It's Pokemon Go's fifth anniversary, and Shigeru Miyamoto gave it the most heartwarming birthday present ever: being named his favorite Nintendo game and praised as "a dream come true."
During Nintendo's 81st annual shareholders' meeting, Nintendo's leadership officials were given an opportunity to answer what the company considered to be the most important question: "What is your favorite game?" Miyamoto, Nintendo's game designer extraordinaire, answered that his most favorite game is Pokemon Go.
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The reason for his answer, despite being used to playing games he designed himself and not playing many other games from outside of his own company, lies in the fact that he is able to play the game outside of his own home with his entire family, including his wife, and friends in his neighborhood who are inside his age bracket.
"I'm currently hooked on Pokemon Go," said Miyamoto. "This game, which I'm playing with my wife, is a dream come true of playing with my whole family. I've been enjoying Pokemon Go with my wife and neighborhood friends for some two years now. The average person playing Pokemon Go is probably around 60 years old."
Other Nintendo employees, including president Shuntaro Furukawa, gave Mario Kart Live: Circuit, the recently released Famicom Detective Club, or a variation of games from the company's back catalog as their answer. However, the designer's songs of praise for Niantic's mobile Pokemon game, even though he didn't lend a hand in designing it, implies that he recently jumped into it a little later than everyone else.
Pokemon Go dropped on mobile phones on this day in 2016, and it has changed the way people played and engaged in the world of Pokemon, integrating AR elements in a way that it never has before in the mainline Pokemon series. Everyone staring down on their phones while walking through the streets of their friendly neighborhood or city was trying to either catch a Pokemon sitting under a tree or grab some supplies from designated Poke Stops. It even introduced people to new friends who share a common passion for Pokemon. Ironically, parents who would normally lament kids spending too much time playing video games, let alone mobile games, said Pokemon Go has helped autistic kids ease into social situations that would've otherwise caused them anxiety.
Source: GameSpot
Next: Five Years On, Pokemon Go Still Feels Like The Best Game This Century