When I first heard that the new iterations of Pokemon Gold and Silver were going to come with a pedometer, it brought back memories of a miniature Game & Watch style Pokemon game called Pokemon Pikachu, which was essentially a pedometer that built up “watts”, which could be used to buy items in the original Gold and Silver games. There was also a stand alone version which had no interaction with the Gameboy games at all.

Now, at the time, it had to be purchased separately, and while I had one of the original units, I never knew anyone that had the later ones, and the only feature that you could use between units was to transfer watts. If this proto-Pokewalker actually came with Gold and Silver like the Pokewalkers did, then things might have been a bit different. For a while in the mid 90′s, things like Pokemon Pikachu – whether it be Tomagochis or Digimon or whatever -were a lingering fad, but one that never really took off. That’s why I thought it initially odd that Nintendo would attempt to revisit something that never had much popularity. Does anyone ever actually remember linking with random people like the advertisements used to claim?

Turns out that despite my initial concerns, it seems to have been a pretty good idea…

Improved Hardware

Despite its diminutive size, the Pokewalker sports much more sophisticated technology than its predecessors. Not only is the IR sensor much more forgiving, it also transfers data much more quickly; in order to “receive” the data of both the pokemon and any items take no more than a second. No longer is there any need to put both on a flat surface, carefully align them, and then not touch anything, lest a slight jostle interrupt the IR transfer and result in lost or corrupt data at worst.

Take whatever you want with you

What if you didn’t like Pikachu? Well tough, because that’s all that you could take with you on the original Pokemon pedometers. If you liked something else or wanted to change, too bad. Thankfully with the Pokewalker we can all take whatever our favorites are with us, while they gain levels and have their happiness meters raised to boot.

No battling, just gifts

A big problem of predecessor devices like this is they revolve around battling other people. The problem with this comes in two stages: The first is finding someone who is openly carrying one, which is rare in and of itself, and the second being what kind of mechanics can they realistically put into the device? There is no way the complexities of normal battling are going to fit into a device that small, all they were able to fit despite all the advances was Attack/Dodge/Capture, three very simple commands. With the battle system stripped down to the bare bones, who wants to sit around holding the things perfectly still trying to battle. Now, instead of trying to have battles, you just get a free item for connecting with someone. Much more convenient and a much better incentive.

(Con)versation starter

Back to the point of people openly carrying something like this, just about the only place you are going to see it is at a con, and when just about everyone and their mother seemingly has one, it makes a great way to strike up a conversation with some random person. In the endless sea of people at a con, boldly holding one up for people to see attracts at least some attention, even if it is just for the free item.

An Incentive to Exercise…or…rewards that actually mean something

Not only can you get items, but you can also get pokemon; ones that you can’t get anywhere else in the game can be found on the Pokewalker. Some have criticized this as a cop-out to force you to use the device, but I think that’s actually a good thing. Anything that gets someone to be more active, or engage in creative engineering to make an automatic walker should be rightfully praised, and instead of just getting watts for items, getting actual Pokedex entries sweetens the deal.

Perfect 2 minute time waster

Got a minute? Douse for an item, or catch a pokemon. While it doesn’t blow a lot of time or last very long, it can get you through a few minutes of boredom before being shoved back into your pocket.

Conclusion

So while the idea of the Pokewalker may have seemed anywhere from arbitrarily silly to enraging at first, over time it has really grown on me. It charges watts up just fast enough through normal non-exercise to allow you to actually do things with it, and the item/pokemon incentives can be powerful motivators to get up and actually do something to build up more watts. Nintendo seems to have found a bit of a sweet spot with the Pokewalker: not overly complex in what it does or the requirements it has, and not so under-important that it can be stashed away in a drawer after purchasing the game never to be looked at again.  I look forward to seeing if an upgraded version of the device will be included with the upcoming Black and White games.