"It makes the platform appear dead," and "Goodbye, Windows" are just two reactions I've seen this past few days since Niantic unleashed its new phenomenon, Pokémon Go upon the world. Yes, it's terrible that Windows Phone users don't get to join in with the cool kids, but is the game really so great that you'd immediately run to the nearest iPhone or Galaxy?
This isn't the first craze we've been left out of and it won't be the last, I'm sure. We all know about Snapchat, or lack of it — not to mention Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, Boom Beach, and so on. Google doesn't like us; Apple took its music service away from us; and all the while, good guy Microsoft is out there supplying all of the people, all of the time.
In the case of Snapchat, a communications app, the frustration with not having it is totally understandable, even if, personally, I don't get its appeal. But Pokémon Go is just a game — an incredibly addictive one, mind you, but a game nonetheless. Games come and go. Remember when the whole world was up in Angry Birds' nest? It's still popular, but less of a draw than it used to be. You certainly wouldn't be likely to jump ship just to get the next Angry Birds game if it didn't come to Windows.
With Pokémon Go, it's partly nostalgia. Twenty years ago, a lot of us were kids obsessed with it. I remember spending days and weeks hunched over a Game Boy trying to "catch 'em all." Maybe it's also just that a lot of folks are talking about it, and some of us are sad that we're not part of it again.
But I know one thing: I wouldn't change my main phone, ever, for any app or game. I use Windows 10 Mobile because it's what suits me best right now. Working here, I have Android phones and iPhones around, but even then I'm not that interested. Upping and switching platforms is a big deal, would you really go through all that just to snag yourself a Bulbasaur in the local parking lot?
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