World’s most dangerous computer game? The Syrian teenagers risking their lives to play Pokemon Go in a war zone 

World's most dangerous computer game? The Syrian teenagers risking their lives to play Pokemon Go in a war zone 

Syrian teenagers are increasingly ignoring the dangers of living in a war zone — so they can play Pokemon Go.
Youngsters in the rebel-held Syrian city of Douma are downloading the hit game — and risking their lives clambering through bomb-damaged buildings to capture characters in the game.
Activists are also trying to raise awareness of the conflict in their homeland by placing print-out versions of Pokemon monsters in the rubble of destroyed houses. 

Footage shows players scrambling across crumbled buildings in the city, close to the capital Damascus, as they hunt for digital monsters. 
Young fans of the game, including 21-year old Syrian artist Omair Abd have also taken to painting Pokemon figures on the walls of destroyed houses.

One young player said: 'It's sometimes difficult to catch Pokemons because they appear on the roof of destroyed buildings or outside besieged Ghouta.
'That's why this game has not been successful here in Syria despite being very popular in the rest of the world.'
The smart phone app for the Nintendo craze is only accessible by a special proxy in Syria while problems with internet connections can hamper game play.
Another teenager said: 'We install the app because we wanted to try this game in Syria and particularly in our region, eastern Ghouta.

Syrian artist Omair Abd paints a Pokemon figure on the wall of a destroyed house in the rebel-held city of Douma
'It was hard at first because we had no internet connection since the internet coverage is not available everywhere. We had to connect via Viber to download the game because it's not available in Syria.'
The game has already broken download records in the US and is expected to perform similarly in the UK, though it has been criticised in some quarters for a lack of safety measures.
Britons became so desperate to play the game that many were also using unofficial ways to get hold of it before the European release.

Young activists are trying to raise awareness of the conflict in their homeland by placing print-out versions of Pokemon monsters in the rubble of destroyed houses
The game runs on your smartphone and notifies you when you are close to a nearby Pokemon, allowing you to scan your surroundings before trying to catch it using 'Poke Balls'.
It has proved so popular across the world since its release that Pokemon developer Nintendo has seen its share price rocket by more than 50 per cent.
Pokemon GO is modern take on the 1990s kids' card game hit and uses your phone's GPS and clock to detect where and when you are in the game and make digital monsters 'appear' around you.
As you move around, different types of Pokémon will appear depending on where you are and what time it is — combining the game and the real world in what is known as 'augmented reality'. 
 

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