“I think what surprised me most about the game is how well you can communicate with new people that you’ve never met”, said Kimberly Luu, one Pokemon Go player.
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THE latest digital craze is making headlines as augmented reality app, Pokemon Go, has users hunting high and low for Pokemon characters all over the world. That might explain why the top free game in China today on the Chinese iOS App Store is a Pokemon Go clone. There are already facebook groups and Twitter threads devoted to helping people find their local Pokemon hot spots and there have even been people who started off scouting alone that join up together to find more characters – the idea is brilliant.
Similar to geocaching, players allow their smartphones to access their location and camera for tracking and catching Pokemon, or animated “pocket monsters”.
In other words, users sometimes get so caught up in playing the semi-virtual reality game that they might not notice they’re about to walk into a telephone pole, onto private property or into a busy intersection. The BBB advises players that this can cause a concern for privacy. A malware version of the game has been found online; although no known infections have been reported. The game’s maker, Niantic, says it is working to correct this problem and no personal information has yet been accessed. Some users have already invented hacks to play the game immediately despite the Global Positioning System block with the help of third-party sites.
Pokemon Go players are being told to stay away from electricity substations and not to climb on power lines.
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“Due to the recent robberies they suspect are related to this app in O’Fallon, Missouri, we felt (it) necessary to issue the community awareness article”, Cavins wrote in an email. “Players should be respectful of others’ private property”, the BBB wrote.
