Gotta Catch 'Em All

The internet is abuzz with a certain piece of news. The merging of the virtual and the real is scheduled to take place in early 2016, and the burden is taken upon by 2 of the highly dependable companies associated with the virtual space.

When I was in middle school, my evening TV shows had a certain quality. Whatever happened throughout the day, one could always find me in front of the TV at 5 in the evening. That would be the show timing for the famous anime Pokémon.  Created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1995, Pokémon hugely gained fan base. The series is about a guy named Ash Ketchum (not Ketchup), in an alternate universe called Poke World, filled with species called Pokémons. Humans have created devices called Poke Balls to capture and tame Pokémon. Some study the species, some battle other trainers using them. In such a world, our 10 years old protagonist dreams to be the best Pokémon trainer in the whole wide world, and sets out on a journey, with his first Pokémon Pikachu by his side, to visit different cities, defeat the city’s gym leader in Poke battles, and gain the gym badges, which gives him access to the Pokémon tournament of that district. On the way he meets different Pokémons and humans. Some, he manages to befriend, some he antagonizes.

A few Pokemon games through the years

Till date, 721 species of Pokémon have been discovered, divided into 6 generations. Although most of us were introduced to this franchise through the TV show, the franchise actually began as a Nintendo game called Pokémon Red/Blue. The protagonist Red/Blue would travel across the given district collecting badges, training and taming Pokémon and finally winning the tournament, all while being pestered by Team Rocket, trying to rule the world using Pokémons. This game hit all the correct chords and quickly rocketed to the top of the bestselling list, and for, 20 years, Nintendo managed to keep the franchise there, using their formidable skills as business managers, exceptional story telling skills, and an unnerving ability to bring something new to every new installment of the franchise, whether it be the TV show, or the new video game. Since 1995, the franchise has spread from Nintendo Gameboy and TV shows, to online MMORPGs, Wii, Xbox, PS, PC, 3DS, NDS, and several other platform. But now, Nintendo has taken this franchise to a whole different level altogether.

Since the airing of the show, most passionate viewers such us myself have wished, at some point in their life, that they lived in the Poke World. Nintendo took the words “Dream big, and make it come true” too literally. Come Spring 2016, Nintendo is set to release Pokémon Go, an app that simulates Pokémons in the real world. Point your camera at the street and you will be able to see if there is a Pokémons there. You will be able to catch them, battle them, and also battle other trainers. It will be like a virtual simulation that will meld the poke world and our world into one. Feeling bored on a journey? Whip out your phone and check for any Pokémon around, or play with the ones you caught. See a trainer nearby? Fight him. Trade Pokémons with your friend. Or just use their cry to escape class. Nothing like Ekans’ hiss to get you and your friends out of class.  All in all, if Nintendo and Niantic (not a part of Google anymore!) can pull this off properly, this will nearly double the Pokémon fan base, which even though is pretty huge, has since Pokémon Platinum decreased in number marginally, as a small percentage of the fandom feel that they are stretching the series too much. Pokémon Go Plus has an added device which will vibrate if there is any wild Pokémon nearby, and has a few buttons preset to do stuff like call on your favorite Pokémon or throw a PokéBall. Set to release this spring, it wil bring about a revolution in the fields of gaming, and virtual reality, as well as bring in new concepts to the fields of artificial intelligence and graphic designing.

Phone-shot of the alpha version of Pokemon Go

Screenshot of prototype of Pokemon Go