PEI

Pokemon GO makes the fantasy 'that much more real'

Video gamers on P.E.I. and around the world are getting outside and making the real world part of their virtual world with the recently released Pokemon GO game.

Canadians playing even though the game isn't released here yet

Donald MacFadzen-Reid on the hunt for Pokemon in Summerside. (Submitted by Donald MacFadzen-Reid)

Video gamers on P.E.I. and around the world are getting outside and making the real world part of their virtual world with the recently released Pokemon GO game.

The game uses a player's GPS to determine their location and Pokemon characters show up on their screen as they travel through their community.

The game has not been released in Canada, but that hasn't stopped a lot of Canadians from working out a way to download it and give it a try.

Donald MacFadzen-Reid lives in Summerside and has been playing since the day it was first released in other countries.

An obsession for decades

MacFadzen-Reid has been playing Pokemon games since the mid-1990s. He's passionate about Pokemon GO, and hopes the company won't ban players who accessed it before it was officially available.

"You dreamed of going out into the world as a young kid and finding these Pokemon and catching them and training them up and sort of building a bond with them," he said.

"It always seemed like sort of a dream and a fantasy and now this game makes it that much more real."

There is no word yet when the game will be released in Canada. Nintendo has just said soon.

With files from Stephanie Brown