Watch Pokemon GO! An Overview of the Hottest New Augmented Reality Game

 
Mixed between the alarming headlines of terrorist acts on the global stage and those concerning the strangest U.S. presidential election in history are increasing reports of people of all ages and walks of life engaging in one of the hottest new games to hit the market in recent years, Pokemon GO. Indeed, even the mainstream media appears to be caught up in the craze, and curious consumers are joining the Pokemon GO throngs in pursuit of elusive but valuable wild Pokemon characters they can catch with their mobile devices in real-world locations. Moreover, growing numbers of local businesses are reporting increases in sales due to congregations of Pokemon GO players and it is reasonable to suggest that the tip of this economic iceberg has not been exposed yet. Given this explosion in interest, this paper provides a discussion concerning this augmented reality game to learn what all of this fuss is about, followed by a summary of the research and the implications of this phenomenon in the conclusion.

What is Pokemon GO?

Based on a Japanese character released in the 1990s, Pokemon GO is a type of augmented reality technology that incorporates various interactive elements. Augmented-reality interactive technology (ARIT) overlays computer-generated three-dimensional (3D) visual and auditory effects on to real-world settings to provide users with a realistic but enhanced experience that can include shopping, gaming or training activities (Huang & Tseng, 2015). One company that has applied ARIT in a particularly innovative way is Niantic, the company responsible for launching Pokemon GO in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, followed by a host of others around the world (Break out the sneakers and Poke Balls!, 2016). Since its launch in July 2016, the game has become the virtual equivalent of the hula hoop, generating millions of sales in the App Store and Google Play stores. According to Etherington... In fact, Pokemon GO reached 50 million downloads faster than any digital game in history (Li, 2016).
In very sharp contrast to the hula hoop which sold 25 million units within 4 months of launch but suffered rapid loss of interest thereafter (Who invented the hula hoop?, 2016), though, Pokemo GO appears to have the potential to remain popular far longer, perhaps even becoming a permanent fixture in the gaming community. In this regard, Etherington (2016) notes that, Obviously, theres going to be some drop-off as the hype wears out, but Pokmon has a number of benefits that could add to its stickiness, including a beloved [internet protocol] and ample avenues to expand its content offerings (para. 3). In addition, Niantic recently announced that the game would receive ongoing updates, including new features and the addition of Pokemon characters from other generations as well as a market where players can conduct trades (Li, 2016). There are also plans underway to improve the functionality of the games other features such as Pokestops where players collect valuable items such as Pokeballs that are used to capture Pokemen (Li, 2016).

Some indication of the current popularity of Pokemon GO can be readily discerned from the fact that consumers are spending more time playing the game versus their use of popular social media apps such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Snapchat (Schwartz, 2016). Indeed, Taveres (2016) emphasizes that, Pokemon GO has taken the US by storm, to put it mildly. For an app that was released very recently, it already has more users than Twitter (p. 3). Taken together, this otherwise-innocuous game has become a major source of entertainment for millions of users worldwide that has generated millions of dollars in revenues for Niantic. Contributing to this explosion in popularity is games intuitive interface which depicts the users customizable avatar and options as shown in Figure 1…