Ich habe mit Pokémon eigentlich gar nichts am laufen, aber ich dokumentiere die Auswüchse des Hypes um das Game, weil wir hier so ungefähr die erste Mainstream-Anwendung von Augmented Reality haben und mich die Wechselwirkungen von AR in Kombination mit Gamification mit urbanen Strukturen und Stadtkultur und, naja, Fleischsackrealität interessieren. Das Game selbst kann Nintendo gerne behalten. Hier ein Pokémon bei einer «Black Lives Matter»-Demo mitten unter Riot Cops. Eric Hu auf Twitter: «This week in a single photograph»…
Übrigens wurden Pokémon Go-Zocker per Pokéstop an einen Ort gelockt und dort überfallen, wie Vice zu berichten weiss:
According to Sergeant Bill Stringer of the O’Fallon Police Department, this is what happened to 11 people in the St. Louis and St. Charles counties in Missouri since Friday. Based on statements made by the apprehended suspects, the robbers used Pokémon Go to lure players to secluded areas where they would then rob the victims of their personal belongings. All of the Missouri victims were between 16 and 18 years old.
Although the exact method used by robbers isn’t entirely clear, it appears as though they would create a beacon at the Pokéstop which would then attract more Pokémon to the beacon. And as most of us have realized by now, where there are Pokémon, there will be gaggles of teens trying to catch them in exchange for digital candy. It was this insatiable desire to “catch ‘em all” that led 11 teens right into an armed robbery.