quite a stir. Online, in real life, and in the stock markets. The impact that this single,

lighthearted, app is having is hard to ignore, and I think sysemic shift is coming.

It’s worth exploring just a few of the social and economic effects that pokémon go is having

on the world, and more effects that could follow.

The best place to start is the most obvious one.

PHYSICAL HEALTH

Pokémon Go is forcing a lot of people to exercise far more than they ever have done.

To catch pokémon, you have to move. And if you move, you’re going to be burning calories.

There are hundreds of people who are saying Pokémon Go is helping them reach their health

goals, and there are dozens of studies which say gamifying exercise leads to better weight

loss and improved overall health.

It’s a model which games like Zombies, Run and FitRPG have tried before, but it’s never

really had the draw of Pokémon Go.

To hatch eggs in Pokémon go, you have to travel 2, 5, or 10km with the app open. In

the last week, Google search converting kilometers to meters have tripled, because people are

planning their routes around it.

The kind of people Pokémon Go reaches, the video game fans who spend their workdays in

front of computer, and evenings in front of screens are exactly the kind of people who

have most to gain from exercising more. In more than one way.

MENTAL HEALTH

When you exercise, your brain releases a chemical called serotonin, a chemical that’s vital

for mental wellbeing. It reduces stress levels, anxiety and it’s why so many professions

put exercise at the top of the list to combat depression.

A lot of people use video games as coping mechanism, which can ease a down period, but

doesn’t often dig you out of it. Pokémon Go reaches the isolated millennials who are

struggling with the weight of adulthood and it forces quite a dramatic change in daily

behaviour.

And if you go down the list of most recommended advice to improve mental wellbeing, Pokémon

Go encourages players to do them.

Get more sunlight and spend time outdoors. Check.

Set yourself achievable goals. Check.

Do something that pushes you out of your comfort zone. Check.

Talk to people. Check.

SOCIAL CAPITAL

While Pokémon encounters are random and transitory, Pokéstops and gyms aren’t they’re permanent,

popular locations. And if you drop a lure, you’re making a real geographic location

very attractive to every pokémon go player in your town or city.

This has caused mass meetings of literally hundreds of people who have at least two things

in common: 1) They love pokemon. 2) They’re from the same area.

This creating a sense of community that a lot of places have particularly been lacking

- particularly in central London, where I live.

You can also call this sense of community social capital. Which is a network of relationships

based on trust, cooperation and commonalities which all works together to serve the public

good.

Over the past 10 years or so, devices like this have let us connect with each other without

ever meeting, and now it’s letting people meet - regardless of age, race, gender, economic

background or odour.

It’s hard to meet people, especially if you’re generally socially anxious, but Pokémon

catching makes it really simple.

I think Pokémon go is a better dating app than Tinder. It’s been proved the best relationships

come from repeated compulsory activity, like a workplace or school or classes. And if you’re

hitting up the same spots in the evenings, there’s a chance some sparks could be flying

with the Pokéballs - and mark my words, in a year or so, some outlet will be reporting

on a Pokémon Go themed wedding, with the lucky bride and groom saying ‘we met trying

to catch Abra’ and boy did she put a spell on me’ or something equally revolting.

GEOGRAPHIC FISCAL EXTERNALITIES

Whenever there’s a great deal of activity or interest in one specific areas, the businesses

and economy in that area will get a little boost.

For instance, the Olympics in London, Stratford in 2012 sent rents through the roof

A swarm of Pokémon Go trainers might be unwelcome at a police station, or an old curch-turned-residential

dwelling. But if you’ve got a Gym right outside a restaurant or a juice bar, those

restaurants are going to see a greatly increased trade.

With the growth of pop-up vendors and street food, it’s only a matter of time before

the cause-and-effect is reversed. People will be setting up shops in the vicinity of Pokémon

gyms, potentially making a real life Shanty Lavendar Town.

BLACK MARKET

Another way to attract people to a building is to drop a lure, which makes Pokemon spawn

more frequently.

Enterprising individuals realise the power of this, as mentioned before, and so are offering

incentives to drop lures close to their business.

A black economy is opening up, swapping real life objects for in-game actions. And in some

cases, offering services like a personal driver which aids in-game activity.

Can you even imagine what sort of shady deals will go down once we’re allowed to trade

pokemon with each other.

COMPLEMENTING GOODS

When demand for bread starts to rise, demand for butter rises too. When coffee sales rise,

creamer and sweetner start selling more.

This is the principle of complementing goods - where is demand rises for one, it also rises

for the other and entire industry sectors have sprung up from this idea. For instance

iPhone case makers, who only exiist because of the sterngth of another product.

So bread and butter goes together like Pokémon go and .. what? The answer, right now, is

Power banks.

Pokémon Go is notorious for draining it’s users battery, meaning you can only play for

a few hours at time. People are rushing out to buy these portable batteries that double,

triple, or quadruple their battery life. They’re starting to sell out.

In electronics stores, retailers are making Pokémon go stations, pushing these batteries,

snacks and all-important hydration products.

SAVED NINTENDO

Nintendo’s stock price currently sits at a price of 23,000 Yen per share ( a little

under $200), it’s well over 10% in the last fews days. The headline figure which you’ve

definitely seen is that $7.5 billion has been added to Nintendo’s market value.

Now market value is just a figure to tell us what all the Nintendo shares are worth.It

doesn’t mean Nintendo have suddenly got an extra few billion to spend on proper battle

mechanics.

Still, it’s a great indicator of confidence in Nintendo, which has been falling with the

Wii U not a being a runaway success like the Wii. People think Nintendo’s on the up,

or at least they did yesterday.

There’s a lot of naysers and analysts who are saying Pokémon Go just happens to be

the viral trend of this week. Miitomo, Nintendo’s first social app, was fun for a weekend and

is now played by no-one I know. Commentators say this success is more Words Than Friends

than Uber.

Maybe. But most apps and internet startups are all about making us click things, trying

to sell us adverts, making us buy or making us read things online. It’s internet technology

for an internet way of life and it’s well trodden.

Pokémon Go actually makes people Go places. It makes them leave their computer, or at

least, make them carry it with them. That’s something that apps like Groupon and Foursquare

have tried, but hasn’t been that powerful. At least certainly not in the UK.

Making that work, I think, is a big shift. It’s not a meme that we follow exclusively

on twitter, it’s a connection you can have with our environment, our community and our

planet.

And if people give Chewbacca Mom more than a week of attention, they will be definitely

be giving Pokémon go at least a few months of it.