McDonalds Becomes Hotspot for ‘Pokemon GO’ in Japan

“We will call on players not to become a bother to customers who are eating,” says a spokesman for the restaurant chain

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The Poke-craze made its way back home to Japan and even McDonalds wants in.

After a little more than two weeks since its U.S. release date, “Pokemon GO” has recently been made available in Japan, and almost 3,000 McDonalds restaurants across the country will now serve as Pokemon training or battling centers, according to a report by NBC.

“Ultimately, McDonald’s is a restaurant,” said a company spokesman to NBC. “We will call on players not to become a bother to customers who are eating.”

The introduction of “Pokemon GO” into the Japanese culture was such a big deal that it was welcomed in with non-stop news coverage and a guarded approval from the government itself.

The restaurants will ultimately be locations for Pokemon Gyms which will attract a crowd of players wanting to be the gym’s champion.

“Pokemon GO” is an augmented reality game played on smartphones where players are required to physically move around the real world in order to capture fantasy creatures, aka Pokemon. The game has already been at the root of many incidents: car crashes, discovered bodies, injuries.

The National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity in Japan had issued a warning in light of the game‘s launch. It urged players to be vigilant by keeping their online identity a secret and to stay away from dangerous areas. The warning also advised to avoid staying outdoors for too long due to heatstrokes.

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