BEING A POKÉMON MASTER EASIER THAN NEVER

On Monday 31^st of March a YouTube video was spread all over the world through Google Maps official account with the following message:

"Dozens of wild Pokémon have taken up residence on streets, amidst forest and top mountains throughout Google Maps. To catch 'em all, grab your Poké Ball and the newest version of Google Maps for iPhone or Android. Then tap the search bar, "press start" and begin your quest. And, follow Google Maps on Google+, Facebook or Twitter for hints and tips for the most dedicated trainers."

According to the video, anyone can use their smartphones to track down the entire world’s Pokémon using Google Maps app to find the Pokémon location and their camera to see them in different parts of the world through 3D reality.

Google had incorporated its map app with one of the biggest franchise in entertainment: Pokémon; making possible for everybody to earn the title and become a Pokémon Master only by using a smartphone or tablet with Android or iOS device.

The reason? April Fool’s Day had already arrived in Japan. Google, Nintendo and Pokémon developed Pokémon Challenge as an online joke.

To play it, you only need to launch the Google Maps app ant tap the “Search” option, and it will appear a new “Press Start” option with a blue Pokéball icon. Once you start, you will be bounced to the Pokemón Lab, located in Switzerland. To catch the Pokémon, you should swipe around the map and you will see some creatures appear; once you have found one, you can catch and add it to your Pokédex for safekeeping. Also, you will be able to see a list of all the 150 Pokémon, and the characteristics and abilities of the ones you caught.

Only a few hours after the launched of the video a lot of online articles and news about the Pokémon Challenge appeared in different websites all over the world, encouraging people to download or update Google Maps app and start playing. As the time passed, online communities created blogs and forums to share the location of all the 150 Pokémon; some of them even talked about the 151 Pokémon- Mew- who only appear when you catch the other 150 first.

The process of sharing information that only few people have in order to fill the empty spaces of a bigger puzzle of information is known as collective intelligence. This process is characteristic of the participatory culture that exists nowadays, where the role of producer and consumer of media content is no longer passive and specific. The audiences are interacting together sharing different kind of content through all the media platforms, collaborating between each other and extending the available information.

As a result of this process, the ones who could not found the 150 Pokémon by their own were able to find them using the information that others shared on internet before; making easy for them to become a Pokémon Master.

Pokémon: the beginning

Pokémon started as a video game developed by the Japanese company Game Freak and distributed by Nintendo. The word Pokémon is the result of the combination of ‘Pocket’ and ‘Monster’, and it is used in all the products of the company.

After its great success it became one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, and got into new entertainment industries such as television, film, board games, toys, clothes and others. One of the most famous products is the television cartoon named “Pokémon: Gotta Catch’em All!”; where only existed 151 Pokémon, nowadays there are more than 700 Pokémon.

Pokémon Challenge and popular culture

As a result of its success Pokémon characters have become international icons. They appear like puppets in parades and shows in other countries besides Japan, also they are used as decorative furniture items which are sold in special stores, and there are two amusement parks of Pokémon. Additionally, different Pokémon characters have been mentioned in other television shows such as The Simpsons, South Park and others.

Even a lot of years after its creation, Pokémon Company is still rising in the market and creating more and new Pokémon for the television cartoon and the video game; wining more fans of different ages all over the world which each one of its entertainment products.

The launched and great success of the Pokémon Challenge is an example of the continuing popularity of Pokémon. Even when the game was only available for a few days, it was played for millions of people of different ages, including the older generation who plays the video games and the new generation who watches the television cartoon. The only requisite was having Google Maps app in their smartphones and following the official social networks of the companies in order to get clues about the location of the Pokémon.

Instead of replacing old media platforms for the new ones, Pokémon, Nintendo and Google Maps absorbed each other strengths to finally create a unique entertainment product: Pokémon Challenge, and make the game available for lots of people through a new tool.

This is an example of the media convergence that characterized our society nowadays. The new technologies create the possibility to share and extent media content through different media platforms without eliminating the old ones. Instead the content is converging in specific platforms, which are selected because it represents an advantage to share the content property.

Extension to other entertainment industries and the possibility to create new franchises in other places apart the location of the company’s headquarter are pushing media companies to embrace convergence if they want to rise in the market and get to more people.

Pokémon Challenge is an example of how the new media brings popular innovation.

Bibliography

NINTENDO LIFE. Whitehead, Thomas. Google Maps Laucnhes a Pokémon Challenge. (http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/03/google_maps_launches_a_pokemon_challenge)

TNW. Google Maps now lets you find and catch wild Pokémon. (http://thenextweb.com/google/2014/03/31/can-now-find-catch-wild-pokemon-inside-google-maps/)

BECOME A POKEMON MASTER WITH GOOGLE MAPS (http://google-latlong.blogspot.cz/2014/03/become-pokemon-master-with-google-maps.html)