Since its launch last week, the entire world has been utterly transfixed by the new phenomenon that is Pokémon Go.
Here at the Inlander, we headed out to meet Spokane's huge fanbase of players, easy to spot all over town with phones held in front of them, taking pictures of imaginary beings unseen to the rest of us.
Naturally, the free-to-play game has spurned countless headlines, reporting positive effects like getting video game junkies off their butts and outside, as well as the more unfortunate news — people sustaining injuries in the process of upping their Pokémon numbers. Even when you think you've heard it all, some of the following headlines we came across are pretty astounding:
- People are using the app at sensitive historical and national sites, including the U.S. Holocaust Museum, Poland's Auschwitz Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. Some of those sites have asked gamemaker Niantic to disallow its creatures to randomly generate there. (USA Today)
- While you've maybe heard that some criminal minds out there are using Pokémon Go to try and lure victims to a spot where they're then easy targets for robbing — or that people have walked into oncoming traffic while playing — some of these headlines are actually fake, so be wary of the source. (Poynter)
- On the other hand, people really have been robbed at gunpoint while out playing the game. (Vice Motherboard)
- And yes, those creepy stories about kids finding dead bodies while playing Pokémon Go are also legit. (Gizmodo)
- That headline about two guys who fell off a cliff while playing Pokémon Go is also real. Another guy in California was also stabbed in a park while reportedly playing. (LA Times)
- No one should be surprised that people are using the app to send nude photos. (Kotaku)
- Others, meanwhile, are using the game as a means to find likeminded lovers on Tinder. (Broadly)
- Businesses that are host to PokéStops and Gyms stand to benefit greatly by letting Pokémon Go players inside to catch what they can, and many are using the game's popularity for their own benefit. (Daily Dot)
- In New Zealand, one guy got so into the game he quit his job to become a "pro" Pokémon trainer. (Fortune)
- While it may be causing many players to ignore their surroundings, the game has spurred countless players to become more physically active. (Washington Post)
- T-Mobile announced that it's going to offer Pokémon Go players up to a year of free data to be used while playing the game, which won't count toward their contract's data cap. That deal goes live in the carrier's special rewards app starting on July 19. (Fortune)
- Here are the latest numbers on the games' user base. Pokémon Go is breaking tons of records as it's become the most popular mobile game in U.S. history. (TechCrunch)
