The development of Niantic Pokemon Go in a few months has gained mega-revs, attracting more and more users around the world, generating more rumors and theories about its purpose. Let's try to draw a line between myths and reality.
We could not ignore one of the most popular and discussed topics about Pokémon. Lovely little animals are everywhere: adults and children of the whole world spend time with them, they love and hate Pokemon. And the phenomenon of this game is augmented reality: your phone has viral characters that seem to exist in the real world, you can see them on the bench in the park in which you walk, and at the counter of the store in which you came for bread.
Someone says that the game is dangerous, and someone, according to rumors, managed to do useful things with the help of Pokemon Go. Some hypotheses and gossip are justified, and some information is just a myth. Let's clarify the situation.
1. Pokemon Go - fertile soil for scammers.
Due to the incredible popularity and huge wave that swept the players shortly after the application, the server could not stand the heavy load, and some wise people guessed to pull the database of users. Hundreds of thousands of players began to receive reports about the need to pay almost $ 13 for the server to continue working, and people had the opportunity to continue playing in the favorite Pokémon.
In fact, the Pokemon Go server is free for users. Just at the beginning of the game, the developers did not expect such a boom and did not immediately cope with such a number of users. Then everything was adjusted, the application earned, as it should. It turned out that sms-ki - pure water phishing - is often a form of fraud on the Internet today. But someone biting on this fishing rod, scammers managed to earn money by gullible players. It's true.
2. The game provokes aggression, and people who catch Pokémon in the same place can fight for a rare hero.
If Pokémon hunters are so fanatical and emotionally unstable, under certain conditions they, of course, will fight. But the reason is certainly not the Pokemon, because everyone who saw the same character in the same place, has about 10 minutes to catch. All who have managed to seize the Pokemon during this time, it is received. There is no reason for a fight. It is a myth.
3. Pokemon Go became the motive for the murder.
One boy 15 years old killed his thirteen-year-old brother for removing his data in the attachment. It was in Florida. No one removed anything, no one killed anyone. The younger brother was just logged out of the elder's account. The fake report of the publication that circulated these rumors was designed to check readers' how quickly and easily they are ready to believe any information from the media. It is a myth.
4. Thanks to the popular application, the body of the missing person was found.
Sheila Higgins from the city of Riverton (Wyoming, USA), in pursuit of the Pokémon, found herself on the river bank. There, a nineteen-year-old girl, instead of catching a Pokemon, discovered a dead man lying in the water downstairs. It's true.
5. Pokemon Go - Devil's machinations, designed to desecrate all religious places on the planet.
Reports that players are chasing Pokemon for churches and mosques, began to appear in many publications around the world. In Yekaterinburg (Russia), even vlog blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky was arrested and sentenced for insulting all believers of the ROC, catching Pokemon in the Yekaterinburg church. Niantic has nothing to do with it. It's all your business with you!
Yes exactly. And we made such a "dirty trick" still far from the appearance of augmented reality of Pokémon. The fact is that the main source of information for Pokemon Go is Google Maps. Information in the maps are images of places that people often take pictures of. For example, one church photographed 200 people, posted their photos on the network, Google Maps designated the church as a tourist attraction. Well, Pokemon Go automatically "settled" there points for the game.
Moreover, the priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, Svyatoslav Shevchenko, in one of the interviews Ekho Moskvy told a story about how the administration of the St. Petersburg synagogue successfully used the application to increase the number of parishioners. Poor Pikachu would not even have thought of such a thing. And, of course, in churches it does not appear from harmfulness. It is a myth.
6. Trading networks use Pokemon Go to attract customers.
Did St. Petersburg's synagogue follow them? Niantic does not deny that some part of the profit of the company-developer Pokemon Go is the result of concluded contracts for placing "beacons" in shopping centers. Pokémon fans become visitors and buyers of these stores. And the owners are really ready to pay for such "traps". It's true.
7. Pokémon make players healthier.
Gamers, around the clock "hovering" from computers without active traffic, lose to fans to chase after Pokemon: those who sit constantly - weak muscles and excess weight, well, runners - in excellent physical shape. Instagram is full of photos of people who after a month or two running around the city with Pokemon Go lost weight and bad legs. It's true.
8. The reverse side of the game in Pokemon - broken bones and broken heads.
If you run and do not look at your feet, someday you can definitely fall. But the probability of stumbling or falling into a ditch during the catching of Pokémon is increasing at times. Again, in the Instagram is full of evidence. It's true.
9. Two men broke off the cliff, during the hunt for Pokemon.
On July 14, 2016, the Air Force confirmed that in the city of San Diego, the help service took the men aged 21-22 to the hospital, who, in pursuit of Pokémon, fell from a cliff 27 m high .
10. Pokemon Go - the cause of traffic jams on city roads.
Not so long ago, a network of photos of cars colliding and the formation of a large traffic jam in Denver as a result of the fact that one unlucky player suddenly stopped in the middle of the road in the process of hunting for the Pokemon. The photo was actually made in Denver, but as early as 2014, and the Pokemon Go application was released on July 6, 2016. So, it's a myth .
11. "The Simpsons" predicted the appearance of Pikachu in augmented reality.
You must have read about Trump. Now - the Pokémon. Straight Mysticism some! But ... be prepared. Such a frame of the "Simpsons" does not exist. Ie it exists, but in fact Homer had a guitar grip in his hand. All the rest is the skill of photoshop. But that's not all. Since we remembered about Donald Trump, we'll debunk this myth. The issue of the "Simpsons" about the potential US president was not released in 2000, but in 2015, when it became known that Trump is the future candidate for the post of the head of the country from the Republican Party. As in the case of Pokemon, the Simpsons' prophecy is a myth .
12. Special services colluded with Niantic to follow us.
Rejoice, adherents of the world conspiracy! The places of our habitation, our habitual routes, the usual time of our activity - all this is already on a platter from special state secret services. The reason for total control was the fight against terrorism. Is it not strange that the Pokemon Go service is easily prepared to provide personal information to users at the first request of legal organizations? Not the fact that under close supervision you will get specifically you, but everything is possible.
The only correction: exactly the same personal information contains Google Maps. And if you've never caught Pokemon, but use GPS, you are also being watched. By the way, you can play Pokemon Go without Augmented Reality with the camera turned off. It's true.