The smartphone game has now been launched in more than 40 countries, including the USA and much of Europe, but Japan – where Nintendo Co started the mythical creature franchise 20 years ago – was kept waiting.
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Pokémon GO is yet to be released in Japan, but the government is already quite anxious about the hit Niantic app’s launch in the country because of numerous reports of accidents the game has caused overseas in recent days.
The game’s co-creator Junichi Masuda apologised via an internet video for keeping players waiting so long in the land where Pokemon was first born two decades ago. Pokemon Go notoriously eats away at your battery life, so the NISC informs players that they should carry a spare or a charger in case of an emergency. He ends by saying “Stick to the rules and have fun”. He then continues with a smile, saying that the game can now be played in the country.
“It’s also a great reason to go outside, so I’m really enjoying it”. Once the game launches in Japan and its McDonald’s partnership is up and running, a whole lot of new people will be able to catch ’em all. “We will call on players not to become a bother to customers who are eating”.
The government has issued a nine-point warning a day earlier, calling gamers not to play the game while walking, particularly on railway platforms, or while riding a bicycle, and not to enter off-limits areas.
The free app that lets users “capture” monsters on their phones and wage war against each other was downloaded more than 1.3 million times in the first three hours after its release here Friday, according to local media reports.
The Nintendo-backed smartphone game has been a huge success, doubling the Japanese gaming company’s value since it launched in the United States earlier this month. Niantic and McDonald’s anticipate that the hype created by the game would result in a massive influx of players; quite possibly the largest influx of players the game will see. With exclusive features, smooth server, and real-time options, the fever of this Argument Reality game has multiplied the market share value of its owner company Nintendo, pushing it to a top position in the gaming world.
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Apparently, this might even curb the risk involved in playing “Pokemon Go” as several reports of auto accidents and other mishaps have surfaced of people who were too busy playing the game.
