Game developers around the world watched in astonishment as Pokemon Go, a mobile version of the beloved 1990s game from Nintendo Co., became an instant hit -- rocketing to the most downloaded app on both Apple and Android phones.

It’s too soon to say if its success will reshape the $25 billion mobile gaming industry, but this much is certain: The surprise hit will inspire copycats.

“You’re going to see other developers potentially changing their pipeline to incorporate augmented reality or location-based technology,” said Mike Olson, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos. “Those plans are probably being put in place right now.” He said he wouldn’t be surprised if Activision Blizzard Inc. added such functionality to Skylanders, its role-playing game featuring toys.

Pokemon Go has been released only in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand so far, and already nimble developers are making lookalike apps for places where the game isn’t available. A few cashing in on the craze have topped mobile-download rankings from Germany and Spain to Singapore and Sweden, according to market researcher App Annie. The game Citymon Go -- led by a character with a striking resemblance to Pokemon’s Pikachu -- became China’s most downloaded Apple iOS game in the past few days. Go Pikachu, a board-game populated with cartoon monsters, is now one of the 20 most-downloaded games on wandoujia.com, an Android app store.

Eoin Treacy's view

I took my daughters to Anime Expo last weekend. They were delighted to dress up as their favourite computer game characters and were amazed at the intricacy of other peoples’ costumes. The one major disappointment was our failure to get to the Pokemon event quick enough to queue up for a seat. The line for access to the 350 seat venue filled up immediately following the conference doors opening. What was perhaps most bemusing but in retrospect predictable were the people seeking to attend likely played the 1990s version of the Pokemon Go game when it originally came out. 

Despite the fact Nintendo has been largely absent from mobile gaming, is lagging in the release of a new console and does not appear to be ready to compete in virtual reality, there is no denying it has a very valuable product catalogue.  The release of a game where players can physically search for Pokemon in the real world suggests company management are looking at Microsoft’s vision for augmented reality as a more viable template than virtual reality. 

The share has benefitted both from the Yen encountering resistance in the region of ¥100 and improving perceptions about the company’s ability to deliver appealing products. It broke out of a three-year base early last year before returning to test the upper boundary by early this year. The two-day rally confirms a return to demand dominance and a sustained move below the trend mean would be required to question medium-term scope for additional upside.