28.07.2016

Go Pokémons to Saint-Martin!

The application Pokémon Go has been available in France for a few days and is already used in Saint-Martin.

"Did you know that our planet is inhabited by creatures called Pokémons?", asked Professor Saule. Well, if you didn’t know, now you do! There are even some in Saint-Martin. And on both sides of the island! The application Pokémon Go which is the big craze worldwide has indeed been officially downloadable in France and overseas since July 24 (it used to available only in some countries including Japan, the USA and Australia). Several Saint-Martiners are already using it. Since the beginning of the week, many of them have been meeting in Marigot at the end of the afternoon to talk about their experience.

"On Tuesday evening, there were about a dozen of us for example," said Olivier who downloaded the application in order to find Pikachu, Squirtle, Giratina, and other characters of the video game which was created in 1996 in Japan. "I’m from the Pokémon generation... I was nine, ten years old when the video game was released. So I was curious to try the application today”, he explained “I downloaded it because it’s the latest application in vogue!” explained Anna, the youngest one. She even installed it a few days before it was available in France. “It could be found on some websites”, she said.

THE GAME SCENERY: THE STREETS OF SAINT-MARTIN

Developed by Niantic, a San Francisco start-up, Pokémon Go is a game in which the aim is to hunt Pokémons with your smartphone. Its ingenuity is to place the user in their own city. Here, the settings are therefore the streets of Saint-Martin and the main monuments. And in order to move forward in the game, you have to use your legs! A few minutes after the start, a message indicates: “You must now walk”.

Anna and her little cousin won’t deny it. “Today, our feet are killing us!”, she explained. Indeed, they left the night before from Cul de Sac and went beyond Hope Estate in order to find Pokémons. In all, they travelled ten kilometers by foot...and also by bus. Even though she’s tired, Anna is trying to see the good side. “Maybe this application will help lower the rate of obesity in the world”, she said hopefully.

According to the players, Pokémons can be found all over the island: from Grand Case to Philipsburg and also the Marina Royale; there are a lot of them there according to Anna. Furthermore, the game requires its users to go in front of specific monuments, such as Fort Louis, the obelisk located at the border in Bellevue or the statue of the produce merchant located at the roundabout on the seafront in Marigot. "It gets you out of the house… It’s even better in big cities where you can discover or rediscover buildings," explained Olivier.

THE GAME’S LIMITS LOCALLY

The small size of the island indeed reduces the possibilities and range of the actions. “The game itself is nice, but there aren’t a lot of things in Saint-Martin”, said Anna regretfully. Nevertheless, she likes being able to meet other people. “When you’re out looking for Pokémons, you run into other players and it’s often the same ones. It creates a network”, she explained.

The application is already used by over 25 million people in the USA and over a million in France. A global success which however requires caution. There have already been some accidents as a result of carelessness by road and application users. The gendarmerie has therefore diffused messages calling for vigilance. And as Professor Saule points out when you set off on this virtual adventure, "Always be careful and look around you".

 

 

Estelle Gasnet