In theory, I walked close to 4,000 steps. I say "in theory" because I have no idea how accurate this thing is. For all I know, every pothole I encountered while driving was a "step". One earns "Watts" by walking, and can exchange them to try and catch more critters or find items by way of very, very simple mini-games.
I didn't expect to get anything I would actually care about, but then I ran into, and caught, a Kangaskhan. That's a fairly decent and rare monster there, and now I have one in my party with only one gym badge under my belt without having to trade. I have the sinking shameful feeling that this cursed Pokéwalker is going to be on my person whenever I go for walks from now on, or at least until I forget it's in there and it gets washed like my old cell phone.
*sniff* Poor cell phone... it died so young...
Anyway, I have to say that this seems like a pretty decent video game accessory for younger audiences to have. There's limits to how much you can do with it at a time, and it rewards walking. I would be concerned about it being a source of distraction at inappropriate times, but Pokémon is already played on portable systems and most people, even kids, have cell phones these days. At least this thing is encouraging exercise.
They're actually more accurate than the old Hey You Pikachus - initial attempts at shaking them to cheat show that excessive jostling cuts off the step counter temporarily, meaning you have to move in a gentle sway that comes naturally when walking but is tricky to achieve by hand. Progress!
ReplyDelete(Then the thread moved on to tying the thing to dogs, sticking it on turntables, and attaching it to spinning ceiling fans. All that work, OR you could take a damn walk and burn some calories too >.>)
I have this inexplicable urge to go "+8 XP" when I walk now...
ReplyDeleteI'm actually planning on getting one of the two most recent remakes tomorrow/later today/whenever along with a replacement charge cord. On the one hand, a handy method of handling Falkner while using the grass-type starter is welcome. On the other hand, for the sake of old times I will not be using said electric sheep until after I've already got the first badge in hand.
Also, I would not mind having something to urge me to walk more. Lord knows I need the exercise.
Believe it or not, theres going to be a specail Wi-Fi handout of a pokewalker course... It only has pikachus. Doesn't sound exciting? Well some of them know either surf or fly, along with other high end moves. Handout goes from April 1st to April 31st. -Arie Oh, URL: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Yellow_Forest
ReplyDeleteI love the pokewalker thing, except I admit I don't fully understand it.... granted, I have a metapod in it right now.... Totally exchanging it for my Togapi.
ReplyDeleteThe "Pokeradar" option is the one that will net you the opportunity to get new pokemon. Pay 10 watts to play, and when you see a "!" appear over a section of grass, move the cursor to it and press the center button. This will happen 1-4 times with the rarity linked to how many "!" there are.
ReplyDeletePROTIP (Pro. HA!): clicking left when as far left as you can go will take you to the far right blades of grass, and vice versa. You're never unable to go left or right in that mini game.
I THINK it's 1-4 times, anyway. I just remember going through a fair number of "!"s before snagging Kangaskhan.
ReplyDelete...Also, apparently you don't get a shot at the rare ones unless you've walked enough, i.e. a few thousand steps. This explains why I've found nothing rare today ^^;
ReplyDeleteI've gotten nearly a whole box full from the PokéWalker.
ReplyDeleteRarest ones I've gotten so far: Kangaskhan, Clefairy, Elekid, Smoochum, Murkrow, Dratini
And you can name the ones you get from the pokéwalker. Just bring them to the Name Rater in Goldenrod City.
Oh, and you need to go on the different paths to get certain ones. for example: Elekid is on the Surburban path, while Dratini is on the Blue Lake path.
The pokeradar goes !, !, !!, !!! for the four categories of rarity.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, it takes a number of steps to get rare things, with the steps resetting at midnight; if you have a "advantageous type pokemon" for the course, it reduces the step count needed. Check bulbapedia for complete info, that's where I get my info and it's usually accurate.