Pokémon GO - a video game that actually makes people leave the house and make friends

Header image via Reddit.

In what can only be described as a genuine global phenomenon, Pokémon GO has captured the imagination of the world in some pretty great ways. It's also captured hardworking servers inability to deal with such volumes of traffic, as many of you are finding Pokémon HQ literally cannot deal with all these people trying to ‘catch em all.’ (Update servers are now back for majority)

Perth's iconic and now Pokémon ‘Safari Zone’, Kings Park, as been inundated with hundreds of people on the reg as police reportedly had to section off roads for people's own safety last night.

With a livestream from Pokémon GO Perth showing just how many people are committing to all night sessions at Kings Park, being rumoured as one of the best locations in Perth for capturing some hectic Pokémon.

As Pokémon GO has just ignited this way of combining both the real world and what you see on your phone, it has already been done by a few other apps on the market such as; Ingress, SpecTrek, Life Is Crime and plenty others involving various ways of having people combat through videos for zones or sections of land.

The fact that Pokémon GO is a video game that basically forces you to get outside of the house, walk around the open spaces that yes do actually exist in your city, and interact with other human beings doing the same thing is not something to be scoffed at (try as you might nay-sayers).

Twitter and Tinder aren't the only ones seeing an impact, Spotify has reported as 362% increase in streams of the Gotta Catch 'Em All theme song, with overall streams of Pokémon songs on Spotify have more than tripled. There's currently 197,000 user-generated Pokémon playlists, with a further 53,000 simply titled "Pikachu. The five most streamed? Take a listen below:

Gaming and actual movement was teased with the Wii, but now Pokémon GO requires people to go to actual places and walking around to hatch eggs, completely changing the way people can unlock achievements within this spectrum of gaming. Calling it now, we’re gonna be seeing a lot of “Pokémon GO made me lose xx amount of weight” in about 3-6 months time. That’s a great thing.

It's very quickly become big enough that police and other mediums are now having to warn of the dangers of Pokémon GO. For good reason as well. Let’s break it down: You’re on your phone, head down and not giving 100% to surroundings, which can lead to potential muggings, falling off of shit, creepers and plenty of other people who like to prey on the distracted. For that take on board what Police have to say as they’re the one’s you’re going to be calling when the augmented reality becomes an actual reality of having a busted leg, hit by car or worse.

Other than that Pokémon GO seems to be kicking some real goals in combining friendship, community and fitness in these days where face to face interaction is depleting daily, and that's something to celebrate.