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Pokémon GO Phenomenon Takes U.S., Australia and New Zealand by Storm

Of all the things that have gone viral, the Pokémon GO app might be the strangest. Released less than a week ago in the U.S., the augmented reality game has already spawned countless sore muscles, burned untold collective calories and even been used to commit crimes.

For those of you that have been living under a rock, Pokémon GO is a GPS-map-enabled AR app/game that encourages you to go out into the real world where your device shows you things that aren’t there. Namely, the titular Pokémon, which players capture by tossing them a virtual ball. 

Once you’ve got a Pokémon in thrall, players pick up in-game currencies (“candies” and “stardust”) to level them up, increasing their combat capabilities. Players then meet up at virtual “Gyms” where they can pit their Pokémons against each other in combat.

Like the Wii before it, Pokémon GO has succeeded in getting folks onto their feet and perspiring. Tweets like…

…have been filling feeds, and countless social media posts boast of sore legs as folks push farther afield to find elusive Pokémons.

One girl in Wyoming wandered down to a local river—water-based Pokémon will be found by actual real-world bodies of water—and made a startling discovery: A real, dead body floating in the shallows. She called 911 and the body was retrieved.

Meanwhile, a satirical website posted an article claiming that a Massachusetts man caused a major highway pile-up after stopping his car to chase a virtual Pokémon. Snopes debunked it, but not before it was widely circulated and believed.

Forbes ran a somewhat deceptively-titled article called “How ‘Pokémon GO’ Can Lure More Customers To Your Local Business.” Throughout the real world, a variety of locations have been chosen by the app’s developer, Niantic Labs, as “PokéStops.” These can be landmarks, stores, churches and even signposts. Players can visit PokéStops to stock up on experience points and in-game goodies. Should a store owner be lucky enough to have their business designated as a PokéStop, they can purchase in-game “lure modules” that encourage local players to visit. The thing is, store owners cannot designate their own shops as PokéStops—only the game’s developers can.

It was just a matter of time before criminals began abusing the game for personal gain. Four enterprising robbers in Missouri located a PokéStop in a remote area. They then purchased the “lure module” to draw unsuspecting gamers to the site, where said gamers were then robbed at gunpoint. The crooks reportedly robbed at least ten people before the police caught them.

Speaking of police, the Duvall Police Department in Washington state are urging local residents not to play the game near their building:

For those of you not yet afflicted with the fever, here’s what it looks like to play the game:

Yep, he’s got an Aussie accent; last week the game was released in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, following beta testing in Japan. Those of you in other countries will have to wait for Niantic to work out the technical issues associated with launching the game in other countries. Pocket Lint reports that Canada, the UK and mainlaind Europe will have the game “within days,” but there’s no word on the rest of the world’s Pokémon GO future.

http://www.core77.com/posts/54558/Pok%C3%A9mon-GO-Phenomenon-Takes-US-Australia-and-New-Zealand-by-Storm