Following the release and the instant and magnanimous popularity of Pokemon Go, guidelines on how to safely use augmented-reality video games were issued for the public by the Spanish police on Monday.

Tips like users and players of such games must be aware of obstacles such as traffic lights and cars and always remind themselves or be reminded that they are in “the real world” are all included in the police advice.

In order to find, hunt and capture virtual cartoon characters on their smartphone screens, players of the game from Japan’s Nintendo Co Ltd walk around real-life neighborhoods.

According to the Spanish media, two Japanese tourists had wandered in search of Pokemon characters into a motorway tunnel in Barcelona on Saturday from where they were rescued by the police. The guidelines issued by the police follows that incident which could have caused an accident and proved to be fatal, the police said.

Pokemon GO which was released about a week ago has become an instant hit and users are glued to their smartphones and forget everything else around them. A New Zealand youth left his job and booked transport for two months last week to wander around every nook and corner of the country in search of Pokemon characters and this incident perhaps epitomizes how seriously some users play this virtual reality game.

Users are potentially made vulnerable to muggings or theft, as well as signaling when they are not at home since the game makes use of GPS technology for the game, police has warned players.

Players have been targeted by criminals across the United States as they have been drawn down dark alleys and into dangerous neighborhoods in search of the imaginary creatures. This is also another reason or the police guideline.

Players should always remember that their safety is paramount and that they should not be distracted by the excitement of catching rare Pokemon characters, warns the police manual.

Following Pokemon GO’s release in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom the previous week, it also became available in Spain on July 15. Nintendo’s market share has been boosted by $17 billion in just over a week due to the runaway success of the game.

Apart from Spain, warnings and guidelines about the game have also been issued by authorities in the Gulf Arab states of Kuwait and United Arab Emirates last week. The authorities have warned that while the players and users are in front of the Kuwaiti Emir’s palace, mosques, oil facilities or military bases, they must resist the urge to point camera phones at Pikachu popping out, Kuwait’s Interior ministry said.

“The danger in dealing with this game is that it involves the user photographing areas nearby with…smartphones which transfer the pictures of the sites to third parties. The interior ministry has informed security men to show zero tolerance to anyone approaching such prohibited sites, deliberately or not,” Kuwait interior ministry undersecretary Suleiman al-Fahd said.

Such guidelines assumes importance as the game developing company has said that it plans to release the game in more than 200 countries “relatively soon”.

Mideast users too have become addicted to Pokemon by accessing the app by a VPN connection or foreign app stores.

Landmarks such as Egypt’s pyramids and Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque are place where the colourful creatures have been sighted. Under the wary eye of states keen to prevent sectarian or seditious ideas, the relatively wealthy and phone-obsessed, Gulf Arabs have no way but to play the game according to the guidelines set by the authorities.

Waiting for the game’s official launch in the country would save budding Pokemon traders’ from “violation of user privacy”, the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said in a statement.

(Adapted from Reuters & The Times of India)

Categories: Creativity, Regulations & Legal, Strategy, Uncategorized