For a couple of glorious weeks in July, Pokémon Go was a global cultural phenomenon, inspiring think pieces, Parliamentary misconduct, hate crime accusations, Yelp updates, muggings, and death—as well as millions of darn kids (and darn adults) getting outside and enjoying some fresh air, for once. Then, as suddenly as it began, it all seemed to stop. By mid-August, the game’s user base was already hemorrhaging. By mid-September, it was being reported rather defensively as “just fine, with or without you.” Today, well, here’s its Google Trend chart.
It’s perhaps with some sense of necrophiliac glee that a man named Matt Borgelt dressed up as a working Pokémon Go this Halloween. His right hand is a PokéStop icon that dispenses Pokéballs, which fellow Halloween revelers can then throw at the Pikachu on his stomach. Here the costume is, in all of its fully functioning glory, accompanied by the Pokémon theme song:
It’s an impressive feat of costume-making that one assumes Borgelt got started on long ago, way back when people were still actually playing Pokémon Go. On a side note, last year, Borgelt went as a working Tinder app, a service that has proven to be more resilient than Pokémon Go, as humans are decidedly more interested in having sex with each other than they are in walking around their neighborhoods. Best of luck on your Slack costume next year, Matt.
[via Polygon]