GREENFIELD — When he was in middle school about 15 years ago, Bubba Sadowsky, assistant manager at Greenfield Games, loved the card game Pokemon, a fad that has had resurgence this week in pop culture in the form of a free cell phone app.
“I’m terrible at this part,” Sadowsky said as he threw virtual pokeballs at a Pokemon inside the store on Main Street while playing Pokemon Go on his smartphone.
“And if you hit it,” he continued, “it’ll go into the ball.” After three tries, the assistant manager caught the Pokemon on his phone.
Like many other “’90s kids,” Sadowsky has discovered Pokemon Go, a game that uses the phone’s GPS by accessing the user’s Google, Facebook or other third-party accounts to create a virtual, interactive game blended with the real three-dimensional world.
“It’s ridiculously popular,” he added. “It came out Friday and almost has as many followers as Twitter.”
Sadowsky said the app holds a nostalgic appeal because it brings back memories of the original Pokemon card game released in 1995.
Since its release, Pokemon Go has become the most popular free gaming app available on Google Play, according to SimilarWeb, a website that tracks app usage. The game is also the most trending app in the entire virtual store.
On Tuesday, participants, called “trainers,” could be seen searching for Pokemon throughout the downtown area. Users move around and search for Pokemon in the virtual game by following GPS directions to specific locations in the real world, such as the Franklin County Courthouse, Energy Park and All Souls Church. At these locations, users can find pokeballs, collect eggs and other items needed to win the game and compete against other users.
The game is not without its potential downside, however.
“Remember to be alert at all times. Stay aware of your surroundings,” a pop-up box warns users when the game starts up for the first time — an alert that the Athol Police Department said is warranted.
“Please do not play this while you are driving,” a statement posted on the department’s Facebook page says. “Please be aware of your surroundings while walking and do not be rude if people tell you to move along!”
Before playing the game, users must accept health risks and agree “not to use the App to violate an applicable law, rule or regulation (including but not limited to the laws of trespass).”
Greenfield Police Lt. Joseph Burge said officers have received a few calls about suspicious activity — that turned out to be people playing the game. Burge said early Sunday morning officers responded to a call about suspicious activity and found a group of people wandering the streets looking at their phones.
“You’ve gotta use common sense,” he said. “Don’t just walk and look at your cell phone, because if you do, you’ll walk right into trouble.”
Sadowsky said players must walk a certain distance to turn the eggs into a Pokemon and find another Pokemon.
“A lot of nerds getting a lot of exercise,” Robert Jordan, a town resident who was inside Greenfield Games Tuesday, commented. “It’s got the exercise aspect to it, it has the classic Pokemon addiction aspect to it. I have not seen an app this explosive.”
Dylan Gamache, a Northfield resident who was searching for Pokemon downtown around lunch time, said he has been all over Franklin County searching for the virtual creatures.
“I played it for a while when I was younger,” he said. “It’s a very interesting way to get you to go to places you wouldn’t normally go to.”
Gamache, who works as a bank teller and is a certified teacher, said the app has brought Pokemon back into mainstream popularity.
“I went from one end of Turners to the other,” said Izaak Vigil-Sagan, 14, from Montague who was walking down Hope Street with town resident Brody Church, 14, Monday night, playing the game. “So far, I’ve walked 36 kilometers since I downloaded the game four days ago.”
That’s about 22 miles.
Andrea Peterson, Ian Jennison, Holly Brown and her brother Cody Brown, who were catching Pokemon for team Instinct near the Energy Park Tuesday, agreed.
“I’m waiting for that success story,” Jennison commented, “about someone who has beat obesity by using the game.”
You can reach Andy Castillo
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