Twitch Plays Pokemon, the social experiment in which the viewers on the popular streaming site control the game by inputting commands in the chat, has become an internet sensation with its own culture, lore and of course, memes.
This fast-forward video summary by Youtuber Masterjun3 is a fairly helpful, humorous depiction of the events that have unfolded so far, such as accidentally releasing Pokemon into the wild and getting stuck at obstacles for hours in an attempt to make it through the game.
The stream has over 14.2 million total views, and as many as 70,000 viewers at once, most of which are giving input simultaneously by typing a direction (left, right, etc) or button (A, B, Start) into the chat. The commands are automatically input into the game-nobody is controlling the Pokemon Trainer but the viewers.
All the commands have an effect, which can lead to a lot of walking into walls, going in and out of menus, and throwing away items or releasing Pokemon. This is the cause of a lot of the jokes and memes present in the video--players repeatedly attempting to 'use' the Helix Fossil item (which is only meant to bring a Pokemon back to life later in the game) lead to the creation of a meme about players 'consulting the great fossil for guidance', for example. There is even a site where you can ask the fossil questions and recieve random answers, and merchandise available.
A new system called Anarchy and Democracy has been installed in attempt to control the productivity of the play-through by a vote. Typing either word into the chat helps move the balance of power between Anarchy and Democracy, and whichever has the majority of the vote at any time (as depicted by a bar) is active. When Anarchy is active, every command is carried out in game. Under Democracy, only the command typed the most times in a short time span is used.
It's a fascinating experiment, and it's been going for more than six days. There are people using strategies to move the game along, but even the best laid plans sometimes can't overcome the chaos of random inputs. Watching this video can help you catch up, then I recommend you head over to watch the madness unfold or take part yourself!