Pok茅mon Go hits Rio, and for some, gaming outweighs the Games
When Pok茅mon Go launched in Brazil this month, it became the most downloaded app in the country. It also offered a window into nationwide inequalities.
When Pok茅mon Go launched in Brazil this month, it became the most downloaded app in the country. It also offered a window into nationwide inequalities.
While the world has its eyes set on the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilians have turned to their phones, where elusive Charmanders, Jigglypuffs, and Rattatas have been spotted roaming alongside tourists under the iconic Lapa arches and on the dramatic beaches of Ipanema.
Pok茅mon Go arrived in Brazil earlier this month and聽within 24 hours, it was the No. 1 downloaded app for iPhones nationwide. Three days later,聽it topped download lists聽for other devices, including Androids. But聽the numbers only begin to capture the phenomenon 鈥� and what it says about Brazil鈥檚 quickly adapting informal economy, attitudes toward the Olympic Games, and digital inequality.
Within a week of Pok茅mon Go's launch here, the country鈥檚 informal market 鈥� accounting for 16 percent of GDP 鈥� responded in force. One unemployed web designer from the southern city of Curitiba聽offers a $15 tour聽for children hunting Pok茅mon in parks, while an unemployed father of two in northeastern Brazil offers motorcycle Pok茅mon tours聽through the 鈥渂est regions鈥� of Fortaleza. In Belo Horizonte, an entrepreneur聽has begun offering guided tours聽with the added bonus of free Internet for $10 an hour.
For many here, the fresh take on the 1990s video game has eclipsed their interest in the Olympics 鈥� in part due to resentment over the high Olympic Games price tag amid one of Brazil鈥檚 worst economic crises in history.
Pok茅mon has certainly overshadowed the Games for some viewers.聽鈥淚 went to a football game to see Brazil play Sweden, but after聽Pok茅mon Go聽started I lost interest,鈥� one fan, Lourdes Drummond, told Reuters last week.
Rio local and 16-year-old Juju Figuereido has a similar attitude. There have been some Olympic moments that have moved him 鈥� like favela-born judo competitor Rafaela Silva winning Brazil鈥檚 first gold medal last week. But the price of event tickets and the shaky internet connection in his favela,聽Vila Cruzeiro, means that watching the Games has been more challenging and had less of a draw than hunting Pok茅mon in his free time.
But even the fact that he has internet access at all in his community sets him apart from many other residents in Rio and across Brazil. Inequality has been underscored by the Olympic Games, but perhaps even more so by the arrival of Pok茅mon.
鈥淭he game reveals existing social divides and reflects a lack of access to resources in certain areas, such as the聽favelas,鈥� says Lynn Alves, a professor of education and technology in the state of Bahia.
As of 2015, 55 percent of adults in Brazil聽reported having a computer in their house, compared to 37 percent in Mexico and 80 percent in the US.
But the rapid adoption of Pok茅mon Go also highlights certain gains in Brazil such as widespread access to mobile phones. In Rio, for example, 85 percent of favela residents own a phone and聽half of favela residents have regular access to the internet. According to the International Telecommunications Union, in the past 10 years the number of mobile subscriptions, per 100 people,聽jumped from 36 to 139, thanks, in part, to the country's economic boom.
Despite a growth in access to tools like smartphones and computers, many favelas in Rio聽are not covered by Google Maps, the platform used by Pok茅mon Go. 鈥淭here are constantly failures 鈥� the GPS fails, the satellite fails,鈥� says Juju. 鈥淪ometimes, I enter into an area, the game freezes, and I can鈥檛 go on playing.鈥� The lack of coverage can also lead to security threats for visiting tourists, inadvertently directed into dodgy neighborhoods.聽
Juju and his friends regularly move out of the favela and into the streets of Rio, where Pok茅mons are easier to spot 鈥撀爀ven if they have to weave past tourists and security guards to catch them. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 mind going out of the favela to play the game 鈥� but of course, I would prefer to have a better connection here,鈥� he says.
Juju says he plans on continuing with Pok茅mon, long after the Rio Olympics wind down at the end of the week. He might watch the closing ceremonies, but his eyes are really set on a rare water-type Pok茅mon.
鈥淐harmander聽has my heart, but I really want to catch a Vaporeon,鈥� says Juju.