. Rare isn’t a word powerful enough to describe the heyday of the Pokémon GO phenomenon. An aspect much more baffling than its dying down was its lack of follow-up. Everything spawns copycats under capitalism, even if they’re stillborn—everything but Pokémon GO. Outside of the recent CatchCat AI mess that immediately cratered on its face, we’re yet to see anyone even attempt what this quirky title once pulled off so easily. Was the task of uniting the world in such a fun and healthy quest just too gargantuan? Was there no existing property that could lend itself to a similar experience? There has never been a shortage of Pokémon clones, but nothing has even dared challenge Pokémon GO on its turf. Sad, because even Pokémon GO ultimately failed to keep its momentum, and nowadays, aside from the many anniversary posts that it’ll surely generate, it’s mostly talked about for its possible use in the training of military AI drones. Luckily, so far, that is not the case, and will hopefully remain that way. And even if Pokémon GO ends up sharing the sad fate of many once-cool things turned into tools for warfare, we’ll still have the memories of this uniquely magical time in the world of gaming.0The post Pokémon GO is now 10 years old, do you remember how it literally changed the world? appeared first on Destructoid.