Of particular concern Tuesday was an issue related to “Pokemon GO” users who were on Apple’s iOS platform. The game has been credited with getting millions of people up off the couch and out into their community.
Advertisement
Pokemon Go requires players to walk around specific locations in various cities till Pokemon creatures suddenly pop up on their smartphones.
For the most part, it’s been harmless fun.
The Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe told The Local that the Holocaust memorial in Berlin has been reported as a site where people could find and catch Pokemon creatures through the augmented reality game.
The developers have also warned people to play with friends after four people were arrested after using Pokemon Go to lure gamers to remote places to rob them at gunpoint. “We are attempting to have the Museum removed from the game”.
While you may think it’s common sense not to play the popular game in or around a memorial, it’s apparently not.
The game encourages players to capture virtual Pokémon at a variety of real-world locations.
“Playing games such as “Pokemon Go” on these hallowed grounds would not be deemed appropriate”, cemetery officials said in a statement.
While the game was released in the US, New Zealand and Australia last week, its debut in Europe has been nearly desperately awaited, so much so that some 2,500 Berliners signed up to start a protest planned for Saturday. However, the whole thing might be a hoax, because that particular Pokemon was not found nearby.
But Samara Hutman, executive director at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, said the removal process appears to be swift. She said it took about an hour for the museum to be removed as a hotspot.
More than 100,000 others including non-Jewish Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and anti-Nazi resistance fighters also died there, according to the museum.
Advertisement
But a security guard at the memorial told The New York Times he hasn’t had any problems with players.
