Pokemon GO has yet to roll out in Japan, or in any eastern country for that matter, so local fans are desperate to have Pokemon GO hit their app stores.
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He added that he would be careful playing the game, after seeing reports of accidents related to “Pokemon Go”.
Serkan Toto, a games industry consultant in Tokyo, said Pokemon itself may be Japanese in origin, but “Pokemon Go” is an American-developed game with a Japanese character or characters layered on it.
Pokemon GO’s scheduled launch in Japan by game-maker Niantic has been postponed following an email leak.
Last Friday John Hanke, chief executive of game developer Niantic, told Reuters they were being extra-cautious in Japan, given the level of expectation and large numbers of players. The game has yet to be released in Japan and most of Asia. They include warnings against heatstroke and getting hit by a auto while playing. The company broke its silence on the business deal, but it provided no release date for the game.
While Pokémon Go isn’t yet out in Japan, the country’s bureaucrats are already warning people about necessary safety precautions.
Pokemon Go, which is also available on Android devices, had 21 million active users in the USA alone as of 18 July.
The game was initially available for android smart phones but not immediately for iPhones.
Shares of Japan’s McDonald’s Holdings Co piggy-backed the Pokemon GO craze, rising 8 percent after TechCrunch reported on Tuesday the fast-food chain operator would become the game’s first sponsor. But, as Quartz noted, Japanese gamers tend to spend more, with an average of $6.34 per game they downloaded in 2013, well above the next highest-spending group, Australians ($4.50 per game), or US gamers ($2.52). But again, it’s early days for the game, and the novelty of Pokemon Go may wear off sooner or later.
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Pokemon Go is a money-making machine, and Nintendo is not the only company that’s winning big because of the shocking popularity of the game.
