>
They go crazy with Pokémon Go! That best describes the latest craze surrounding the newly released Pokeman Go, especially in the US.
Pokémon Go is a free-to-play location-based augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic and published by The Pokémon Company. It was released in July 2016 for iOS and Android devices.
Pokémon was coined from the words, “pocket monsters”. In the game monsters roam the lands, and your job is to find, capture, and train them. Then you put them in battle against other players.
The game works by using your phone’s GPS for your real-world location and augmented reality to bring up those cool-looking Pokémon on your screen, overlaid on top of what you see in front of you. And you—the digital you—can be customized with clothing, a faction (or “team” of players you can join) and other options, and you level up as you play.
Because the game is as diverse and interesting as the location you find yourself, we now see a situation where many walk into any location – a yard, the classroom, a bar, a shopping mall – and suddenly whip out their phones to catch monsters! And people are taking it to extreme locations.
The new game is only officially available in the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. It is not yet available in Africa, but trust Naija! It is not yet clear how some Nigerians bypassed restrictions and downloaded the app.
But we are still waiting for where Pokemon Go will go in Naija – Third Mainland bridge, Badagry Slave Route or Mushin or Mokola?
In countries where it is officially available, players go anywhere to play Pokemon Go.
Players even invade your yard! One Canadian homeowner has become so tired of people coming on to his property to play the game that he decided to “talk some sense into them” by putting up a sign instructing players to ‘get a life’ and ‘grab a beer’ rather than go searching for Pokemon.
See more photos of where players go to play Pokemon Go: