Pokemon Go pub crawl in Brooklyn

It didn’t take long for somebody to organize a Pokemon Go event. The popular new game is virtual reality. The Pokemon Go pub crawl in Brooklyn is not. It’s a real competition to find the most monsters infesting the area around McCarren Park.

Find Zubat, Poliwag and even Pikachu in the bars nearby, thanks to organizer Jeff Ramos. He’s a local resident who works for gaming and entertainment site Polygon, where the new Pokemon Go app was a hit even before it was released to the public.

Basically, it turns streets into living video game boards, with players walking around with faces glued to their screens, trying to capture the monsters.  It’s new mobile version of the classic Nintendo game, which is more than 30 years old.  That’s older than many of the biggest fans of the virtual reality version just released.

User beware: warnings about Pokemon GO

• BuzzFeed warns to check the privacy settings on your phone, to limit the information Pokemon Go collects about you, and also to protect yourself against cyber thieves.
• NY Daily News warns that thieves are using Pokemon Go to target players playing alone.
• WCBS TV warns about sex offenders targeting children playing the game.
• Even Britain’s Daily Mail is reporting on the craze in  New York City, and the warning from the MTA about watching your step while hunting monsters close to subway tracks.

The Pokemon Go Pub Crawl is next Saturday, July 23, starting at Spritzenhaus.

According to Brokelyn the crawl games its way down Manhattan Ave. towards Transmitter Park, where there are apparently a lot of Pokesmon monsters hiding out, with three gyms along the way.  One of those is the Pokemon Gym, which may be monster headquarters.  Or not.

Bars on the crawl include Matchless, Enid’s, No Name, Sunshine Laundromat and Black Rabbit, plus donuts at Peter Pan.  Hopefully, there will be drink and food discounts

The Pokemon Go Pub Crawl is FREE to join.  Find more information on the Pokemon Go North Brooklyn Pub Crawl Facebook page.

And please watch traffic, not at your screen while crossing streets, or one of the Pokemon Go monsters will get you.