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| Pokémon GO Game |
So what exactly is going on? Should you join in the fun? Should you be concerned?
Here's everything you need to know about Pokémon Go.
What is Pokémon Go?
Pokémon Go is a new mobile game from the Pokémon universe for Android and iOS. It is based around Pokémon fundamentals of finding, catching, evolving, training and battling Pokémon.
In the case of Pokémon Go, this happens on your smartphone and in the real world around you, so you need to go out, search and find Pokémon in real places, rather than just in a game world.
Why is everyone talking about Pokémon Go?
Pokémon has always been a huge franchise, in gaming, merchandising and on TV, thanks to the cutesy characters like Pikachu. The new game launched in some countries on 6 July, so it's new and exciting for Pokémon fans.
But it's not just the fans. The novelty of the game sees it as a breakthrough, mapping the real world and using augmented reality to take the game into a new dimension through mobile devices and making you get out into the real world.
It is highly addictive, it's fun and it's just turned into the biggest craze, taking over social media and just about every other conversation.
What's that about augmented reality?
Augmented reality (AR) is when what you see in the real world is changed by technology. In this case, it uses the camera on the rear of your smartphone and places the characters from the game for you to see on your display, blending the real world and the game world.
That means that the Pokémon appear in real places, rather than a made-up world. This is one of the reasons it's so exciting, because AR brings the game to life and you'll find Pokémon down your street, at your local park and so on.
Does Pokémon Go involve exercise?
Yes it does. Pokémon Go is a game that encourages, nay, demands that you get off your sofa and explore, because that's the only way you'll find the Pokémon.
You can't move around just by using your thumbs, you have to actually walk to real places on the map, outside, and see what you can find. There are Pokémon to capture, game objects to collect from Poké Stops and Pokémon Gyms to train or battle in, and all these things are in the real world.
So Pokémon Go rewards you for being active?
Yes it does. One of the ways it does this is by letting you find eggs, which you place into an incubator and they only hatch once you've walked a certain distance - that might be 2km, it might be 5km.
You will also get awards for walking distances. Cover 10km in the game and you'll get an award for that, as well, of course, finding more places with Poké Stops, Gyms and Pokémon to catch.
Where can I find Poké Stops and Pokémon Gyms?
They're all over the place, but typically you'll find a Poké Stop in a place of cultural significance. That might be a statue, historical building, local pub, or some other feature of local importance. You don't have to go into places, unless they cover a lot of land. Often if you're close, that's good enough.
That means that empty places might have very few Poké Stops, like remote country areas, and some are densely populated with Poké treats, like city centres.
Pokémon Gyms are even bigger locations, like a transport hub, bridge or other significant location. For some good examples, see what we found when exploring the Pokémon Go map around London
Is Pokémon Go safe?
As safe as the real world can be. The distraction of watching your phone means you're a risk of walking into things like roads, or worse, driving into things if you're playing when you're supposed to be driving your car. We've seen a Gym on the other side of a railway and there's the temptation to stand too close to the tracks, just to access that Gym.
As for encouraging people to explore places they don't normally go, that could be good and bad. Yes, you find things you might not normally notice in your local town, but at the same time, the pursuit of Pokémon could easily lead you on and on to places you really shouldn't be.
You can also drop lures and this is one of the contentious issue. These are in-game elements to attract Pokémon to a particular (real) position and other gamers can benefit, by walking into the same (real) place. That's fun in a park during a day, less fun down a dark alley at night.
The message about the real world remains the same: use your head and if you have kids, make sure you know what they're doing.
Is the Pokémon Go app secure?
There have been concerns raised about privacy in Pokémon Go in the early days.
Firstly, with lots of people trying to get access to the game before it's officially available, there's plenty of opportunity for fake versions of the app to appear containing malware - especially on Android where installing apps is very easy. If in doubt, don't do it and wait.
Secondly there have been questions raised over the access that the Pokémon Go asks when you sign in with a Google account - and this affects both iOS and Android users. Some have reported that it's listed as having granted itself full access to your Google account, which is normally reserved for top-level Google apps.
We're sure this latter point will be addressed and clarified, but again, if you've any doubt about what's happening to your data, then just say no and wait until you're sure.
How much does Pokémon Go cost?
Pokémon Go works on a freemium model. That means the game itself is free, but there are in-app purchases available.
The way this works is offering you a store where you can buy things using coins. These coins can be bought in the app using real money.
For example: you can buy 200 Poké Balls for 800 coins. You can buy 1,200 coins for £7.99 - that's real money. Or you can visit lots of Poké Stops and collect Poké Balls for free. If you're rich and impatient then the world is your oyster.
The longer-term question is whether game progress is hampered by not spending real money. At that point you either have to decide the fun is worth the price, or accept that you've reached the limit of playing without paying. This is how freemium games work and one to watch, especially if you have kids using your phone and they are able to make in-app purchases.
What impact does Pokémon Go have on battery life?
Massive. As the game wants the phone to be awake when you are walking around, it's using the display, data to sync with the game services and the GPS, as well as tracking motion. As it's a benefit to walk around with your phone awake, as that's how you find things, it's all that screen-on time that kills the battery.
What can you do about battery drain? You can stop playing, or carry an external battery pack.
How can I get Pokémon Go?
Pokémon Go is available as an app to download for Android and iOS. It's available now in the relative app stores, but the availability is limited.
Because of a phased global roll-out, only some territories have official access to the game - like Australia, Japan, New Zealand and USA.
However, eager fans have figured out other ways to get hold of the game and start playing before its official arrival in their countries.
