Following its release for iOs and Android on July 5, Niantic's "Pokemon Go" mobile game, equipped with augmented reality, created a worldwide phenomenon. Now available to more than 90 countries with approximately 500 million downloads, this mania is no way near from doom.
Inspired by the media franchise in Japan, this game involves human characters (now the game players) called Pokemon trainers, trying to catch, train, evolve, and battle creatures called Pokemon.
Many have been affected by this craze nationwide as people are mostly caught walking while glued to their mobile devices, trying to catch each Pokemon in the area. Rare type Pokemon drives people crazy just like what reportedly caught on cam in Taiwan in August, where Snorlax was spotted in a prominent intersection. In a report from Time, thousands of players swarmed the Xinbeitou district intersection where a relatively rare Pokemon appeared.
With great anticipation to catch 'em all, especially the rare ones, some players opted to use cheats.
According to Forbes, Niantic purposely changed which Pokemon will appear in a spawning nest. In its previous version, players can anticipate rare Pokemon in each spawning nests because of the "scheduled list." For instance, a Dratini nest became an Eeevee nest afterward and it followed the same pattern worldwide.
However, with the game's new update, these so-called schedules and lists were changed. A Dratini nest will not necessarily be an Eevee nest later on. Instead, another rare or common Pokemon will spawn from time to time.
With so much attention drawn to this game, various online reports have also confirmed hacks and cheats being used by the players which alarmed the official distributors. A fan-made game called "Pokemon Uranium" has also been banned.
Although there have been reports of dwindling players and interests to this game, Pokemon Go has certainly proved its impact on people's daily lives.
