Hooked on ‘Pokéreality’

For the past couple of weeks or so, monsters have been roaming the streets of Kolkata without restraint. Of course, you have nothing to fear as they are tiny, cute and harmless. Pokémon GO, currently enjoying soaring popularity ratings globally, is an augmented-reality game that has introduced virtual Pokémon characters in various locations on the street-maps of different cities across the globe.For a long time the Pokémon franchise, widely promoted through the comic books, cartoon films and merchandise, had been the craze among children and it seems that the little monsters are back again in this new videogame, which uses the location-tracking services of Android and iOS smartphones to lead players to Pokémon that can be caught and collected. Recent news, the world over, has been featuring Pokémon GO stories of all kinds: policemen getting suspicious of players prowling around neighbourhoods looking for Pokémon and then downloading the game themselves, or Pokémon-hunters in Bosnia being cautioned about minefields. The recent death of a teenager in Guatemala in a shooting incident is also being investigated for possible Pokémon GO connections but controversies notwithstanding, the game remains popular and there are fans waiting with expectation for the game’s release in their countries. Pokémon, designed by Japanese videogame designer Satoshi Tajiri, are fictional monsters that are caught and trained for battle by human Pokémon trainers. The franchise became hugely popular in the 90s and as Pokémon researcher James Tobin states, “Pokémon isn’t just any globally circulating childhood craze; it’s a globally circulating craze from Japan.” For those unfamiliar with augmented-reality gaming, there are apps that build upon the world around us by displaying information overlays and digital content tied to physical objects and locations. The Pokéstops, or places to collect Pokémon GO items, and the Pokémon themselves, are overlays on existing digital street maps. Viewing the streets of Kolkata with the Pokémon GO app, one might find a Bulbasaur gambolling on Ballygunge Circular Road while you might catch a Zubat in the South City Mall. Popular monuments such as statues in the Victoria Memorial might be good Pokéstops to pick up Pokémon GO goodies. Of course, as with other city-based augmented-reality games, the very real concerns of observing safety precautions while walking through Kolkata traffic and visiting unfamiliar places are extremely relevant. How long the craze lasts is yet to be seen, but this is certainly the best known augmented-reality game so far. Combined with the charm of taking the game everywhere one goes and experiencing the real spaces in a playful way, there is the cuteness of Pokémon. Amrita Sen, a professor of English in Oklahoma, has never played videogames before but got started on Pokémon GO because “you don’t really need to fight anyone and collecting cute characters everywhere I go is something I love”. With Pokémania combined with the augmented-reality, Nintendo and Niantic Games seem to have hit the jackpot. India has not yet seen an official release of Pokémon GO but players are downloading it from the US iStore (if they have access) and some have got hold of the Android application file to make it work on their smartphones. Aniket Majumder, Kolkata-based videogame blogger and teacher at Rahara Ramakrishna Mission, says: “I caught a Charmander as my first. The first one was in the school. Then I got a Pidgey in a fast food shop.” Majumder highlights some very real problems that players in India may face, apart from the obvious safety issues: “My phone is not advanced enough, so I can’t really see the Pokémon in real time. I can only see and catch them before a cartoon background.” Nevertheless, the Pokémon GO fever has hit Kolkata, and don’t be surprised if you find people peering into their mobile phones at busy public locations trying to catch a Bulbasaur. Who knows, you might find some Pokémon in your own garden or rooftop. The writer is an avid gamer and game theorist who teaches English at Presidency University