It’s mid-July and it’s chilly on the foreshore of the Manning River at Taree.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Yet there’s hordes of people down there, glued to their phones and nattering excitedly to each other.
The reason?
The smart phone app Pokemon Go, which has rehashed the highly famous franchise spawned in the late 90s.
The app requires users to walk around in real life to discover creatures and useful items.
Players can even visit Taree landmarks including the Big Oyster and the Uniting Church to collect prizes and battle other trainers.
Fittingly, different types of Pokemon gather in different environments.
For example, water type Pokemon appear near bodies of water, making locations such as the Manning River veritable Pokemon hotspots.
Nik Mylonas, 18, and Lachlan James, 19, are two of the many Manning Valley residents enjoying the app.
You see people of all ages playing it
- Nik Mylonas
They both agree that the popularity of the app is obvious throughout town.
“When you’re driving around you see people pulled over catching Pokemon,” Lachlan said.
The game’s requirement that players get out of their home and walk around has brought a newfound social aspect to app gaming.
“It’s good, it makes you get out there and walk,” Lachlan said.
“You see people talking to other people they’ve just met because of the game.”
It has also united original fans of the series with their modern-day contemporaries, bridging gaps between children, teenagers and adults in the process.
“You see people of all ages playing it,” Nik agreed.
The game, which has seen creator company Nintento’s market-value gains soar to $10 billion in two days, hasn’t come without its criticisms.
Gamers acting dangerously when engrossed in the app have drawn the ire of fellow civilians and even police, with reports of people trespassing or walking into traffic in order to track down Pokemon.