Yes, Pokémon GO is really changing the world as people are out on the streets looking for pocket monsters, but some countries, such as Brazil, haven't received the game as yet. Fortunately, that all changed late Wednesday as Pokémon GO has arrived, just in time for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The announcement was made via tweet as the company stated "Central and South America - Break out the sneakers and Poké Balls, and get ready to explore the world around you. We are excited to officially be putting Pokémon GO in the hands of our Latin American fans, visitors, and the Olympic athletes in Rio!"
In case you were wondering, the Olympics was probably the big reason why the game has finally come about, as many of the athletes were expressing frustration that they couldn't play the location-based application. According to ABC News, there are half a million tourists ready to visit Rio for the games, so they will be pleased to find a new place for searching for Pokémon.
Right now, Pokémon GO is in 30 nations, and one can't help but wonder if there was a delay in Brazil due to setting up the Pokémon landmarks there. Seriously, this would be an excellent time for Pokémon to set up something there so that game spectators will find all kinds of special augmented reality surprises, like very rare Pokémon (that might be just as big event as the games). Even the International Business Times reports that Niantic, the company that worked with Pokémon to make this game has given a message of "stay tuned".
Speaking of surprises, there is one Olympic athlete who got a terrible surprise when he was playing the game after arriving in Sao Paulo to train for Rio, according to The Verge. A Japanese artistic gymnast named Kohei Uchimura, who has already won the gold at the London 2012 games, discovered Pokémon GO after arriving for the training.
Apparently, he either played it a lot or has a bad data program as he is being hit with 500,000 yen (about $5,000) in roaming charges from his carrier. Needless to say, he was quite surprised at that development, and a fellow teammate Kenzo Shirai said that "he looked dead at the team meal that day".
Honestly, a lot of Pokémon GO players were very worried about their wireless bill with the success of Pokémon GO, but the game doesn't really eat up that much data. The issue is probably the roaming charges, which can rack up very quickly when using a phone abroad. Yes, Uchimura probably should have bought a Brazilian SIM card, and he actually called his carrier to explain, bringing the bill to a reasonable $30.
With Brazil on board, this brings Pokémon GO players to a record number as it has about 100 million downloads with more coming aboard every day.
