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Pokemon Go Stirs Controversy For Lack Of Digital Privacy

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

We're going to switch gears now to the biggest story in video games, Pokemon Go.

LAURA SYDELL, BYLINE: I've been covering video games for over a decade, and I've never seen anything like this.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

That's NPR's digital culture correspondent Laura Sydell.

SIEGEL: Laura says that since the smartphone game launched last week, it is everywhere.

SYDELL: The number of people using it on just Android devices almost surpasses the number of people using Twitter. All you have to do is walk around and look (laughter).

SIEGEL: Here's your assignment, Ari. Explain to me what Laura's talking about.

SHAPIRO: OK. You point your smartphone at the real world and little animated creatures known as Pokemon appear in the real world on your smartphone. You capture them, and then they do battle with each other.

SIEGEL: And as I've learned, people have gotten into trouble seeking out these animated figures. There's been a report of a Pokemon Go-related robbery. But Laura assures us these incidents do not seem to be hurting business.

SYDELL: Pokemon Go added $7.5 billion dollars to Nintendo's market value. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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