Just barely over a year ago, Niantic first launched Pokemon Go [Free] and to say it was an instant hit would be an understatement. It didn't take long before local city governments and police departments were issuing statements on Pokemon Go and trying to deal with hordes of people who were loitering at hot Pokestops at all hours of the day. Things snowballed further, and fans organized a massive meetup at Millennium Park in Chicago on Facebook. Thousands of people attended, and, well, I wish I could say I was surprised to say the game was unplayable between Niantic's servers and the connectivity issues that arise when you pack tons of cell phones in one place. So, instead, a year ago, people basically just stood around yelling:

No one can get Pokemon Go working, so in the absence of actual gym battles? This?ll have to do. #pokemongochicago pic.twitter.com/0vUJTiWBUM — TouchArcade (@toucharcade) July 17, 2016

When the Pokemon Go Fest was announced in Chicago, I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow, particularly considering the venue was set to be directly adjacent to the previous failed Pokemon Go meetup. But, since Google still has its hands in the Niantic investment pie, I assumed they managed to figure out how to set up a venue where 20,000+ people can all play a data-hungry smartphone game without interruption. I was actually pretty excited to see just how they approached the problem, as I've never been to a sports game, concert, convention, or anything similar ...