CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

The city has gotten hooked to the latest gaming phenomena, Pokémon Go. We speak to users and parents of kids using the app on what makes the game so addictive.

If you happen to spot a 20- something person in a public area holding their phone and swiping frantically on the screen, don’t be alarmed; they’re probably just trying to capture a rare Pikachu. Pokémon Go is the latest craze in the world of mobile gaming, and it’s not only taken India, but also the world by storm. Niantic and the Pokémon Company launched the game in a limited market of countries like the US, Japan and Australia. However, ingenious users in India and other countries are finding a way to install the game on their devices to get a dose of the Pokémon Go fad.

So here’s how it works. The game requires users to walk around with their mobile phones, with the on- screen map showing you the way to the nearest Pokémon, which you can capture by hurling Pokéballs at, and the nearest Pokéstops, where you can replenish your stock of Pokéballs and get other goodies. With everyone clamouring to be a successful Pokémon trainer, the nearby ‘ gyms’, where one can train their pocket monsters or duel with other users, have become the newest place to meet with people who share your love for the game. For most excited users of the augmented reality game, however, Pokémon Go is a blast from the past.

Says Chaitanya Sharma, “I started playing Pokémon on Nintendo Color and Advance when I was younger and had no idea what it was all about. I never got hooked to the cartoon or the comic series.” The 26- year- old business analyst says that he had hoped to find a game like this again. “I’ve always had this urge to play it again, and was hoping the game that was on my console would be on PC or my phone again, and now it’s finally here. It makes me relive the small part of my childhood I missed dearly,” he says.

Jayesh Bhagchandani agrees with Chaitanya about the nostalgic value of the game being the greatest draw for people in their twenties. “As a 90’ s kid, who spent hours playing and watching Pokémon, there’s no better way to design the game than have them put these weird creatures all around my city with my goal being to catch them and train them,” says the 25- year- old consultant. “I’d played four to five RPGs ( Role Playing Games) last year but hadn’t touched any sort of game this year until I heard about Pokémon Go. I kept trying to play it indoors and it didn’t work too well for me, till I stepped out and realised what everyone was talking about. It’s riddled with bugs and stupid in- app purchases but it’s still the most perfect Pokémon game ever made,” Jayesh asserts.

Social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook are abuzz with pictures of the game and the rare Pokémons caught by users. More importantly these pictures showcase the weirdest place you can find these monsters in. With the augmented reality aspect of the game, the camera switches itself on when you try to catch a Pokémon, making it look like the creature is sitting on your office desk, on your friend’s head and even in unlikely places like your bedroom or bathroom. And that has put the week- old game in a bit of a spot with the authori ties already. One of the first stories of the real life implications of Pokémon Go emerged when a teenager from Wyoming, USA ended up finding a corpse in a river when she was out hunting for a Pokémon. In Missouri later, authorities revealed that armed robbers had been using Pokémon Go’s real life features to lure a man into their trap. All over the world, reports of people trespassing to catch hold of rare Pokémon and injuring themselves while not paying attention to their where abouts have flooded the Internet. City based software professional, Chintan Shah, worries about the trouble the game could get his teenaged son, into. “My 14- year- old son Ishaan is hooked onto the game and he once walked two kilometres just to hatch an egg and capture a gym. I worry about him bumping into cars when he’s out catching Pokémon. I was alarmed to read these stories, and I’ve made my son read about the woman finding a dead body and people being looted while playing the game. He has assured me that he will exercise caution, but he is a teenager after all.” His 10- year- old brother Anay, who insists on playing the game too, has noticed Ishaan’s love for the game. “Anay is too young to go anywhere,” says Chintan, “but he ends up playing with his brother anyway and it’s a little worrisome.” Even while teenagers’ alarmed parents are trying to ensure that their wards don’t get into trouble while playing the game, the ‘ 90s kids’ are making hay while the sun shines. “I reached level 5 and caught 25 Pokémons,” says Jayesh. “I walk around after dinner anyway but I’ve ended up taking new routes since I installed the game, to see if there are Pokémons in these new lanes. I also ended up missing one meeting, cancelled on a couple of friends and spent time chasing Pokémon instead whenever I have the time.”