Exploring Pokémon Go: Augmented Reality Gaming

In this episode of the I Can’t Sleep Podcast, we delve into the captivating world of Pokémon Go, the augmented reality mobile game that took the world by storm in 2016. Developed by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, Pokémon Go blends the virtual and real worlds, encouraging players to explore their surroundings to catch virtual creatures known as Pokémon.

We’ll explore the game’s innovative use of GPS technology, its role in promoting physical activity, and its influence on social interactions. So, sit back, relax, and let’s embark on a tranquil journey through the realms of augmented reality and gaming history.

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep podcast,

Where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Boster.

And today's episode is from a Wikipedia article titled,

Pokemon Go.

When I first started the podcast,

My kids were fairly young,

And so I would ask them about different topics that they thought would be interesting.

One of the earliest episodes I did was about Pokemon.

And not too long ago,

A listener asked for additional episodes about Pokemon,

And particularly Pokemon games.

And as I was digging into different types of games,

I came across Pokemon Go,

And that brought back a flash of memories of being at work when the game came out,

Getting it on my phone,

And going out with co-workers into the parking lot to find Pokemon.

So let's get comfortable,

And I'm going to lean into nostalgia just for a little bit about this Pokemon Go game that came out around nine years ago.

Get comfortable,

And let's get started.

Pokemon Go is a 2016 augmented reality AR mobile game.

Part of the Pokemon franchise,

Developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and the Pokemon Company for iOS and Android devices.

It uses mobile devices with GPS to locate,

Capture,

Train,

And battle virtual Pokemon,

Which appear as if they are in the player's real world location.

The game is free to play.

It uses a freemium business model combined with local advertising,

And supports online purchases for additional in-game items,

As well as virtual and real world events.

The game launched with around 150 species of Pokemon,

Which had increased to around 870 by late 2024.

Pokemon Go was released to mixed reviews.

Critics praised the concept,

But criticized technical problems.

It was one of the most used and profitable mobile apps in 2016,

Having been downloaded more than 500 million times worldwide by the end of the year.

It is credited with popularizing location-based and AR technology,

Promoting physical activity,

And helping local businesses grow due to escalated foot traffic.

However,

It attracted controversy for contributing to accidents and creating public nuisances.

Various governments expressed concerns about security,

And some countries regulate its use.

The game had over 147 million monthly active users by May 2018,

Over a billion global downloads by early 2019,

And grossed more than $6 billion in revenue by 2020.

Players must physically travel to explore the game's map and visit Pokestops,

The smaller circular or cube icons,

Depending on proximity,

Usually blue but purple at visited,

And gyms,

The larger towers.

After establishing a game account,

Players create and customize their own avatars.

Once created,

An avatar is displayed on a map based on the player's geographical location.

Features on the map include Pokestops and Pokemon Gyms.

These Pokestops can be equipped with items called Lure Modules,

Which attract additional wild and occasionally rare Pokemon.

Gyms serve as battle locations for team-based King of the Hill matches.

Pokestops and gyms are typically located at places of interest.

These locations were initially repurposed portals from Ingress,

Niantic's previous augmented reality AR game.

As players move within their real-world surroundings,

Their avatars move within the game's map.

Different Pokemon species reside in different areas of the world.

For example,

The water-type Pokemon are generally found near water.

When a player encounters a Pokemon,

It may be viewed either in AR mode or with a live-rendered generic background.

AR mode uses the camera and gyroscope on the player's mobile device to display an image of a Pokemon as though it were in the real world.

Players can take screenshots of the Pokemon they encounter,

Either with or without the AR mode activated.

Although the game is free-to-play,

It supports in-app purchases,

Where players can purchase additional Pokeballs and other in-game items.

These items include Incense,

Which attracts Pokemon to the player as they move for 60 minutes,

Lure Modules,

Which players use at Pokestops to attract Pokemon to their current location near the Pokestop,

And Lucky Eggs,

Which double experience points gained for a 30-minute period from use.

All Pokemon are displayed with a Combat Power,

Which is a rough measure of how powerful that Pokemon is in battle.

Generally,

As players level up,

They catch Pokemon with higher CP,

And Pokemon are somewhat harder to catch.

The player can check how strong their Pokemon are by the appraisal system.

Players can customize their avatar's appearance with clothing options that differ in availability according to season,

Player level,

And game sponsors.

Clothing includes hats,

Accessories,

Tops,

Bottoms,

Socks,

Footwear,

And bags.

Most clothing aligns with either the look of a specific Pokemon,

A specific team,

And or Pokemon region.

Many species of clothing are free,

But pieces can also be purchased by using coins,

Earned during select events,

Awarded as the player levels up,

Or received as a prize for special research completion.

Another way for a player to customize their avatar is with a pose.

Poses,

Like clothing,

May be free,

Purchased,

Or awarded.

Certain poses are event-based and can only be earned during the event they are attached to.

Once the event is over,

There is no guarantee that the pose will be available in-game again.

In April 2024,

Pokemon Go was updated to allow greater customization of player avatars.

Customization now includes a limited number of different hairstyles,

The ability to adjust the body size of the avatar,

And expanded options for skin color.

This update was met with mass backlash from the player base as the new avatars were perceived to be of inferior graphical quality in comparison to the outgoing models,

And because the updated models interfered with some pre-update cosmetic items,

Of which many had been purchased by players.

Unlike most other installments in the Pokemon series,

Players in Pokemon Go do not battle wild Pokemon to catch them.

During an encounter with a wild Pokemon,

A player may throw a Pokeball at it by flicking it from the bottom of the screen up toward the Pokemon.

If the Pokemon is caught,

It will come under the ownership of the player.

Factors in the success rate of catching a Pokemon include the Pokemon's catch rate,

The timing,

The type of Pokeball used,

Etc.

After catching a wild Pokemon,

The player is awarded two types of in-game currencies,

Candies and stardust.

The candies awarded by a successful catch depend on what evolutionary chain a Pokemon belongs to.

A player can use stardust and candies to raise a Pokemon's level and hence combat power CP.

However,

Only candies are needed to evolve a Pokemon,

Except for certain Pokemon that might need special items.

Each Pokemon evolution tree has its own type of candy,

Which can only be used to evolve or level up.

The maximum level a player can achieve was originally level 40,

But expanded to 50 as of November 30,

2020.

The player can also transfer the Pokemon back to the Pokemon Professor Willow to earn more candies and create room for more Pokemon.

Shiny Pokemon are available multiple ways,

Mostly by chance.

One popular goal of the game is to complete the entries in the Pokedex,

The comprehensive Pokemon logbook,

By catching and evolving them to collect every one in it.

In September 2016,

Niantic introduced a Buddy Pokemon feature,

Which allows players to select a Pokemon they possess to appear alongside them on the profile screen,

And receive in-game rewards and bonuses based on the chosen Pokemon.

The feature was released later that month.

Pokemon have different distances that they need to be walked in order to receive candy.

The more the player walks in real time,

The more candy they can earn.

During the same update,

Niantic made it impossible for players with rooted or jailbroken devices to log into the game in an effort to reduce and prevent cheating.

On January 20,

2018,

Pokemon Go held the first Community Day,

A monthly event that increases the appearance rate of a featured Pokemon and offer an exclusive move to the final evolution of the Pokemon if evolved during the event window.

Players also have a higher chance to catch the shiny variant of the featured Pokemon.

The first Community Day featured Pikachu,

With the exclusive move Surf to Raichu.

The game is regularly updated with new Pokemon,

And as of the 22nd of October 2024,

There are 871 Pokemon in the game,

Including regional varieties,

Out of a total 1,

025 within the complete Pokemon franchise.

Regional Pokemon are often released simultaneously,

Such as Unova Region Pokemon and the Unova Stone item released in September 2019.

Mythical and Legendary Pokemon are often released individually or in pairs or trios in special events or quests.

The first Legendary Pokemon released was Groudon in December 2017.

The Mythical Pokemon Meltan and its evolved form Melmetal are the only Pokemon to have made their debut on Pokemon Go.

Their release coincided with the release of Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee on the Nintendo Switch.

Pokemon Go introduced the new Mythical Pokemon Meltan originally as a teaser,

Later to be available to capture only in Pokemon Go via a mystery box item that could be obtained through transferring Pokemon from Pokemon Go to either Nintendo Switch Pokemon games or by completing new research tasks.

In August 2020,

Mega Evolution came to Pokemon Go with four Pokemon able to Mega Evolve into five forms.

The feature is expanded to include 40 forms.

Players earn experience points for various in-game activities.

Players rise in level as they earn XP with various features being progressively unlocked.

Most notably,

At level 5,

The player can battle at a Pokemon Gym and join one of three color-coded teams,

Yellow for Team Instinct,

Blue for Team Mystic,

Or red for Team Valor,

Which act as factions battling for control of gyms within the Pokemon Go world.

In June 2017,

Niantic announced that the game mechanics of gyms would be revamped for a more teamwork-oriented experience.

Gyms were disabled on June 19,

2017,

With the new gyms being released with the next app update a few days later.

As of the update,

Gyms included a spinnable component to receive in-game items,

Such as potions and Pokeballs.

Additionally,

Gyms are capped at containing six Pokemon,

Each of which must be unique in that gym.

Coins are now earned based on the amount of time the defending Pokemon has been in a gym,

As opposed to a one-per-day gym defender bonus of 10 coins per current defending Pokemon.

Legendary,

Mythical,

And Buddy Pokemon cannot be placed in gyms.

In July 2017,

Raid Battles were introduced.

Raid Battles consist of a group of players gathering to confront an over-leveled Pokemon located in a gym.

If the Pokemon is defeated,

The players gain the chance to catch a regular version of it.

Raid difficulties range from 1 to 5,

With 1 being of the lowest difficulty and 5 being the most difficult to defeat.

Level 5 raids are exclusive to Legendary Pokemon.

The first of these,

Articuno and Lugia,

Were released on July 22,

2017,

After the GO Fest,

With Moltres and Zapdos following.

From September to November,

The three Legendary beasts,

Entei,

Raikou,

And Suicune were released,

Rotating regions every month.

Following their departure,

The Legendary Pokemon,

Ho-Oh,

Appeared in Raid Battles from November 27,

2017 to December 12,

2017.

In August 2020,

Level 3 Mega Raids arrived with the introduction of Mega Evolution.

At the same time,

Level 2 and 4 Raids were combined into Level 1 and 3 Raids.

In May 2022,

Raid Battles were updated to include the addition of Mega Legendary Pokemon,

Which were turned to 6 stars,

The highest currently in the game.

The only Pokemon included in these Raids were Megalatios and Megalatias.

In October 2022,

A new form of Raid Battle called Elite Raids were introduced.

Elite Raids differ to normal Raids in a number of ways,

Most notably that they can only be battled in person,

Take 24 hours to start,

And are extremely difficult,

Often requiring a large number of players to defeat the Pokemon.

In May 2023,

Another new form of Raid Battles were introduced,

Called Shadow Raids.

Shadow Raids may only be battled in person and award the chance to catch a Shadow Pokemon upon defeat.

During the battle,

The Pokemon may become enraged,

Increasing both attack and defense,

But can be returned to normal using a purified gem.

In December 2018,

Niantic added Player vs.

Player Trainer Battles.

In January 2020,

Niantic rolled out an online battle format,

Go Battle League,

Which allows players to fight other players worldwide.

Unlike the Trainer Battles format introduced in 2018,

Go Battle League does not require physical proximity,

Scanning QR code on each other's phone,

Knowing each other's friend code,

Or any other real-world interactions between players.

Instead,

Participating players are automatically paired by the game server via some variant of the Elo rating system.

Go Battle League has players participate in a 3-on-3 battle with their Pokemon.

Gameplay functions similarly to other in-game battle formats,

With players tapping on their screen to use a Pokemon's Fast Move.

Once Fast Moves have been used enough times,

Players can use a Pokemon's Charged Move to attack the opponent,

Which the opponent can choose to block using Protect Shields.

Players can switch their Pokemon to another member of their team of three as well.

Trainer Battles have three major formats.

The Great League was the first option out of the three leagues introduced in the Go Battle League.

The Great League only allows Pokemon with a combat power of 1500 or lower to participate.

The Ultra League only allows Pokemon with a CP no higher than 2500.

The Master League has no limit on the CP value of the Pokemon.

The Go Battle League has been used in competitive Pokemon play.

In October 2021,

It was announced that Pokemon Go would be added during the 2022 World Championships.

A qualification system titled the Pokemon Go Championship Series was announced.

Any trainer who reached a certain threshold of the Go Battle League would qualify for the Go Championship Series.

The top two players would be allowed to participate in the World Championships.

Pokemon Go was later brought back in the 2023 and 2024 World Championships.

In July 2019,

Pokemon Go introduced Team Go Rocket Battles.

Team Go Rocket NPCs could be battled at some Pokestops,

Indicated with it twitching and being a dark color,

Or in Team Go Rocket Balloons,

Which appear and follow the player on the map.

After victory,

The player has the opportunity to capture a Shadow Pokemon,

Which are relatively low-leveled,

Angry-looking Pokemon.

Shadow Pokemon have a bonus to their attack,

But a penalty to their defense when compared to a normal Pokemon.

After capture,

The player can choose to purify the Shadow Pokemon.

Purification of a Pokemon increases its level and stats from their Shadow counterparts,

Can learn an exclusive move when purified,

And need fewer candies to evolve.

In September 2024,

Pokemon Go introduced Dynamax Battles and Dynamax Pokemon,

A mechanic originating from Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Players must use a special currency called MP to join,

With a cost varying based on the difficulty of the battle.

In these battles,

Up to four players can take on a Dynamax Pokemon,

In which they must fill a meter by attacking in order to Dynamax their own Pokemon.

Each Pokemon's max move,

Which can only be used in Dynamax form and deals increased damage,

Is based on the type of their regular fast attack.

They may also use Max Guard,

Which increases defense,

And Max Spirit,

Which restores health.

If a Pokemon is knocked out,

Players can use Max Cheer to increase the max meter.

Only Dynamax Pokemon marked on the Pokemon's info page can participate in Dynamax Battles,

And only specific Pokemon can be obtained as Dynamax.

Gigantamax Battles,

Which debuted in October 2024,

Function similarly to Dynamax Battles,

With a major difference being that up to 40 players can join a single battle.

Much like Dynamax,

Only specific Pokemon caught from Gigantamax Battles are capable of transforming.

The concept for the game was conceived in 2014 by Satoru Iwata of Nintendo and Tsunekazu Ishihara of the Pokemon Company as an April Fool's Day collaboration with Google called the Google Maps Pokemon Challenge.

Ishihara was a fan of developer Niantic's previous trans-reality game,

Ingress,

And saw the game's concept as a perfect match for the Pokemon series.

Niantic,

A subsidiary of Google,

Used the crowdsourced data from Ingress to populate the locations for PokeStops and Gyms within Pokemon Go,

Data from Google Maps to spawn the specific Pokemon on certain terrain,

And map display from OpenStreetMap since December 2017.

The game's application logic uses the open-source Kubernetes system,

And due to the game's sheer scale of users,

A number of bugs with the Kubernetes system were discovered and later fixed.

Niantic was spun off from Google as an independent company in 2015 following the company reorganization into Alphabet Inc.

In 2015,

Ishihara dedicated his speech at the game's announcement on September 10 to Iwata,

Who had died two months earlier.

Tatsuo Nomura,

Who joined Niantic in 2015 after he developed the Google Maps Pokemon Challenge,

Acted as director and product manager for the game.

The game's soundtrack was written by longtime Pokemon series composer Junichi Masuda,

Who also assisted with some of the game's design.

Among the game's graphic designers was Dennis Huang,

Who previously created the logo of Gmail while working for Google.

On March 4,

2016,

Niantic announced a Japan-exclusive beta test would begin later that month,

Allowing players to assist in refining the game before its full release.

The beta test was later expanded to other countries.

On April 7,

It was announced that the beta would expand to Australia and New Zealand.

Then,

On May 16,

The signups for the field test were opened to the United States.

The test came to an end on June 30.

At the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con,

John Hanke,

Founder of Niantic,

Revealed the appearances of the three team leaders.

Candela,

Team Valor,

Blanche,

Team Mystic,

And Spark,

Team Instinct.

Hanke conveyed that approximately 10% of the ideas for the game were implemented.

Future updates,

Including the addition of trading,

More Pokemon,

Implementation of Pokemon Centers at Pokestops,

A patch for the three-step glitch,

And easier training,

Were also confirmed.

He also stated that Niantic would be continuing support for the game for years to come.

In an interview with TechCrunch in September 2016,

Hanke hinted that player-versus-player Pokemon battles would be released in a future update.

In December 2016,

Coffeehouse chain Starbucks and telecommunications company Sprint collaborated with Nintendo to add Pokestops and gyms at certain locations of theirs throughout the United States.

That same month,

A companion app for Apple Watch devices was released,

Which allows users to receive notifications about nearby Pokemon that does not allow for them to be caught using the watch.

In February 2017,

An update was released which introduced over 100 species based in the Johto region from the second generation of the core Pokemon series,

Which were added alongside the original 151.

The update also included the addition of new berries,

New Pokemon encounter mechanics,

And an expanded selection of avatar clothing options.

Some of the Pokemon introduced in Ruby and Sapphire were added in late 2017,

Starting with a Halloween event in October and 50 more in December.

A weather system was added alongside the latter,

Allowing real-world weather to affect gameplay.

In November 2018,

A game developed by Game Freak and heavily inspired by Pokemon Go Pokemon,

Let's Go Pikachu!

And Let's Go Eevee!

,

Was released on the Nintendo Switch.

This game features Pokemon Go-style catching with Joy-Con and integration between the two games.

In addition,

New Pokemon species Meltan was revealed in September,

Becoming the first new Pokemon to debut in Pokemon Go.

On October 10,

2018,

The Pokemon Company and Niantic announced plans to introduce Pokemon from Diamond and Pearl into Pokemon Go.

On October 12,

Niantic teased one of the Generation 4 Pokemon that would be coming to Pokemon Go.

On October 25,

A feature known as Adventure Sync was announced,

Which will record the player's walking data in the background even when the app is not open.

On October 26,

Niantic announced research tasks for Bug-type Pokemon that would give players a chance to catch Shedinja throughout November.

According to John Hanke in a January 2019 interview with Business Insider,

2018 saw Go become the game initially envisioned by Niantic.

In 2020,

Niantic made major changes to gameplay mechanisms to account for the COVID-19 pandemic,

Which saw many players unable to leave their homes to play.

These development shifts saw changes like the addition of indoor step-tracking to count toward in-game distance challenges,

Long-distance PvP battles,

Increased incense effectiveness,

Increased spawn points,

And a double-to-player radius.

The Pokemon Go Plus is a Bluetooth low-energy wearable device developed by Nintendo's Platform Technology Development Division that allows players to perform certain actions in the game without looking at their smart device.

When a player is near a Pokemon or Pokestop,

The Plus vibrates.

The player can then press the button to capture the Pokemon or receive items from the Pokestop.

The player cannot check what they have received until the next time they sign into the app on their mobile device.

The design consists of a Pokeball in the shape of the Google Maps pin.

The decision to create the device rather than create a smartwatch app was to increase uptake among players for whom a smartwatch is prohibitively expensive.

It was released in the United Kingdom and North America on September 16,

2016.

On July 14,

2023,

The Pokemon Go Plus Plus was released,

Acting as the successor to the Pokemon Go Plus.

The Plus Plus added the ability to automatically catch Pokemon and interact with Pokestops along with sleep-tracking features to be used with Pokemon Sleep.

The game's official launch began on July 6,

2016 with releases in Australia,

New Zealand,

And the United States.

Due to server strain from high demand upon release,

Niantic CEO John Hanke stated that the release in other regions was to be paused until Niantic was comfortable fixing the issues.

European releases started on July 6,

And the game became available to most of the continent over the following 10 days.

The Japanese launch was initially reported to be on July 20,

However the game was delayed after a sponsorship deal with fast food chain McDonald's was leaked,

Instead releasing two days later.

Central and South America and most of Southeast Asia subsequently saw releases in early August.

Indonesia was the first Asian country to have the game playable,

Despite the game not being officially released in that region until August 6.

Investors were buoyed by the response to the initial release of Pokemon Go on July 7,

With Nintendo's share price rising by an initial 10%,

And by July 14,

Shares rose to as high as 50%.

Despite Nintendo only owning a 32% stake in the Pokemon company and an undisclosed stake in Niantic,

Nintendo's market value increased by $9 billion within five days of release of Pokemon Go.

The trend continued for more than a week after the game's release,

And by July 19,

The stock value of Nintendo more than doubled as compared to pre-release.

Turnover sales reached a record-breaking $6.

6 billion,

And trading of the stock accounted for a quarter of all trades in the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board.

The Financial Times believed that investors were speculating not on Pokemon Go as such,

But on future Nintendo app releases being as successful as the company moves more into the mobile app market,

An area they were historically reluctant to enter in the belief it would cannibalize its portable console and video game sales.

Nintendo plans to release four more smartphone app games by March 2017,

And investors' remarks that Pokemon Go showed Nintendo still has some of the most valuable character intellectual property in the world,

With franchises such as Super Mario,

The Legend of Zelda,

And Metroid.

Reviews

Well, i guess i am one of the very few who has never seen, let along played, Pokémon. Can’t help but to have heard of it. I wasn’t aware that they managed to connect it with GPS and place it in your neighborhood, getting one off their couch and out of doors! That’s cool!! Thanks Ben. (Have you read about GPS yet?)

Pokémon Go is very nostalgic for me. I took my kids on adventures when that came out, too.