This week in video games, July 18, 2016: Pokemon Go hits Canada, free Tetris Blitz

This week, Red Dead Redemption is now playable on your Xbox One; you've got another chance to try PlayStation VR this weekend, Tetris Blitz is released, and EA adds two games to the Access vault. But first, Pokemon Go takes the world by storm.

Nintendo has a monster hit in Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go is not the first Nintendo game for smartphones and tablets. That was Miitomo, which was released in the spring and which has been largely forgotten.

But Mittomo isn't really a game, either. It's more of a social network. And we've all got enough of those.

Pokemon, though, started out as a video game and is one of the most successful media franchises in history. Done properly, it had the potential to be a mobile-gaming hit.

Which is exactly what's happened.

In the first few days of a limited release, to Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S., demand has been so high that the game's servers are repeatedly crashing. The game was supposed to roll out around the world soon after it was released in the U.S.

That plan was put on hold; Pokemon Go didn’t release in Canada until Sunday, July 17 (it’s available on Android and iOS.

The instant popularity of Pokemon Go resulted in a spike in Nintendo's share price, boosting the company's market capitalization by some $7.5 billion.

The game was actually developed by Niantic, which started as a Google project and has become its own company. One of the developer's first projects was Ingress, which used smartphones and GPS to get players involved in a real-time game that took place in the real world.

That experience spun into Pokemon Go, which has players searching for and capturing the "pocket monsters" in the real world.

This can lead to some difficulties, as people are busy looking at their phones and in danger of walking into traffic or even being lured by armed robbers.

Pokemon Go is an augmented-reality game in which you "see" pokemon in the real world through your smartphone and can then "capture" them by tossing "Pokeballs". It's a simulation of what being a Pokemon trainer would really be like.

Players are compelled to "get them all". There are 151 creatures available to capture, and they all have particular geographies where they are likely to be found and times when they are likely to be discovered.

It has got gamers who may otherwise be spending all their time on the couch running around, with many complaining on Twitter of their sore legs.

The game itself is free to download but includes in-app purchases of PokeCoins, which can be exchanged for things like power ups.

It's not a new idea. Invizimals, developed for Sony's PlayStation Portable system in 2009, had the same gameplay. But Nintendo and Niantic have caught fire with the Pokemon franchise

Just wait until Nintendo gets Mario onto your iPhone.

Play Red Dead Redemption on Xbox One

We called Red Dead Redemption—which uses the same game mechanics as Grand Theft Auto but with horses and the Wild West as a backdrop—a tour de force when it was released in 2010.

Now you can play it on your Xbox One, thanks to the system's backward-compatibility program.

If you own the game for your Xbox 360, just insert the 360 disc into your Xbox One and a download of the game will begin. If you don't own it, you can purchase it digitally.

Try virtual reality with PlayStation VR next week

PlayStation VR doesn't release until October 13, but you can get a taste of what's to come this weekend.

On Saturday (July 23), demos will be taking place in Burnaby at EB Games in Metrotown.

Games that will be available to try include:Battlezone, EVE Valkyrie, and Ocean Descent.

Get your free download of Tetris Blitz

Tetris, first released in 1984 by Russian game designer Alexey Pajitnov, has a 2016 edition that you can play on your smartphone.

The puzzle game, which goes from tranquil to frantic in a heartbeat, is available for free for Android and iOS.

If you haven't played Tetris in a while, the Blitz version from Electronic Arts adds power ups and online, head-to-head competitive play.

Two new games join the EA Access vault

EA Access, the subscription service that gives members access to full Windows and Xbox One versions of games, has added two titles to the vault.

This Need for Speed is a reboot of the racing games set in Ventura Bay, an analog of southern California, designed for next-gen consoles.

Unravel, meanwhile, is a platform game starring Yarny. You solve environmental puzzles using the yarn from the cute character, unravelling and collecting it as needed.