First Pokemon Go Footage Reportedly Revealed, See It Here

What appears to be the first footage of Niantic's hotly anticipated Pokemon Go mobile game has been revealed. The footage below, from YouTube user Eric F, was reportedly shot at Niantic CEO John Hanke's presentation this weekend at SXSW. We don't see Hanke in the video, but it definitely sounds like him (via Kotaku).

In the video, Hanke talks about the ambitious-sounding game, which challenges players to trek out into the real world in search of Pokemon and then capture them just like in the mainline games. The video has racked up more than 800,000 views as of press time.

Pokemon Go, which enters its "field test" phase this month in Japan, lets players catch, train, and battle monsters in the real world, and the video above sheds some light on how this works.

Additionally, you'll be able to play the game with an optional device called Pokemon Go Plus. Much like a smartwatch, it can be worn on the wrist and used to execute in-game actions such as catching a Pokemon. The device will connect to smartphones using Bluetooth, and will flash its LED and vibrate to notify players about nearby Pokemon.

Pokemon Go is expected to be available on the App Store and Google Play in 2016 as a free download. The game will also have in-app purchases.

Niantic, which spun off from Google in 2015, raised $20 million from a round of investors that included The Pokemon Company, Google, and Nintendo last year. Just recently, Niantic raised a further $5 million, according to GI.biz.

What do you make of this first Pokemon Go footage? Let us know in the comments below!