The recent ban on the use of English language in video games released in China, coupled with the fact that to play Pokemon Go it is necessary to have a Google account (blocked in the country) the game’s arrival in the Chinese video game market, the largest in the world with $7 billion in revenue a year ago, is unlikely.
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Pokemon Go has already been such a runaway success that developers Niantic Labs are likely to sit down in six months and wonder how the hell they’re going to match its success.
Since its launch on Wednesday, Pokemon Go has been the most downloaded app on different platforms in the United States.
In 2014, Google unveiled “Pokemon Challenge” for Google Maps complete with a promotional video, inviting users to find and capture the cutesy fictional monsters within the application.
DataMan Next (which was recently featured in one of our free apps features) is a free app that allows you to track your data usage in real time in order to make sure you aren’t approaching or surpassing your data limit. But Pokemon GO not only beat other games but is also more popular than Twitter.
Some of the top features players want to see include the ability to trade Pokemon with other players and PvP combat. In the USA, where it is extremely popular, some people have injured themselves in pursuit of the monsters, falling or getting distracted while driving. I’ve seen families walking around hunting Pokemon, groups of people of all ages huddled around an in-game “Pokemon” Lure, and a bunch of friends running down Mead Street yelling, “There’s a Bulbasaur over here!” The game’s exploding popularity has sent people into bars and pizzerias, led to the discovery of a dead body and may even be helping robbers target victims.
Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS. That game, which is being played in more than 200 countries, requires players to move through cities and towns to capture “portals” at landmarks such as public art institutions or monuments, essentially turning the entire world into a virtual game board.
“It’s not like we came here to play, but gotta catch ’em all”, one woman at the museum told the Post.
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It would never occur to me to play a video game in Yad Vashem or Mount Herzl. The game will get boring soon enough, and you’ll still have to live with yourself and your choices.
