If you’ve been on social media in the past few days, you’ve
no doubt seen pictures of little animated monsters in real life situations like
on a subway or in a restaurant.
That’s thanks to the new Pokémon Go smartphone game from
Nintendo.
Pokemon Go places
your avatar on a map based on your location. It shows virtual features called
Pokéstops, where you can find Pokéballs, virtual “gyms,” where you can train
and join teams, and creatures called Pokémon, which you capture by swiping
Pokéballs at them. You start off on your own, but can join a team once you reach
Level 5.
The game has been so popular the company had to limit new
users while it upgraded its servers.
The game is already impacting Nintendo’s bottom line as the
stock jumped by 25 percent Monday, adding $7 billion to the company’s value.
Millions have already downloaded the augmented reality game
in which users try to catch Pokémon characters on-screen in real-world
situations. That means to play, a user must go out and about in search of
Pikachu and other characters.
This has already led to some problems as people congregate
at locations marked as important in the game.
For example, in Australia a police station was marked as a
place to find creatures or collect other items for use in the games. So many
players showed up, the police had to tell people not to go into the station
while playing.
In the U.S state of Wyoming, Shayla Wiggins, 19, came across
a dead body while playing Friday.
"I was trying to get a water Pokémon," said
Wiggins in an interview with CNN. "I probably would have never gone down
there if it weren't for this game."
In Missouri, armed robbers lured players to isolated places
hoping to rob them.
"Using the geolocation feature of the 'Pokémon GO' app
the robbers were able to anticipate the location and level of seclusion of
unwitting victims. The way we believe it was used is you can add a beacon
to a pokestop to lure more players. Apparently they were using the app to
locate people standing around in the middle of a parking lot or whatever other
location they were in," O'Fallon police stated.
The Pokémon Company International and Niantic,
the co-developer, warned players in a joint statement.
"We encourage all people playing Pokémon GO to be aware
of their surroundings and to play with friends when going to new or unfamiliar
places. Please remember to be safe and alert at all times."
You can also watch this video by clicking on the Play Button
