on Friday morning The Japanese launch of the game included its first partnership with an outside company: fast-food giant McDonald's.Within four hours of its launch, Pokemon Go was already the most downloaded app in Japan, the country of the character's birth, where it is expected to be a huge hit. Fans had been eagerly awaiting its release since it first came out more than two weeks ago in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, and then spread to become a blockbuster hit in more than 20 countries, including Canada.
"The best part is that I just got the first three [characters]. I felt like, 'Yes!' " university student Shuta Saito said in Tokyo's Akihabara district, a popular spot for fans of animation and games.
One of the Japanese creators of the augmented reality game apologized for the delay in an online video with the American head of Niantic Inc., the company that developed the app.
"To everyone in Japan: I am sorry to make you wait for so long," said Jyunichi Masuda, the head of development at Game Freak Inc., the developer of the original Pokemon game. "Pokemon Go can now be played in Japan."
"To everyone in Japan: I am sorry to make you wait for so long," said Jyunichi Masuda, the head of development at Game Freak Inc., the developer of the original Pokemon game. "Pokemon Go can now be played in Japan."
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In the game, players search for digital creatures that pop up on smartphone screens as they move through real-world locations. The game's success has sent the stock price of Nintendo Co. soaring. The Japanese game maker, in partnership with Game Freak, released the original Pokemon game in the mid-1990s, and owns the trademarks to all the game's characters.
