Pokemon Go means you can catch 'em all in the real world on your phone

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It hasn't taken long for Nintendo to make good on its mobile games promises. Pokemon Go is from a collaboration between The Pokemon Company, Ninty and Ingress devs Niantic and means we can catch Pokemon in the real world. You didn't want to get to that meeting on time, did you?

The free to play - or free to start as Nintendo likes to call it - Pokemon Go will be playable on iOS and Android next year and the team at Niantic has been working on it for two years. If you haven't heard of Niantic, it was founded by John Hanke who just happened to be part of the initial team who made Google Maps. No mean feat.

Using local data, Pokemon Go means we can hunt for the evolving critters all over the world, trade with other Pokemon Trainers and, of course, battle. “Our challenge was to develop a great game for smart phone devices that expressed the core values of Pokémon,” says president and CEO of The Pokémon Company Tsunekazu Ishihara. “Pokémon Go is the answer to that challenge.”

Not only can we catch Pokemon in the real world, there's even a Bluetooth peripheral that gives you an, ahem, 'real' Pokeball to snare them. Crafted by Nintendo, The Pokemon Go Plus bracelet has a button to press that means you can quickly capture Pokemon and vibrates and lights up to let you know when one is near. This sounds like a serious risk if you're on your way somewhere and discover a real life side mission.

Take a look at the frankly inspirational trailer above and fear for the micro-transactions to come. Hopefully we won't need to go into any long grass. I hear you can get ticks.

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Louise Blain
Louise Blain
Freelance Writer

Louise Blain is a journalist and broadcaster specialising in gaming, technology, and entertainment. She is the presenter of BBC Radio 3’s monthly Sound of Gaming show and has a weekly consumer tech slot on BBC Radio Scotland. She can also be found on BBC Radio 4, BBC Five Live, Netflix UK's YouTube Channel, and on The Evolution of Horror podcast. As well as her work on GamesRadar, Louise writes for NME, T3, and TechRadar. When she’s not working, you can probably find her watching horror movies or playing an Assassin’s Creed game and getting distracted by Photo Mode.