A new smartphone game that has fans chasing virtual monsters through real-life city streets has boosted the market value of Nintendo Co. by $9 billion in just a few days, as investors cheered the Japanese videogame maker’s first mobile-gaming hit.“Pokémon Go,” which was released less than a week ago, already ranks among the most-downloaded and top-grossing smartphone apps. But its sudden success is raising questions about the privacy and security technologies fueling the game, as well as the physical risks of playing it.
The smartphone app lets players scour parks, subway stops and other locations for cute monsters. It uses a technology called augmented reality, which blends digital images with a person’s view of the real world through the phone’s camera. The technology is the main feature behind a coming headset from Microsoft Corp. called HoloLens.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/pokemon-chasing-investors-send-nintendo-shares-soaring-1468228206
The game has been available for devices running Apple Inc.’s iOS and Google’s Android in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand since Wednesday. In the U.S., it has racked up more than two million downloads on iOS devices and is generating roughly $1.6 million in revenue daily from in-app purchases, according to market researcher Sensor Tower Inc.
Nintendo shares surged 25% in Tokyo on Monday—a welcome relief for the company after the unsteady launch of its first mobile app, Miitomo, in March. Much attention has swirled around games potentially involving Nintendo’s signature characters such as Mario. Instead, the company’s first hit stems from its partnership with the companies that developed “Pokémon Go”: Pokémon Co., which is 32%-owned by Nintendo, and Niantic Inc., a spinout from Google parent Alphabet Inc.
