Gov't kicks off safety campaign ahead of Pokemon Go launch in Japan

For anyone interested... It's available to play now.

Great idea! There is nothing better than FREE advertisement paid for by the taxpayer.

If it was digital money, I'd be out there with a mine sweeper causing chaos, better for me to wait for a google glass app plus a truncheon to get my share of the cake. Somebody in Manchester England phoned 999 complaining that his poke monster was stolen .

I see mass PokePanic.......Pika!

There had been reports of those peoples walking onto train tracks, intersections, and blocking train door from closing.

David Varnes -

The speed dig is true though. Even estonia has a faster internet speed than the US. What does the US have to do? Become a former communist satellite nation?

The tips also include not playing the game while walking...

I'm pretty sure they don't know how the game is played.

Nintendo HQ and inundate it with self-absorbed, childish stupidity.

whats it got to do with Nintendo?

@smithinjapan Yeah, that's right, blame a mobile app instead of stupid people. Stupid people will always find a way to hurt themselves and others. Let Darwin deal with em.

“There are people who have achieved a high score abroad, so I hope it gets released in Japan soon,”

We must not be defeated by foreigners. Pokemon is traditional Japanese culture.

Humanity, how have we come thus far?

reports of robberies, traffic accidents and other mishaps abroad already has the government worried.

They should be worried! I teach in a private high school and it's been on the lips of every student from junior first grade to senior third grade all week. I have no doubt it is going to be a total disaster in Japan effecting everything from academics to driver safety and all points in between. As if there weren't enough 'keitai zombies' before. Now, there are going to be thousands, possibly millions more!

Pokolympics 2020?

The campaign isn't going to help a single bit when you already have zombie walking smartphone users in their droves. It is only going to get worse once the Go fever hits Japan. More people to drive and shove through without caring, fun times ahead.

This generation does not fail surprising me. I can't fathom how the world has gotten mediocre on a blink of eyes.

Let the gamers all converge in Nintendo HQ and inundate it with self-absorbed, childish stupidity.

“Nowhere in the world are the mobile gamers, the end consumers, as critical as in Japan. In the U.S., people are accustomed to slow networks, to server outages,” he said.

oooh, gotta get that one nationalistic, "special Japan" dig in there, didn't ya?

"robberies, traffic accidents and other mishaps". I get that these things may be P-Go related, but guess what? They happen anyway. People who don't have the common sense to not play a cellphone game while driving are not going to pay any heed to a PSA.

Go outside, be social and get some exercise and some much needed vitamin D or..... sit inside for anothe 10 years getting fat.

P-go is not my thing, but I think it is fantastic. That group of kids who lured and robbed some P-go players... seriously, they would have come up with some other dumb idea to rob somebody.

I honestly can't think of any true drawbacks to this exploding cultural phenomenon. The only PSA they need is "common sense, use some"... but honestly y'all, Japan kinda needs that anyway with people reading the newspaper while driving, biking with an umbrella in one hand and phone in the other, running red lights, and never looking when crossing the street.

"The Pokemon Go craze has yet to hit Japan, but reports of robberies, traffic accidents and other mishaps abroad already has the government worried."

Now who was it on the previous thread about this game today that said no one has a right to be against the game and they can't understand why anyone would be? And these things are happening in nations with wide roads and less problems with people staring at phones while on bicycles or while driving.

Poke zombies

and Poketruckers? Here's hoping not.

watched a guy with app open to the Pokemon screen walking towards a bad part of town after midnight. They've been programmed by the app to stop all higher level thinking. Pokezombies

reports of robberies, traffic accidents and other mishaps abroad already has the government worried.

has me worried as well. but its good to see campagns of awareness ahead of the game launch. I'm going to try and be optimistic..

Big deal. Japanese folks are already past masters at walking around or driving or cycling while staring at their phones.....

"Adults" get really gloomy when they see people having fun.

This is probably a good idea. I mean, have fun playing the game but don't expect the rest of the world to stop while you "catch them all." The young dudes quoted in this article seem pretty sensible about it, so I'm not that worried about what's going to happen here. Sure, we'll have a few news stories to comment on but ideally this safety message will get out there and taken to heart and most of the articles can be things like "Pokemon Go players meet their significant others while playing the game" or something upbeat.

Info regarding privacy:

<>https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/heres-all-the-data-pokemon-go-is-collecting-from-your-phone?utm_term=.lbZGRDKvl8#.anEpMX2G8Q<>

I would have totally ignored this game if it wasn't for the hype. It makes me very curious to try!

Pokenomics! Japan's salvation is at hand...

Pokemogeddon, the Gopocalype Now