The top tech stories of 2016

The Japan Times newsroom selected these tech and digital stories as the most important of 2016. All systems go: For a few weeks in the summer, it seemed to be all that anyone was talking about was "Pokemon Go," an augmented-reality game you play on your phone. The game was the result of a collaboration between Nintendo and Niantic. With China's Alibaba offering the world's first virtual reality shopping experience, it seems the race for dominance has just begun. Insiders believe driverless cars will become a hot topic in 2017 as Japan hopes to showcase self-driving vehicles at the 2020 Olympics.