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This Pokéball wearable could let you catch a Magikarp in the Thames

Now budding trainers can catch ‘em all IRL

Esat Dedezade

Remember the very first time you picked out your own Charmander and stepped out through Professor Oak’s lab door? We do. We were assaulted by some rats in the long grass near his house shortly after. It was a great day.

Thanks to Pokémon Go – a mobile title revealed by the Pokémon Company – those memories will become a sort-of reality.

Developed by Niantic Labs (the folks behind AR game Ingress) and Nintendo, Pokémon Go brings virtual Pokémon into the very streets, parks and other public places you walk through on a daily basis.

Players will be able to catch and train their own Pokémon, in addition to battling other trainers in real-world settings, presumably being rewarded with some sort of Pokémon street cred in the process.

Unlike Ingress, which requires the app to be open, the optional Pokémon Go Plus wearable can be used to alert you of wild Pokémon and opponents in the area with a flash and a buzz, without you having to have the app open on your phone.

Nintendo designed the little device to encourage people to stop staring at their screens so much, and don’t worry, you don’t have to actually wear it on your wrist for it to work.

Very little has been shown off at the moment beyond the wearable and a few screenshots of Pikachu and Charizard standing in a virtual field, but colour our inner child very excited.

[via Polygon]

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About

Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.