Pokémon Go Sets Off Worldwide Hype
Pokémon Go is a new reality game that has created a hype around the world. It is unique because it combines the real world with a virtual one. Pokémon Go uses a mobile phone’s GPS device to capture and fight against mysterious creatures wherever a person goes. In the first few weeks after the game’s release it was downloaded by over a hundred million people.
A user starts Pokémon Go by downloading the app on their mobile phone and choosing an avatar who accompanies them throughout the game. The player’s location is determined by the phone’s GPS signal. A two-dimensional map turns into a virtual one. As you move around so does the real-world map . When you see a Pokémon you can throw a so-called Pokéball to capture it. Depending on where in the world you are you get to see different types of Pokémons and other objects. By going to different locations you can increase your playing level. The game is free to play but you must buy PokéCoins to unlock special items .
Pokémon Go may turn out to be one of the most successful mobile games of all times. Shortly after Nintendo, the game’s owner, released the app, the company’s value on stock markets skyrocketed.
Nintendo also created the original Pokémon in the middle of the 1990s. In that game players were able to catch , train and fight against little monsters in a virtual world. Especially those who have played the original version are now the ones who are attracted to Pokémon Go.
While the app has turned into a social phenomenon there has also been negative news. There have been reports of people being lured into places and robbed or players accidentally running into cars and getting hit while following a Pokémon.
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Words
- accidentally = by chance , not on purpose
- accompany = go with you
- app = small program that works on a mobile phone
- attract = pull to
- avatar = picture of a person or animal that represents you on a computer screen; you use it to play games
- capture = take in
- combine = mix, join together
- create = make, produce
- creature = something that is living
- depend on = something that is affected by something else
- determine = fix, find out
- especially = above all
- GPS device = tool on your mobile phone that shows you exactly where you are
- hype = when something is in the media a lot and people always talk about it
- increase = here: improve, go higher
- location = place
- lure = to get a person to go to a place
- map = drawing of a place which shows roads, rivers, mountains etc…
- mysterious = strange
- owner = the person who something belongs to
- release = make public
- skyrocket = go up very quickly
- social phenomenon = something that happens or exists in our world and which is difficult to understand
- special = certain
- stock market = place where parts of companies are bought and sold
- turn out = become
- unique = very special; something that you can only find once
- unlock = open
- value = what something is worth
- virtual = on the Internet; not in the real world