The world is about to be taken over by a brand new craze – but it seems China might have to wait a little longer to climb on board.
Pokémon Go, Nintendo’s hotly anticipated new “augmented reality” game for smartphones, was successfully launched in Australia and New Zealand last week, however its international release has been put on hold after attempts to add the USA and Japan to the launch list sent servers into meltdown.
That means a frustrating wait for Chinese players, with a handful of enthusiasts in Beijing, Hong Kong and Macau reporting that the game was briefly available to them early last week before it stopped working.
It also promises to be a costly error for Pokémon Go’s developers, with the buzz it is already generating in Australia and New Zealand suggesting they seriously underestimated its popularity.
A significant leap forward from the original Pokémon games created for the handheld Game Boy console in the 1990s, Pokémon Go is based on “augmented reality” – combining the real world as viewed through the screen of your smartphone with a Pokémon world inhabited by animated Pokémons.
Different Pokémon live in different places and the creatures can appear from behind the couch or around a corner at any time when viewing the world through your phone’s camera. Where Pokémon Go differs from other games is that it requires you to physically go out and search for these Pokémon, some of which could be located on the other side of town or even much further afield. Needless to say, collecting all 151 Pokémon is no easy task!
Pokémon Go is already dividing opinions in Australia and New Zealand, where thousands of players in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and beyond spent the weekend staring at their phones in search of elusive Pokémon.
Critics have warned the game provides a dangerous distraction on busy city streets – increasing the likelihood of players being hit by cars. However, it has also been praised for encouraging players to get out and explore the neighborhood or meet with other players to look for Pokémon together.
Either way, there is no doubt that Pokémon Go will make a huge splash in China when it is officially launched in the coming weeks. Be prepared!
