Pokemon GO Nears Twitter's User Count, Sparks Stories Good and Bad

[ffronw]

Pokemon GO Nears Twitter's User Count, Sparks Stories Good and Bad

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1335/1335520.jpgPokemon GO will soon have more users on mobile than Twitter, and it may have more interesting stories as well.

The newest Pokemon game has taken the world by storm, and is already installed on more phones than Tinder. If its growth continues (and with SimilarWeb [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/167902-Pokemon-GO-to-Get-Trading-in-a-Future-Update], Pokemon GO was installed on over five percent of all Android devices in the US with 48 hours of its launch, and by Thursday, July 7 was on more devices than the Tinder app.

Another crazy statistic: 60 percent of the users who have installed the app are using it daily. This puts the new game around the same number of daily users as Twitter. GO is also being played longer each day than WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Instagram.

With that many people playing Pokemon GO, you're bound to have some crazy stories pop up. There was the using the game to lure in potential victims [http://imgur.com/bKhZiDo].

But it's not all bad news. A police station in Australia found itself designated as a Pokestop, and posted a tweeting about the game [https://www.facebook.com/143359822402689/photos/a.155432537862084.40926.143359822402689/1141877905884204/?type=3], admonishing folks not to play and drive.

Pokemon GO is a legitimate phenomenon. It's hard to walk anywhere without seeing someone who's playing. If you've got a great story from your time chasing Pokemon, tell us what it is in the forums!

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[Kotoriii]

If the servers could only handle the high traffic and the app to stop crashing in the middle of catching a pokemon...

 

[MCerberus]

Somewhere there is a mobile dev who took a long-odds bet he could make nerds go outside.
They all laughed, but the installation of the scrooge McDuckian money vault proceeds well.

 

[Worgen]

Yes, yes, go my pretty, increase my Nintendo stock.

 

[Chessrook44]

Eh, my phone's a 7-year-old slide phone, so I can't even play it.

Not that it matters. I mean, I'd have to walk around and go places to do something, and that would take me away from my precious IRC, Messengers, and Video Games.

But hearing the stories from my coworkers as they bash each other and compare Pokemon Sizes? That's entertaining at least!

 

[gigastar]

I just find it hilarious that a smartphone ARG has done more to get people to go outside in just a few days than hundreds of government initatives have over several decades.

Also, remember how the US has relatively low voter turnout? Well...

 

[Lyvric]

And the game is only out in US and Canada.

A load of people I know in the UK have been deferred from downloading the work around based on the baseless rumor that Nintendo are banning people for doing so.

It's not out in Canada yet but it hasn't stopped people from trying

 

[Geisterkarle]

It is maybe only officially available in australia and US, but installed like everywhere...
Have fun! My Pokemon days are long gone!

 

[List]

Looks at all the people having fun. "I want me some of that fun"
Searches for pokemon go in google play.
"Not available in your country."

 

[jayzz911]

Looks at all the people having fun. "I want me some of that fun"
Searches for pokemon go in google play.
"Not available in your country."

It's pretty easy to get it anyway though.

 

[Gorrath]

If the servers could only handle the high traffic and the app to stop crashing in the middle of catching a pokemon...

Lost a Persian to this yesterday. I was not a happy individual.

 

[Guffe]

Looks at all the people having fun. "I want me some of that fun"
Searches for pokemon go in google play.
"Not available in your country."

It's pretty easy to get it anyway though.

Yeah, as long as you have an android device then all you need is a download link, which can be found in loads of outube videos for example.

 

[List]

Looks at all the people having fun. "I want me some of that fun"
Searches for pokemon go in google play.
"Not available in your country."

It's pretty easy to get it anyway though.

Yeah, as long as you have an android device then all you need is a download link, which can be found in loads of outube videos for example.

I keep seeing stuff about bans and other punishments for doing that though. Is it actually OK to do that?

 

[Idlemessiah]

Living in the UK and judging from personal experience and social media, half the country has already got the app through the back door method. Banning so many people will seriously hurt player numbers so I recon those rumors are just that, rumors.

I just love wandering into town at like 2am and seeing groups of adults touring round and taking the gyms while everyone else is asleep.

 

[Guffe]

Looks at all the people having fun. "I want me some of that fun"
Searches for pokemon go in google play.
"Not available in your country."

It's pretty easy to get it anyway though.

Yeah, as long as you have an android device then all you need is a download link, which can be found in loads of outube videos for example.

I keep seeing stuff about bans and other punishments for doing that though. Is it actually OK to do that?

To be Honest I don't know.
I only got an explanation when asking how it works, since Nintendo has region blocking.
My mate said, and this is a very simplified version, that even if Nintendo has regionblocking. Since it is on an Android device, the only block they can actually set is what IP address you DL it from, from their store. So they can say Google Play Store in this and this country can let you DL the game, but if you get a link to a working DL address, nothing stops you from playing it, since Android isn't a regionlocked thing.
Legal, not legal? Don't know.
Or is it just Nintendo who wants to gather data before bigger area releases?

 

[Fijiman]

Meh. While I'm sure it's fun, I'm a lazy bastard and have an extreme aversion to downloading things onto my phone or computer. So, while my brother may have been able to become the leader of like six gyms at one point(he went around the city at like 3am so he had no real competition), I will be content just going about my day as normal.