Pokémon Go fever has gripped the world.. and the augmented reality game is causing absolute carnage
The groundbreaking new game has already seen Pokémon hunters seriously injure themselves and even get in trouble with the law in their quest to be the very best
THE launch of Pokémon Go has sent fans of the series into a frenzy, but the hugely-popular release is causing untold carnage and leading to all sorts of serious injuries and mishaps.
The new augmented reality game, which makes use of your mobile's camera to make it seem as if Pokémon are popping up right in front of you, is causing chaos across America and Australia, where the game is available for official download.
On Friday, a teenager's desire to catch 'em all lead to her stumbling across a dead body, but this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as unintended Pokémon Go side effects are concerned.
In fact, the groundbreaking new game has already seen Pokémon hunters seriously injure themselves and even get in trouble with the law in their quest to be the very best.
Pokémon Go encourages players to head outdoors in the search for Pokémon – which crop up in the user’s immediate surroundings and appear on screen as if they're there in real life.
And this feature has seen thousands of players venture into places they really shouldn't as they search for the virtual creatures lurking in their surroundings.
What is Pokémon Go?
– Pokémon Go is a newly released video game, which is played on mobile devices and downloaded through the app store
– It is an augmented reality game – meaning that the phone’s screen displays your real-life surroundings through the camera as you play
– The fantasy monsters appear on the screen as you explore the world, showing up on your screen as if they’re in the real world
– Players capture, train and battle the Pokémon they come across as they’re out and about using the app
The game caused chaos for officers at a police station in Darwin, Australia, after the building was designated a Pokéstop - a location where players can go for extra in-game rewards.
And after a series of intrusions by eager players, officers were forced to post a statement on their Facebook page telling Pokémon fans to stop entering the station.
They were also forced to remind players to look up whilst crossing the road, after a spate of injuries gripped gormless Pokémon players who were too absorbed in the game to keep an eye on their surroundings.
Mike Schults, a 21-year-old communications graduate in New York, fell off his skateboard whilst searching for creatures in the game.
After cutting his hand on the pavement, he said: "I just wanted to be able to stop quickly if there were any Pokémon nearby to catch."
Meanwhile, Lindsay Plunkett, a 23-year-old waitress from North Carolina, picked up a nasty bruise on her shin after tripping over a concrete block whilst playing.
And Kyrie Tompkins, a 22-year-old freelance web designer in Maine, twisted her ankle whilst playing the popular game.
She said: "It vibrated to let me know there was something nearby and I looked up and just fell in a hole."
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And eager players have been taking their search for the creatures to some truly ridiculous places, with screenshots popping up all over the internet which prove how desperate budding-Pokémasters are to make progress in the game.
One particularly dangerous photo shows a player's perspective from inside a car, with a Spearow perched on the dashboard.
And another trainer refused to stop playing for anything - including the birth of their own child.
The screenshot shows the man's wife in labour as he plays the game in her hospital room, desperate to catch the Pidgey lurking in the ward.
And one player was so desperate to keep catching the creatures that he didn't even stop whilst he was in the loo, sharing a shot of a Pokémon perched on the toilet seat as he played in the bathroom.
Meanwhile, one Pokémon addict refused to let the law come between him and the fantasy creatures, after he shared a screenshot of him playing the game after being pulled over by the police.
In the shot, an officer can be seen taking the player's details down as a Rattata takes up a battle stance behind him.
However, as bad as these are, nothing compares to the sheer awfulness of one particularly indecent screenshot, which shows a player trying to catch a Pidgey in a funeral home.
Surely nobody could have predicted that the release of Pokémon Go would prompt fans of the series to end up causing so much chaos.