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Pokemon GO introduces augmented reality to the mainstream
More and more augmented reality apps have been slowly filtering out to mobile devices over the last few years, but there have not been any widely available AR programs that have really captured the public’s attention … until now. This week, The Pokemon Company finally released its long awaited mobile game Pokemon GO, which brings the iconic Japanese game series into the real world with an app that is part geocaching, part augmented reality, and all Pokemon.
The game, which was first announced last September, overlays Pokemon creatures in real world locations, and player must go out and hunt them down around their city. Currently, the creatures included come from the original Pokemon Red and Blue games that were released for Nintendo Gameboy in 1996.
So far, the new game has already proven to be incredibly popular, taking the top spot on the free section of the App Store shortly after release. Of course, that popularity comes with a price, and the launch of Pokemon GO has not been without its problems. Demand for the game is so high that its servers have been overloaded, and thousands of fans have taken to social media to complain about the issues.
Here are just a few examples:
I sense this may be a screen we see a great deal. Game seems to be really chugging. ? #PokemonGo pic.twitter.com/XMRyvE4Qgt
— Jeremiah Peterson (@ichbinmiah) July 7, 2016
Really wish #PokemonGO would let me save my login info so I don't have to reenter it after every server crash x_x
— Eva ? Conti (@overlord_bunny) July 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/PokemonFAQ/status/751124532555943936
Like Nintendo’s first mobile app Miitomo, Pokemon GO is already generating its own memes, with players posting pictures of all of the strange places they have discovered Pokemon, which even includes an Australian police station that was forced to post an alert on Facebook asking players to stop attempting to enter.
Pokemon GO was developed by Ingress creator Niantic Labs, a startup that had been incubated by Google before spinning out on its own last year. Google is still a significant investor in Niantic, which raised $30 million in funding in October from Google, Nintendo Co Ltd, The Pokemon Company, and others.
You can watch a video promo for Pokemon GO below:
Image courtesy of The Pokemon Company
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