SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the exercise-is-contraindicated-in-heavy-smog dept.
Chinese state censors won't be permitting Pokémon Go and other augmented reality games anytime soon:
Nintendo's hit smartphone app, Pokemon Go, and other augmented reality games are unlikely to be rolled out in China any time soon, after the state censor said it would not license them until potential security risks had been evaluated.
[...] Prompted by "a high level of responsibility to national security and the safety of people's lives and property," the censor, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, is coordinating with other government departments to evaluate the game's risks, an industry body said. These risks include the "threat to geographical information security and the threat to transport and the personal safety of consumers", a games panel of the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association, which is governed by the censor body, said in a posting on its website.
Some Chinese companies have been developing similar games based on augmented reality and location-based services, prompting the panel to seek advice from the top licensing body, it said.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday January 11 2017, @09:08PM
and stick to public areas
Can't play pokemon go without a smartphone and hard to buy one without a camera and hard to play the game without flashing it all around.
Generally in the USA if you're in a public area you can take a picture. That's actually kinda unusual for the rest of the world. Quite a few militaristic places will get all agitated if you take a picture of the harbor or the docs or the airport.
For example in the US we usually line our waterfronts with parks and private recreational areas so no one cares if you play with your phone camera on some bridge, but in other parts of the world they get all out of whack about military secrets and terrorism.