聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 On summer vacation, four of us were sitting in a truck at 10:45 p.m., parked in a parking lot at a high school in Yorkton, collecting Pok茅mon. Beside us were four other cars and trucks, idling, with air conditioners running and doors closed to keep out the man-eating mosquitos.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The evening before, my wife, Michelle, and I had parked near the Yorkton Courthouse, where there were at least 15 other vehicles parked around 9 p.m., with a few people wandering in circles giving blood to the god of mosquitoes. We had to stock up on Pok茅balls for our son Spencer, who is the true Pok茅mon addict. Never mind that we swung through Pok茅stops in Lampman (three on its Main Street), and Arcola (two on its Main Street) on the way to Yorkton.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 All of this was for Spencer鈥檚 benefit, of course, so his standing in the game improved.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Pok茅mon Go craze is everywhere. It is ubiquitous, addictive, and crazy like a fox. It must be making enormous piles of money. And this is where the lessons in economics come in.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 First of all, a bit of an explainer. Pok茅mon has been around for about two decades. It鈥檚 had computer games, trading cards, and now, one of the biggest phenomena of the mobile gaming age. Its premise is relatively simple: the world is populated with 鈥減ocket monsters,鈥� also known as Pok茅mon, and you want to 鈥渃atch 鈥榚m all.鈥� You then use these Pok茅mon to do battle with each other, at places called gyms, for supremacy of something or other.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 a 鈥渇ree-to play鈥� game, in that it doesn鈥檛 cost anything to download or run the app on your smartphone. But it is insidious as the game goes on. At first they make it easy 鈥� you go to places called Pok茅stops and pick up additional ammunition called Pok茅balls, potions, revives and eggs. The Pokestops are usually at playgrounds, parks, murals, or churches.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In working with Google Maps, they apparently have mapped a large portion of the world, including small town Saskatchewan. While travelling down everyday streets, your phone buzzes and you encounter another Pok茅mon in the wild. I鈥檝e found they are usually about every block or so, and often at intersections. When one shows up on your screen, you throw your Pok茅balls at it to catch it.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But as you advance in the game, it becomes much harder to snag one, as they escape. Plus, your Pok茅stop visits result in you receiving far less ammunition and more items of other varieties. Eventually you will run low on ammunition.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In the game, there is a shop function. Here you can buy more Pok茅balls, lures, eggs, etc. But to buy them, you need Pok茅coins. You can earn Pok茅coins by conquering gyms, but that鈥檚 really hard. So it is much easier to buy Pok茅coins with real money. And they鈥檙e not cheap. You can find yourself dropping $13.99 for 1,200 Pok茅coins, which will buy you 200 Pok茅balls at a cost of 800 Pok茅coins. Nothing is in round numbers to match conveniently, meaning you鈥檙e probably going to make multiple purchases. The price structure and fake currency for real currency are additional layers to disguise the fact you are spending very real money on imaginary balls to throw at imaginary monsters in augmented reality.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 You can even get 14,500 Pok茅coins for $139.99. If you use an iPhone, Apple takes a 30 per-cent cut on all transactions. Buy stock in Apple.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In places where there is a high concentration of landmarks (e.g. Pok茅stops) in close proximity, you can find people congregating, often in idling vehicles to keep the air conditioning going. The use of lures (think a worm on a fishhook) draws in more Pok茅mon. These lures cost 100 Pok茅coins, or $1.39, and last for only 30 minutes.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 That鈥檚 how the creators of Pok茅mon Go make money. But there are a lot of other segments of the economy making money, too. While much of the press in the first few weeks was about people walking around to catch Pok茅mon, the canny people soon realized that it is much more efficient using a vehicle, with the player in the passenger seat while the driver goes slowly so the game鈥檚 motion detection still counts the motion as walking or biking. (Driving at high speeds doesn鈥檛 count, and Pok茅mon don鈥檛 show up either.)
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The enormous volume of data the game uses is surely making the cellular carriers smile from ear to ear. Buy stock in them, too.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Globally, the consumption of gasoline to support Pok茅mon habits must be huge. I don鈥檛 see a lot of people walking for Pok茅mon these days, but I can pick out a driver in a heartbeat.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The drop in productivity for businesses has got to be large enough to start registering on national GDP calculations. I spoke to someone the other day who mentioned at least one of the PhDs working for him was hooked on the game.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For Spencer, he鈥檚 learning how different items have different values, and different actions unlock those values. It鈥檚 basic economics in a game that鈥檚 making big money.
