Pokemon GO has only been active and going less than a week now, but millions around the world have already become obsessed with it. They are searching their homes, neighborhoods, and cities for characters such as Pikachu, Squirtle, and Charizard.
Well, as people walk around and stare at their phones even more than usual, they’re paying even less attention and the injuries are truly beginning to pile up.
In the game, reality is fractured in a way that layers the gameplay on top of the real world. It's so incredibly popular that it became the top grossing app in the Apple iPhone app store mere days after it was released on Wednesday in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
No matter where the players go, they can look for different Pokemon hiding around corners or even in plain sight, and try to catch them. It seems simple enough and it kind of is, but it's causing a lot of people to injure themselves and others.
People are tripping over things. They’re bumping hard into other people. Some are walking straight into walls or the street without looking in any direction. A number of people are complaining of “game-players thumb,” but much more serious injuries are coming forth and it will likely only get worse.
According to the New York Times, 21-year-old Mike Schultz was skateboarding in New York while staring at his phone to find some creatures on Pokemon GO. That was when he hit a huge crack in the sidewalk, wiped out, and got a cut on his hand.
Lindsay Plunkett, 23, of North Carolina parked six blocks away from her work to walk further and search for more Pokemon. She also ended up with a bruised shin from wandering around downtown in the rain the night before and tripping over a cinder block.
The most serious issue is that some Pokemon are showing up on the dashboards of cars, at street intersections, and even on some highways. The Northern Territory Police, Fire, and Emergency Services got on their Facebook page to warn people about walking into their office is not necessary to catch the Pokemon that may be hiding there.
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http://www.inquisitr.com/3290701/th...lly-beginning-to-pile-up/#TutIdMAfcIl4d8jf.99
