U.S.A.
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
July 18, 2016
Players in hunt for Pokémon Go
monsters feel real-world pain
By Ryan Nakashima
AP Business Writer
OS ANGELES — Beware: Pokémon Go, a new
smartphone game based on cute Nintendo
characters like Squirtle and Pikachu, can be
harmful to your health.
The “augmented-reality” game, which layers gameplay
onto the physical world, became the top grossing app in
the iPhone app store just days after its release in the U.S.,
Australia, and New Zealand. And players have already
reported wiping out in a variety of ways as they wander
the real world — eyes glued to their smartphone screens
— in search of digital monsters.
Mike Schultz, a 21-year-old communications graduate
on Long Island, New York, took a spill on his skateboard
as he stared at his phone while cruising for critters. He cut
his hand on the sidewalk after hitting a big crack, and
blames himself for going too slowly.
“I just wanted to be able to stop quickly if there were any
Pokémons nearby to catch,” he says. “I don’t think the
company is really at fault.”
Real world, virtual creatures
The game was created by Niantic Inc., a San Francisco
spinoff of Google parent Alphabet Inc. that previously
became known for a similar augmented-reality game
called Ingress.
To play, you fire up the game and then start trekking to
prominent local landmarks — represented in the game as
“Pokéstops” — where you can gather supplies such as
pokéballs. Those are what you fling at online “pocket
monsters,” or Pokémon, to capture them for training. At
other locations called “gyms” — which may or may not be
actual gyms in the real world — Pokémon battle one
another for supremacy.
Naturally, the game has also induced people to post
pictures of themselves on social media chasing creatures
in all sorts of dangerous situations.
Zubats and Paras have appeared on car dashboards.
Caterpies have been spotted at intersections. Police in
Darwin, Australia, have even asked players not to waltz
into their station, which of course is a Pokéstop in the
game.
“You don’t actually have to step inside in order to gain
the pokéballs,” the Northern Territory Police Fire and
Emergency Services says on its Facebook page.
Ankle injuries, mishaps with revolving doors, and
walking into trees have been among the painful results.
Kyrie Tompkins, a 22-year-old freelance web designer,
fell on the sidewalk and twisted her ankle while
wandering in downtown Waterville, Maine.
“It vibrated to let me know there was something nearby
and I looked up and just fell in a hole,” she says. Her
parents had to drive her and her fiancé home.
As an upside, players get more exercise than usual and
can learn more about the historical landmarks incor-
porated into the game as Pokéstops. Digital signposts
describe their significance in the real world.
A new social medium
And players are actually meeting face to face, despite
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Incoming freshman guard
Kobe Paras withdraws from UCLA
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Guard Kobe Paras won’t be
attending the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA) this fall and won’t be playing basketball for the
Bruins.
The school said Paras has withdrawn from school after
failing to meet academic conditions that were part of his
admittance.
Paras had signed a national letter of intent with the
Bruins during the early signing period last November.
The 6’5” guard spent the last two years in Los Angeles
after growing up in the Philippines. He was a senior at
Cathedral High School.
Paras helped lead the Philippines to a gold medal in the
International Basketball Federation’s (FIBA) Asia
Under-18 3x3 championship in May 2013. He won the
slam dunk contest at the FIBA 3x3 championships in June
2015 while representing the Philippines.
Kobe’s father, Benjie, played professionally in the
Philippines.
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Marvel Comics’ new Iron Man
to be black female teen
DANGEROUS DISTRACTION? Beware: Pokémon Go, a new
smartphone game based on cute Nintendo characters like Squirtle and
Pikachu, can be harmful to your health. The “augmented-reality” game,
which layers gameplay onto the physical world, became the top grossing
app in the iPhone app store just days after its release in the U.S., Austra-
lia, and New Zealand. (AR Photo/Dinah Nguyen)
the fact they arrived at nearby high schools, water towers,
and museums by staring at their screens.
Lindsay Plunkett, a 23-year-old waitress in Asheville,
North Carolina, made a point of parking six blocks away
from the restaurant where she works, instead of the usual
three. “Just so I could get some more Pokéstops on the
way,” she says.
She’s still nursing a bruised shin from the previous
night, when she and her boyfriend spent hours wandering
downtown in the rain. She tripped over a cinder block that
had been used as a doorstop at a local women’s museum.
But she’s got something to look forward to. Soon, she’ll
be travelling cross country to California with a friend.
That means more chances to encounter Pokéstops and
Pokémons “the whole way,” she says.
At least the game has one failsafe — you can’t hatch
digital eggs while driving. That requires slower in-person
movement in the real world. “It doesn’t count as walking if
you’re going more than 20 miles per hour, so that’s good, I
guess,” Plunkett says.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A black female teenager will be
the new Iron Man.
Marvel Comics veteran writer Brian Michael Bendis
said in an interview with TIME that Tony Stark will
step away from his superhero alter-ego and a new
character named Riri Williams will assume the
laser-blasting role.
Bendis describes Williams as a science genius who
enrolled at MIT at the age of 15. Williams comes to Stark’s
attention when she builds her own Iron Man suit in her
dorm.
Marvel has bestowed several diverse characters in
recent years with long-running superhero mantles,
including a Muslim Ms. Marvel, Asian-American Hulk,
biracial Spider-Man, female Thor, and African-American
Captain America. However, those characters have yet to
appear in Marvel film or television adaptations.
Williams will debut in Invincible Iron Man comic book
this fall.
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Secret Life of Pets fetches
$103 million in opening days
By Lindsey Bahr
AP Film Writer
OS ANGELES — It’s a good time for animated
animals at the box office. The Secret Life of Pets
follows Zootopia and Finding Dory as the latest
success this year, opening to a massive $103.2 million,
according to studio estimates.
The Illumination Entertainment and Universal
Pictures film cost only $75 million to produce, and
features the voices of Louis C.K. and Kevin Hart.
Pets unseated Finding Dory from its three-week run in
first place. The little blue fish actually fell to third place
with $20.4 million, behind The Legend of Tarzan, which
took in $20.6 million.
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Pacquiao plans to return to the ring November 5
By Tim Dahlberg
AP Boxing Writer
AS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao
isn’t ready to give up his night job
just yet.
Pacquiao, who said before his last fight
in April that he would retire, now plans to
return to the ring in November against an
opponent who has yet to be selected.
Promoter Bob Arum said Pacquiao got
permission to take a break from his new
duties as a senator in the Philippines to
take another fight. It will be held
November 5, likely in Las Vegas.
“He likes to fight and he likes the atten-
tion,” Arum said of Pacquiao’s return.
Pacquiao looked impressive in his last
fight in April, returning from a layoff to
knock down Timothy Bradley on his way to
a unanimous decision. After the fight he
wavered on his previous plans to retire.
“If you ask me to come back, I don’t
know,” Pacquiao said. “I may be enjoying
retired life. I’m not there yet so I just don’t
know.”
Pacquiao, who was formerly a
congressman in his native country, was
elected to the senate in May and there
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were fears that increased duties would
prevent him from fighting again.
But Arum said the head of the senate
told Pacquiao he was free to fight after the
country’s budget is settled on October 15.
“He would train in the Philippines and
leave on the 16th to come to the U.S., train
for two weeks, and then come to Vegas,”
Arum said. “The only issue is getting an
arena for the fight.”
Arum said he is talking with MGM
Resorts about an arena to host the fight.
He had reserved the Mandalay Bay arena
for October 15, but Pacquiao can’t leave his
senate duties that early.
The fight also could be held at the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)
campus arena, he said, though UNLV
would have to move a scheduled basketball
exhibition from the date.
There were reports that Pacquiao might
fight Adrien Broner, but Arum said he
wanted the same money as Pacquiao,
which was a non-starter. Another possible
opponent would be Jesse Vargas, who
fights for Top Rank, and holds a piece of
the welterweight title.
Pacquiao was off for nearly a year after
losing in May 2015 to Floyd Mayweather
Jr., healing from a shoulder injury. But he
seemed reinvigorated after beating Brad-
ley in April in a performance that received
good reviews from most, including trainer
Freddie Roach.
“When I see Manny Pacquiao like that,
this is the best Manny Pacquiao,” Roach
said after the fight. “He hasn’t missed a
beat. I would like to see him fight again.”
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