Pokemon go mania drives players into wild outdoors

Using a mobile phone's GPS and mapping functions, the app is connecting gamers with the outside world - while also helping them socialize, get fit

Pokemon Go mania has quickly swept the US as players armed with smartphones hunt streets, parks, rivers and elsewhere to capture monsters and gather supplies in the hit game.

The free application based on a Nintendo title that debuted 20 years ago has been adapted to the mobile internet age by Niantic Labs, a company spun out of Google last year after breaking ground with Ingress, a game that merged mapping capabilities with play.