Biology

Meganium is a pale green, sauropod-like Pokmon with yellow eyes. It has two stamen-like protrusions
sprouting from the top of its nose, each tipped with its own anther. These protrusions are shorter on the female.
It has four feet, each of which have three toes. Large pink flower petals with a yellow central pattern and white
tips encircle its neck. Additionally, it has a short, pointed tail.
It is said that Meganium's petals can release an aroma that can soothe anyone that comes in contact with it
and can calm aggressive feelings, and its breath has the power to revive dead grass and plants. Its powerful
and soothing regenerative powers can even come about by being around it, giving those who stand near the
impression of being in a clean and lush forest. Meganium tend to be a very docile species and has been
portrayed as a peacemaker in the anime. Meganium can rarely be found living in grasslands.
After establishing a game account, players create and customize their own avatars.[1][2] Once created,
an avatar is displayed on a map based on the player's geographical location. Features on the map
include 'PokStops' and 'Pokmon gyms'. PokStops provide players with items, such as
eggs, Pok Balls, berries, and potions. These PokStops can be equipped with items called 'lure
modules', which attract additional wild, and occasionally rare, Pokmon.[3][4] Gyms serve as battle
locations for team-based king of the hill matches.[5] PokStops and gyms are typically located at
places of interest.[6] These locations are re-purposed portals from Ingress, Niantic's
previous augmented reality game. This has led to PokStops and Pokmon gyms being placed at
dangerous or inconvenient locations, such as a now-deleted gym at the Korean Demilitarized Zone.[7]
As players move within their real world surroundings, their avatars move within the game's map.
Different Pokmon species reside in different areas of the world; for example, water-type Pokmon
are generally found near water.[8]When a player encounters a Pokmon, it may be viewed either in
augmented reality (AR) mode or with a live rendered, generic background.[9] AR mode uses
the camera and gyroscope on the player's mobile device to display an image of a Pokmon as
though it were in the real world.[10] Players can take screenshots of the Pokmon they encounter
either with or without the AR mode activated.[11]
Unlike other installments in the Pokmon series, players in Pokmon Go do not battle wild Pokmon
to capture them. During an encounter with a wild Pokmon, a player may throw a Pok Ball at it by
flicking it from the bottom of the screen up toward the Pokmon. If the Pokmon is successfully
caught, it will come under the ownership of the player. Factors in the success rate of capture include
the Pokmon's capture rate, the timing and the type of Pok Ball used. After capturing a wild
Pokmon, the player is awarded two types of in-game currencies: candies and stardust. The candies
awarded by a successful catch depend on what evolutionary chain a Pokmon belongs to. A player
can use stardust and candies to raise a Pokmon's "combat power" (CP). However, only candies are
needed to evolve a Pokmon. Each Pokmon evolution tree has its own type of candy, which can
only be used to evolve or level up. The player can also transfer the Pokmon back to the Pokmon
professor to earn one more candy and create room for more Pokmon.[12] The ultimate goal of the
game is to complete the entries in the Pokdex, a comprehensive Pokmon encyclopedia, by
capturing and evolving to obtain the original 151 Pokmon.[note 2][13]
Although the game is free to play, it supports in-app purchases, where players can purchase
additional Pok Balls and other in-game items.[14] These items include incense (which attract
Pokmon to you as you move for thirty minutes), lure modules, to attract Pokmon to a fixed
location, and lucky eggs, which double experience points gained for a thirty-minute period from use.
All Pokmon are displayed with a combat power. A Pokmon's combat power is a rough measure of
how powerful that Pokmon is in battle. Generally, as players level up, they catch Pokmon with
higher CP.[15]
Players earn experience points for various in-game activities. Players rise in level as they earn
experience points (XP), with various features being progressively unlocked. Most notably, at level
five, the player can battle at a Pokmon gym and join one of three color-coded teams (red for Team
Valor, blue for Team Mystic, or yellow for Team Instinct), which act as factions battling for control of
gyms within the Pokmon Go world.
In September 2016, Niantic introduced a "Buddy Pokmon" feature, which allows players to pick a
Pokmon to appear alongside them on the profile screen, and receive in-game rewards and
bonuses based on the chosen Pokmon.[16] The feature was released later that month.[17] During that
same update, Niantic updated Pokmon Go to prevent players with rooted or jailbroken devices from
logging into the game in an effort to reduce and prevent cheating.[18]
In June 2017, Niantic announced that the game mechanics of gyms would be revamped for a more
teamwork-oriented experience;[19] gyms were disabled on June 19, 2017, with the new gyms being
released with the next app update a few days later.[19] As of the update, Gyms included a spinnable
component to receive in-game items such as potions and Pokballs. Additionally, gyms are capped
at containing six Pokmon, each of which must be unique in that gym. Coins are now earned based
on the amount of time the defending Pokmon has been in a gym, as opposed to a one-per-day gym
defender bonus of 10 coins per current defending Pokmon.[20] In July 2017, raid battles were
included. Raid battles consist of a group of players gathering to confront an overleveled Pokmon
located in a gym. If the Pokmon is defeated, the players gain the chance to capture a regular
version of it. Raid difficulties range from 1 to 5, and level 5 raids include legendary Pokmon that
can not be captured elsewhere.
The game's extended launch began on July 6, 2016, with releases in Australia, New Zealand, and
the United States. Due to server strain from high demand upon release, Niantic CEO John Hanke
stated that the release in other regions was to be "paused until Niantic was comfortable" fixing the
issues.[77][78] European releases started on July 13, and the game became available to most of the
continent over the following ten days.[59] The Japanese launch was initially reported to be on July
20;[79] however, the game was delayed after a sponsorship deal with fast food chain McDonald's was
leaked,[80][81] instead releasing two days later.[64] Although the game was proposed to be released
in France on July 15, it was postponed until July 24 out of respect and due to safety concerns
following a terrorist attack in Nice on July 14.[65][82] Following the shut down of third-party apps and
websites in late-July 2016significantly reducing server strainNiantic was able to continue
pushing release worldwide. Central and South America and most of Southeast Asia subsequently
saw releases in early August.[67][69] Indonesia was the first Asian country to have the game playable,
despite the game not being officially released in that region until August 6.[83][84]
In South Korea, the game was not officially released as major restrictions on the use of online
mapping data exist. However, due to a glitch, a small area around Sokcho in the northeastern part of
the country was considered a part of Niantic's North Korea mapping region, making the game fully
playable in that area.[85][86] Numerous people took advantage of the gap to play the game. Bus tickets
from the capital city of Seoul sold out and people living within Sokcho shared information on free Wi-
Fi areas to tourists.[87]Players also discovered a gym in Panmunjom, along the Korean Demilitarized
Zone; however, Niantic later removed it from the game.[88] Following the release of Pokmon Go in
Japan, parts of Busan also became playable as parts of the city are considered part of Japan's
mapping area due to the proximity of Tsushima Island.[89] The game officially released in the country
in January 2017.[76]
In mainland China, Google services are banned by the Great Firewall. Players of Pokmon Go in
China bought Australian App Store IDs and used a GPS spoofing app to use Google services. Many
Chinese people downloaded a clone app called City Spirit Go, which was released shortly
after Pokmon Go's beta test in Japan.[90] During its launch in Southeast Asia in August 2016, the
game officially excluded Myanmar, but users in Thailand discovered that the game was fully playable
in border cities near the nation.[91] The game was released in the Balkans, Macau, and Central
Asia in September 2016, and was also released throughout Africa, the Middle East, and South
Asia by the end of the year.[71][72][74][75]
At launch, the game suffered from frequent server outages due to extreme usage.[104] Frequent
crashes and authentication errors plagued the game's release and persisted for several days. For
the first two days after launch, players were unable to access the game through their Pokmon
Trainer Club accounts; only Gmail-based accounts were able to gain access to the game.[105] Servers
again suffered frequent outages in Australia on July 11; players blamed people in the United
Kingdom for bypassing local servers and using Australian ones to play the game before its official
release.[106] On July 16, a few hours after the release in many European countries, the game's
servers temporarily went down.[107] The outage was claimed by a hacking group called "PoodleCorp",
who said they used a DDoS attack to take them down,[108] although the problem was fixed later that
day.[107][109] The next day, the servers went down again as the game was launched in Canada.[110] John
Hanke issued an apology for the server issues at San Diego Comic Con 2016, stating "we weren't
provisioned for what happened".[39]
Some early iOS installs of Pokmon Go required users to provide the app with full access to
their Google accounts, thereby allowing the app to "access players' Gmail-based email, Google
Drive-based files, photos and videos stored in Google Photos, and any other content within their
Google accounts".[111][112][113] The Pokmon Company and Niantic responded to the concerns,
recognizing that the iOS app, at the time, "... erroneously requests full access permission for the
user's Google account ..."[114][115] However, Adam Reevethe person who initially made claims of the
security issues in a Tumblr postlater backtracked on his claim and was not "100 percent sure" it
was valid.[116][117] Dan Guido, CEO of the security company Trail of Bits, analyzed the app's
programming and discovered that although the game did request full account access, this did not
enable third-party usage as initially conveyed. Guido found that this did enable Niantic to access
people's email addresses and phone numbers unintentionally.[116] A subsequent iOS app update
reduced the scope of access.[118] Niantic also issued a statement assuring users that no information
was collected nor was any information beyond what was necessary to use the app accessed.[117]
Alongside server issues, Pokmon Go suffered from several glitches. One of the more prominent
bugs appeared in mid-July 2016 and rendered the game's tracking feature useless. Normally, this
feature shows between zero and three footprints to inform the player of how close they are to a
nearby Pokmon; however, it universally became "stuck" at three steps, earning it the name "three-
step-glitch".[119] Niantic removed the footstep feature altogether on July 30,[120] sparking criticism from
players.[121] By August 1, players reported a new glitch that swaps their captured Pokmon with
another creature at random.[122] Another bug, confirmed by Niantic in August, inadvertently made
capturing Pokmon more difficult. Some legendary Pokmon, which are rare and powerful versions
of the creatures, were also obtained by players in a glitch, though they were later removed from the
accounts of the trainers to keep the game fair.[123]

Reception[edit]
Pokmon Go released to mixed reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[127] Upon release,
critics called the experience enjoyable, but noted the game's technical issues.[8][124][128]
Critics praised various aspects of Pokmon Go. Oscar Dayus (Pocket Gamer) said that the game
was an immensely enjoyable experience and continued with how "the very personal nature of
catching Pokmon in your own neighborhood made me smile more than any game has for
years".[128] Jeremy Parish (US Gamer) compared the game and its social aspects to a massively
multiplayer online game.[129] Reviewers also praised the game enabling the promotion of physical
exercise. Terri Schwartz (IGN) said it was "secretly the best exercise app out there" and that it
changed her daily walking routine.[130] Patrick Allen (Lifehacker) wrote an article with tips about how
to work out using Pokmon Go.[131] Julia Belluz (Vox) said it could be the "greatest unintentional
health fad ever" and wrote that one of the results of the game that the developers may not have
realized was that "it seems to be getting people moving".[132] Users took an extra 194 steps per day
once they started using the app, which approximated to 26% more than usual.[133]
Philip Kollar and Allegra Frank (Polygon) both agreed that Pokmon Go was "an exciting social
experience", but were not sure how long the game and its popularity would last, stating it could either
last for coming years or "end up as a brush fire craze that the whole gaming world is talking about for
a few weeks and then is forgotten".[126]
Other critics expressed more negative opinions of the game, with many citing frequent crashes and
other technical issues, along with shallow gameplay.[5] Kallie Plagge (IGN) said that although the
game lacked in polish and depth, the overall experience made up for it.[124] Matt Peckham (Time)
criticized the game for its frequent crashes.[5] Mike Cosimano (Destructoid) also took issue with the
game, saying the original idea showed promise, but was improperly executed.[6] Kat Brewster (The
Guardian) wrote that although she thought Pokmon Go was not a good game, it was "a great
experience".[125] The server problems also received negative press. Miguel Concepcion (GameSpot)
said that although he enjoyed the game's strong social appeal and visual design, the game's "initial
iteration is a buggy mess on all levels", with one of the reasons being the constant server
problems.[8] Another glitch that appeared a few days after launch was the "three-step glitch",
reviewers also gave this bug negative press. Patricia Hernandez (Kotaku) said, "the three step glitch
adds to what has been a terrible launch for Pokmon Go".[134] Paul Tassi (Forbes) said that due to
this bug it's "anyone's best guess where Pokmon are 99% of the time" and that it "renders almost
all traditional methods of tracking pointless".[135] Critics also emphasized on the large gap between
the rural and urban players. Rural players seem to be at a major disadvantage when playing the
game, while city players have access to more PokStops and Gyms.[136] However, the developers
have come up with a solution on solving the problems rural players face daily. [137]

Downloads and revenue[edit]

Pokmon Go rapidly rose the American iOS App Store's "Top Grossing" and "Free" charts.[138][139] The
game has become the fastest game to top the App Store and Google Play, beating Clash
Royale,[140] and it became the most downloaded app on the App Store of any app in their first
week.[141] Within two days of release, it was installed on more than 5% of Android devices in the
United States, according to SimilarWeb,[142] According to SensorTower, the game was downloaded
more than 10 million times within a week of release, becoming the fastest such app to do so,[143] and
reached 15 million global downloads by July 13.[144] According to SurveyMonkey the game became
the most active mobile game in the United States ever with 21 million active users on July 12,
eclipsing Candy Crush Saga's peak of 20 million.[145] By July 15, approximately 1.3 million people
were playing the game in the Netherlands, despite the app not being officially released in the country
at the time.[146] On the day of release in Japan, more than 10 million people downloaded the
game,[147] including 1.3 million in the first three hours.[148] By July 31, the game exceeded 100 million
downloads worldwide, according to App Annie and SensorTower.[121][149] On August 8, Pokmon
Go reached the milestone of over 100 million downloads on Google Play alone after barely 33 days
on the market.[150][151]
Through in-game purchases, the game generated more than US$160 million by the end of
July,[152] with App Annie reporting that Pokmon Go had generated around US$10 million in revenue
every day that month.[153] The same month, Sensor Tower reported that the game had passed more
than US$200 million in worldwide revenue, beating every existing record set by Clash of
Clans and Candy Crush by a wide margin.[154] On August 12, 2016, the Financial Times reported
that Pokmon Go reached US$268 million in revenue after five weeks counting only the U.S., British,
and German markets.[155] The average daily usage of the app on Android devices in July 2016
exceeded that of Snapchat, Tinder, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.[156] Due by the game's
massive popularity, several app developers became focused on developing similar augmented
reality (AR) apps using available software development kits (SDK).[157] By September 2016, Pokmon
Go had generated more than $440 million in worldwide revenue, according to
SensorTower.[158] Pokmon Go reached the milestone of $600 million in revenue after only 90 days
on the market, becoming the fastest mobile game ever to do so.[159]
The game was awarded five Guinness World Records in August 2016: most revenue grossed by a
mobile game in its first month (US$206.5 million); most downloaded mobile game in its first month
(130 million downloads); most international charts topped simultaneously for a mobile game in its
first month (top game in 70 different countries); most international charts topped simultaneously for a
mobile game in its first month (top grossing in 55 countries simultaneously); and fastest time to gross
$100 million by a mobile game (reached in 20 days on July 26).[160] By September 2016, Pokmon
Go had been downloaded over 500 million times worldwide, and became the fastest game to make
over $500 million in revenue.[161] Pokmon Go was awarded the App Store's breakout hit of
2016.[162] Pokmon Go was reported to be the most searched game on Google in 2016.[163] In
February 2017, Pokmon Go was awarded being the best app at the Crunchies award event.[164]
Usage of the game peaked on July 15, and by mid September, had lost 79% of its
players. Forbes said "the vaguely curious stopped playing and the more committed players ran up
against a fairly unsatisfying endgame".[165] In October 2016, Niantic released a Halloween-themed
event, which saw a surge in revenue up to 133% as reported by Sensor Tower, placing the game
back to top of the charts of highest grossing apps. It was reported that the game earned
approximately $23.3 million between October 25 and 29, up from approximately $10 million between
October 18 and 22.[166] By February 2017, the game has been downloaded more than 650 million
times worldwide, with a reported US$1 billion in revenue made, becoming the fastest mobile game
ever to do so.[167][168] By June 2017, the game was downloaded more than 750 million times with a
revenue of US$1.2 billion.[169][170] According to mobile app research firm Apptopia, approximately 60
million users were still playing the game a year after launch.[171]