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This week's biggest fad!

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How's your Sunday going?

This week has seen the year's biggest fad develop - No, I'm not talking about the excitement around Kabali. Instead I'm talking about Pokémon Go. 
So this weekend's GK nugget is about this augmented reality game that is making people run around their neighbourhoods with their smartphones held high.



First up, what is Pokémon?
Pokémon is the name of a game released by Nintendo 20 years ago. It's a cult classic and led to many video game sequels, TV shows, movies & merchandise being sold.

So why the excitement 20 years later?
Nintendo has added a new twist to the game, using new age technologies which are easily available in smart phones (cameras, GPS & augmented reality capability). So now people are downloading the app on their mobile phones to play the new version - Pokémon Go.

And what's so different about the new version?
When you start the game, Pokémon Go uses your smart phone's camera & overlays a virtual world of Pokémon characters on it - so like placing an animated cartoon character on your screen. The aim is to "capture" these over 150 colourful & cute monsters.  

The good part?
It's a video game that's getting people to move instead of just being couch potatoes. To capture the Pokémon characters the gamer has to "hunt" for them. So around the house, in the building, the compound, in malls, parks, shops, restaurants, etc. This isn't a simple "sit at home & play for hours" type of video game. It has also helped Nintendo's shares become more valuable than Sony's on the Japanese stock exchange. (market valuation of 4.5 trillion yen compared to Sony's 4 trillion yen).

The bad part?
It's risky. We're already hearing stories of gamers who were so immersed in the game that they hurt themselves and also caused damage to property. Plus in today's "cyber" world where online data security is very important, we don't know how Nintendo is using/sharing the data collected through the Pokémon Go App.

So, now what?
Sit back and enjoy the madness. It's a crazy fad!! Imagine games like 'Snake' or 'Angry Birds' & multiply that manifold. Some estimates suggest that 30 million have downloaded Pokémon Go in the 15 days since it has been released & the daily active users of the game are already more than those that use Twitter. Only time will tell whether Pokémon Go fizzles out or whether it will continue to enjoy the fancy of millions.
That's all for today. Enjoy your week, and watch out for Pokémon Go players :)

Cheers,
Sumiit Lakhutia

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