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The game’s launch in Hong Kong follows its Asian debut in Japan on Friday. Photo: Nora Tam

Game on! Pokémon Go now available in Hong Kong – with added warnings

Yet stocks for online game developers and smartphone component suppliers mixed after local debut of augmented reality diversion

Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go, the augmented reality smartphone game which has taken the world by storm, was launched in Hong Kong on Monday, prompting multiple warnings against trespassing and straying into busy roads.

The city was quickly abuzz with excited talk about the game that allows players to use their phones’ GPS and camera to hunt for virtual Pokemon – short for Pocket Monsters – in the real world.

“I wasn’t really that interested at first, and then I got addicted,” Jamie Sie-to Chuk-man told the Post outside the bustling Times Square shopping mall in Causeway Bay.

Using a cartoon map, the game encourages players to ­explore and find real locations to catch and collect Pokemon as they appear anywhere randomly.

In some countries, where the game was first released earlier this month, some players have got too caught up in the game to care about their surroundings; some have landed themselves in trouble for trespassing on private property, tripping and falling, ­getting hit by vehicles, and even being robbed by opportunist criminals.

Hong Kong Police Force, the Hospital Authority, religious ­centres and even the People’s Liberation Army have all made clear that gamers hunting Pokemon should stay off their premises.

Police were proactive about it, posting a video on their official Facebook page to caution people against playing mobile phone games while crossing the road and while driving to avoid any ­accidents.

A police source also told the Post that Pokemon players would be asked to leave if they were ­trespassing.

“If they refuse to leave and ­influence others and repeated ­advice is ignored, they may face arrest for obstructing a police ­officer in the execution of duty,” the source said.

A PLA spokesman said military barracks were closed zones and only authorised personnel or staff were allowed to enter.

And a Hospital Authority spokesman said: “Public hospitals are primarily for patients to seek medical treatment. Any ­person’s behaviour cannot affect other persons or hospital service in public areas.”

At the Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre, a representative said: “Please note that the mosque is a place for worship and requires due respect.”

Hong Kong is only the second place in Asia to get Pokemon Go, following the game’s release in Japan last Friday.

The game, developed by US-based company Niantic and ­partially owned by Japanese giant Nintendo, shot to the top of the charts in Apple’s iOS App Store in Hong Kong on Monday, overtaking other popular titles, according to data from app analytics company App Annie.

Mobile operators CSL and 1010 announced last week they were giving customers free, ­unlimited data to play it.

Any data used within the Pokemon Go app itself would not count towards customers’ monthly caps, the Post learned from a 1010 customer service officer.

Bryan Ma, vice-president for devices research at marketing firm IDC, said Pokemon Go could have a big effect on the industry in general.

Pokemon Go has significantly raised awareness of augmented reality in the mass market,” he said. “It is a game that went viral, but the impact is that it is giving the entire augmented reality ­industry a big shot in the arm.”

Additional reporting by Laura He

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: PLA, police ready as Pokemon Go arrives in city
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