Why the world has gone Pokémon Go

As I woke up to a strange sound in my room at three in the morning, I saw my brother standing near my bed, his phone pointed towards a corner. On asking what he was doing, he hastily replied: "There's a bulbasaur near your bed, I have got to catch it."

As I groggily stared at him, I realised that it has begun; the game that took America by storm within a week of its release has now found its way into India as well.

I remember how my siblings and I spent our preteen years watching the animated cartoon series with the same name and then trading Pokémon cards.

So what is Pokémon Go and how is it affecting people? Let's begin at the beginning.

Pokémon: looking back

Around 1990, Satoshi Tajiri, a video game designer, started toying with the idea of Pokémon. The concept of Pokémon was based on Tajiri's childhood hobbies of collecting insects and playing video games.

While speaking to Time in 1999, Tajiri said: "Places to catch insects are rare because of urbanisation. Kids play inside their homes now, and a lot had forgotten about catching insects. So had I. When I was making games, something clicked and I decided to make a game with that concept."

Six years after Pokémon was conceptualised, Nintendo released the Pokémon game on Gameboy in 1996 in Japan. Later, when the game became extremely famous, it was released in the United States in 1998.

The animated series with the same name was released in Japan in 1997 and in the US in 1998 and added to the "Pokemania". The series was based on the story of Ash, a teenage boy who aims to become a Poke-master. Throughout his journey, he befriends many Pokémon trainers and also fights Team Rocket, who is always trying to steal Pokémons from Ash and his friends.

Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go is an augmented reality game for Android and iOS platforms. The players can spot Pokémons in real places and catch them by throwing pokeballs around them. The game also requires the users to walk some set number of kilometres to hatch a Pokémon.

The developer of the game John Hanke says that the idea for the game came way back in 2014. It was an April Fool's joke played by Google, where Google released a funny video that mashed up Google Maps and Pokémon. The video went viral, gaining almost 18 million views.

"We thought, why not try and make it real?" John Hanke said in his conversation with Om Malik for The New Yorker.

The smartphone app, Pokémon Go, was released on July 5, 2016 and has been created in a combined effort by Nintendo, the company that originally owns the Pokémon franchise, and Niantic. John Hanke is the CEO of Niantic.

What is Augmented Reality?

To put it simply augmented reality superimposes computer generated images over real world environment.

It is the reason you can spot that jiggly puff staring at you with those cute little eyes while travelling in the metro.

Do people prefer Pokémon over hook-up?

According to data, the smartphone app has been downloaded 7.5 million times. It is interesting to note that the game has had more downloads in a week than the mobile dating app Tinder in its four years of existence.

Pokémon Go users are also expected to surpass Twitter users if the game keeps on gaining popularity.

Why do people love Pokémon Go?

Apart from the augmented reality experience that is fairly new for many users in India, a major reason for the success of Pokémon Go is the element of nostalgia.

The animated series and the first Pokémon video game was released during the 1990s which means that the 20-somethings now playing the game would have watched the show and played the video game. Pokémon Go gives them - the millennials - a chance to go back to their teenage.

Another attempt to escape reality? Who knows.

Furore in the media

Pokémon Go is making headlines since the first week of its release. The technology desk of most media companies has been churning out content to explain the game and the phenomenon.

Pokémon Go has been trending on both Facebook and Twitter in the past week. Jokes and memes have been doing the rounds of every social media website. Some of them have been reproduced below:

I don’t care who you are … Get OUT of my weight room! #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/JLaB71nSKV

— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) July 13, 2016

I wanna go out and play pokemon go but its 3am

— Taras Maksimuk (@TechRax) July 13, 2016

Indian #PokémonGo players have noticed a bizarrely large number Pokéstops are located in temples. pic.twitter.com/lmo3ymf7Aw

— Imaan Sheikh (@sheikhimaan) July 13, 2016

Another Wild #PokemonGO MEME appeared: - Like? - Retweet? -Run? @DNR_CREW @ShoutGamers pic.twitter.com/hBlqeTp9JQ

— ZI Ricochet Gaming (@ZIRICOCHETIZ99) July 13, 2016

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi wasn't left untouched by the craze over Pokémon Go. An article published by Scroll documents how the "social media is wondering if Modi is touring the world to catch Pokémon".

Privacy concerns

Like any other app or technology created to make humans lives easier or entertain, Pokémon Go has already found its place in the debates about user privacy.

Like most apps, Pokémon Go also uses GPS, thus being able to tell a lot of things about the user: where you go, how you went there, how long did you stay at the place.

Another tech company's attempt to catch 'em all.

While there is no doubt that Pokémon Go has become a cultural and economical phenomenon, user discretion is advised. A teenage girl was reported to have found a dead body while hunting for Pokémons and there have also been reports of people being robbed because of Pokémon Go.

Meanwhile, I think I just saw a Pikachu next to the water cooler at my office.

Gotta catch 'em all.