2016 Rio Olympics Lags Behind 'Pokemon Go' In Terms Of Popularity Among Some Young Brazilians; Here’s Why!

If you're an avid fan of the 2016 Rio Olympics, brace yourself! Niantic Labs' augmented reality mobile game, "Pokemon Go" is giving the Olympics a stiff competition for most popular game among quite a few young Brazilians.

Many of them showed up in a Rio de Janeiro park Saturday, carrying their smartphones in a bid to capture virtual creatures in the location-based game app that has taken the mobile gaming realm by storm since its debut in July this year, and has become a craze in Brazil since it release just a couple of days before the Games.

Lourdes Drummond, a student at the Quinta da Boa Vista park noted that she went to a football game to see Brazil take on Sweden, however lost interest in the game since "Pokemon Go" came out. The park was once the gardens of the Brazilian royal family.

Japan's Nintendo Co has a large stake in the fan-favorite game that uses GPS mapping to spawn animated characters in the real world. Players can see these creatures superimposed on the nearby landscape that they can see via a mobile phone camera, VentureBeat reported.

Even athletes have not been able to refrain from the blockbuster game.

Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura downloaded "Pokemon Go" when he arrived in Brazil for pre-Games training, before the game's launch in the country. Uchimura reportedly ran up nearly a staggering $5,000 in international phone charges.

While Michael Phelps made his shocking exit from Olympics after adding five gold medals and a silver, taking his total Olympic medal count to an unbelievable 28, people at the venue seemed more thrilled about something else; catching Pokemon.

A large number of youths arrived with their mobile phones at the Olympic venue, hunting for their favorite Pokemon. In fact, the hit AR game has become such a rage that it rivals the Olympic Games, according to reports on International Business Times.

According to Rafael Moura Barros, an ardent, Brazilian "Pokemon Go" player, the game could reduce obesity in Brazil.

Barros cites his own example stating that he never left home before, but now never misses an opportunity to step outside the comfort of his home in a bid to catch Pokemon thus encouraging him for the much-needed exercise.

That's quite a positive way of looking at it.

In fact, the developers' aim was to ensure people delve into the real world with "Pokemon Go" app and by the looks of it, Niantic Labs seem to have achieved success in doing so; at least in Brazil.