The enthusiasm for Pokémon Go has cooled off slightly since a few weeks ago, when it was literally the only thing anyone wanted to talk about (“Did you see last night’s The Night Of?” “Nah, but I finally caught a damn Ninetales”). But the augmented reality game/way-of-life is still wildly popular, and it even caused a stampede in Taipei, Taiwan, this weekend. It’s like something out of The Lion King, except instead of wildebeest, it’s adults on their phones.
Technological curmudgeon Andy Rooney would plotz (again) if he saw this.
The video above shows thousands of car-stopping trainers on the hunt for a rare Snorlax, Pokémon Go‘s most popular non-evolved character. According to a Reddit user who lives in Taiwan, “This place is insane… Due to it being such a great spot for POGO, traffic is at a standstill and people can’t sleep at night because a Dragonite spawned in their tiny street, and thousands of people try to cram into it. If you’ve ever been to Taiwan, you know how tiny these side streets are.” He added, “We don’t want to cram thousands of people into one area, but we have to. I feel bad for the residents and tourists.”
If that’s what happens when a Snorlax is near, and this is what occurs when a Vaporeon pops up in Central Park, civilization as we know it might collapse if Mr. Mime appears in Tokyo, Japan, the world’s most populated city. I always knew it would be a mime that would cause the downfall of society.
(Via Reddit)