One Year Since Geek Became Cool: How Pok¨¦mon GO Changed How We See Games, AR, and Nerd Culture

In July 2016, a year ago to the day, a new smartphone game was launched to both iOS and Android. Pok¨¦mon GO, as this unobtrusive app was named, soon zipped past all previous expectations, becoming one of the most played and highest revenue smartphone games of its time.

In just a few day¡¯s time, the game managed to rack up a staggering 45 million daily active users. By the end of the month, it was officially the fastest-growing mobile game ever. Ever since then however, the craze has somewhat died down. Pok¨¦mon GO sunk to 30 million daily users around two months later, eventually hitting a low of just 5 million daily users by the end of the year. Thankfully for the creators, the game has stopped bleeding any more users after that, keeping its dedicated player base of around 5 million daily and 65 million monthly active users.

And yet, there¡¯s still an awful lot most people don¡¯t know about the game. So here are the weirdest things that have happened to, and because of, Pok¨¦mon GO.

1. It's actually a ripoff of an older game

Though Pok¨¦mon GO is the joint property of Nintendo (as well as Gamefreak, and Creatures), the game has actually been developed by a studio called Niantic. Niantic Labs was founded as an internal startup under Google in 2010, before eventually going independent in 2015. It was during this time at Google that the studio developed its first insanely popular smartphone game in 2012, called Ingress.

Ingress is also a kind of augmented reality game, though it lacks some of Pok¨¦mon GO¡¯s visual aspects. In this game, players are part of one of two factions battling for control of strategic points called ¡®anomalies¡¯. These anomalies are real world locations, just like gyms and Pok¨¦stops in Pok¨¦mon GO. Instead of having to point their smartphone camera at adorable critters, Ingress players have to walk within range of an anomaly and hack it to bring it under the control of their own faction. However, an added bit of teamwork is needed here, as a faction needs to control multiple portals in order to link them together and strengthen their defences, earning points in the process.

Ingress itself was quite popular, having over 15 million downloads so far, though it was never fully mainstream. But it¡¯s this experience that Niantic Labs brought to developing Pok¨¦mon GO into the phenomenon it is today.

Reuters

2. It inspired Indians to break the law

Though the game originally debuted in July 2016, the worldwide launch was staggered in order to give the developers enough time to set up their servers. Eventually, Pok¨¦mon GO only reached India about half a year later in December 2016. However, that didn¡¯t stop Indians from playing the game anyway.

A lot of fans decided to just download one of the many pirated APKs floating around online, giving them access to the yet unavailable game. Still others resorted to using VPN software, in order to spoof Niantic¡¯s servers. The intriguing part here is that it wasn¡¯t just the tech savvy exploiting the means to an end, even casual users had become so enamoured by the nostalgia and hype, that they began asking their more knowledgeable friends to set it up for them.

Reuters

3. Pok¨¦mon GO was so engaging it caused some serious accidents

Just a week after the game went live, the number of reported incidents of accidents and robberies skyrocketed. Experts claimed playing Pok¨¦mon GO was as dangerous as texting and driving. Many users on social media were posting hilarious updates of being so busy catching Pok¨¦mon that they tripped and fell, though there were more dangerous incidents as well. Police in the US said muggers were able to download the app and use its geolocation feature (which points out what Pok¨¦mon are in your immediate area) to predict where players would be, alone and distracted.

Even weirder, one teen from Wyoming even managed to stumble on a corpse floating in the river while attempting to catch a Pok¨¦mon. Because the nature of the game encourages you to explore, she found herself wandering a usually secluded area, which is when she discovered the body.

4. It influenced our culture like never before

Before Pok¨¦mon GO, the series had a slightly more niche fandom. Some fans would remember watching the anime from their childhood, still fewer would remember playing the original Pok¨¦mon Red or Pok¨¦mon Blue on the GameBoy. Even fewer still (like me) would identify as players of even the current day sequels to the game.

But when Pok¨¦mon GO was announced it captured the attention of not just die-hard fans, but casuals as well. The game was part of both the cause and consequence of the recent nostalgia wave that gave us things like the new Nokia 3310. Pok¨¦mon veterans couldn¡¯t wait to revisit their favourite series in a new light. Those that had watched the television series loved the convenient way Pok¨¦mon GO offered to enter the world of battling monsters. And those who had never done either, well, the game made it easy to become a new initiate. To take part in the nostalgia wave that everyone else was riding, without worrying about being looked down on as a ¡°noob¡±.

The trend spread into media content as well. The days following Pok¨¦mon GO¡¯s launch saw a number of no-name streamers rocket to fame overnight, streaming their antics trying to catch Pok¨¦mon.

People began bonding over the game. Groups, including some in India, began hosting Pok¨¦mon GO walks. Players was invited, simply to bond with like-minded users and catch more of the critters. We even saw the first Pok¨¦mon-focused dating apps, a concept that would earlier have been laughed out of mainstream media as the epitome of the stereotypical ¡°no-life nerd living in their parents¡¯ basement.¡±

To put it into clearer perspective, I¡®ve had to endure people snickering behind their hands when they found out I liked a ¡°kids¡¯ game¡±. But after Pok¨¦mon GO, I can say I played the game without anyone batting an eyelid. That in itself is a huge change to occur in less than a year¡¯s time.

Niantic Labs

5. Augmented Reality became a household name

Various tech companies have been working to develop virtual and augmented reality hardware and technologies for years now. Microsoft has its AR headset HoloLens, Google has its DayDream VR platform, and even others like Sony and HTC

Of course, none of these were influenced by Pok¨¦mon GO, but it did help to bring the technology to the laypeople. Someone not clued into the tech industry may know about VR, but necessarily AR, or why the two differ. In essence, Pok¨¦mon GO brought an understanding of the technology with its simplistic features, generating new public interest in the field.

Thanks for joining us for an amazing first year of #PokemonGO, Trainers! Tweet us your favorite Pok¨¦mon GO story. pic.twitter.com/80CG25UFtQ

¡ª Pok¨¦mon GO (@PokemonGoApp) July 6, 2017

A year later, after the hype has died down, the nostalgia has faded, and most users have left for the new best thing ever, Pok¨¦mon GO has managed to hold onto a dedicated player base. These are the ones who¡¯ll tell you that Niantic isn¡¯t doing enough to clamp down on cheaters. They¡¯re the ones who¡¯ll bemoan the Blissey meta, or reminisce about the days of Vaporeon at the top of the ladder. The one¡¯s excited about the gym update, and the new raids feature. The players excited to see more shinies and legendaries in game.

The strange thing to realise here is, if none of these things sound familiar to you, you may actually be the one in the minority and not the other way around.

That¡¯s why despite now having a fraction of the number of players it once did, Pok¨¦mon GO should still be considered a great success. After all, it¡¯s paved the way for the bigger and better still to come.