The global Pokemon Go craze has prompted a slew of complaints, from memorial sites arguing it’s disrespectful to play there to whole countries imposing a ban on the smartphone game.
But is it really possible to declare a place a no-go zone for people hunting the cartoon monsters?
Sites that have expressed irritation at Pokemon Go players include private properties, government buildings, historic monuments and memorial sites.
The museum at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp and Japan’s Hiroshima memorial have all complained about visitors bent over their mobiles trying to catch Pikachus instead of contemplating the weight of history.
The company used data from an earlier game called Ingress in which players could walk around the streets capturing locations on a GPS map.
It depends on whether the place in question is a Pokestop, a Gym, or simply somewhere the little critters have been popping up.
It is possible to ask Niantic for a location to be removed as a Pokestop or Gym. The developer cannot remove them from the game instantly, but each update of the app can see sites added or removed from the list.
The most recent update saw the Hiroshima and Berlin Holocaust memorials disappear as Pokemon landmarks.
But it’s a lot more complicated to stop the monsters themselves from popping up at a site that would like to see them banned.
That would require a modification of the game’s algorithm, a complex process that presents a headache for the developers.
The Pokemon Company, the Japanese firm which manages the hugely popular brand, says Niantic is working on improving the algorithm.
Source: Arab News
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Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
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