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British Newspaper Fooled By Online Harry Potter/Pokemon Go Hoax (snopes.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the smug-Muggles dept.

An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: "The creators behind Pokemon Go are developing a new Harry Potter version of the app, according to reports," claimed The Metro -- citing as their source the web site "Hello Giggles". But that site's source -- as well as the source for an inaccurate article in Yahoo! Style -- was the infamous JTXH, a parody news sites created three months ago, whose other false scoops have included "NASA to make announcement involving 'religious' implications" and "Denny's waitress assaulted by Muslims for serving bacon during Ramadan".
From Snopes.com: There is no real radio or television outlet with the call letters JTXH; that identifier is purely the province of a fake news web site masquerading as a legitimate news outlet. JTXH News has previously published fabricated clickbait stories such as "Bernie campaign caught distributing LSD to youth" and "Chick-Fil-A is considering banning anyone who 'can't figure out their gender.'"

36 comments

  1. Well, Pokemon Go was originally a joke by Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Odds are there will be countless AR spinoffs, and there's a good chance that that the Harry Potter license will be discussed.

  2. Really? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 0

    I had heard that there was going to be a Star Trek spin-off where you go around and collect Tribbles.

    1. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No need to collect Tribbles. Well, you might need to collect one. But if you remember, they are born pregnant. You'll have all you want in no time.

    2. Re:Really? by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

      You don't collect them but you can breed them in Trek Online. Actually the most recent addition was the Kelvin timeline tribble, complete with a little lens flare when you pet the critter.

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
  3. "British Newspaper Fooled" by davidwr · · Score: 2

    And this is news???

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:"British Newspaper Fooled" by Deadstick · · Score: 1

      Coincidentally...

      https://sofrep.com/60334/briti...

    2. Re:"British Newspaper Fooled" by davidwr · · Score: 1

      Headline at link provided by Deadstick reads: British press freak out - Inept media believes naval 5-inch guns are literally 5-inch guns

      When a man says he has a "5 inch gun" and mean it literally, well, that is a bit small but still within human anatomical norms.

      --
      Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    3. Re:"British Newspaper Fooled" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can only imagine the Zoolanderesque scene at the The Daily Star's offices when they discover the British army is buying 9mm Glocks.

    4. Re:"British Newspaper Fooled" by davidwr · · Score: 1

      I'm thinking about that scene in one of the Men In Black movies where the newbie agent picks up a relatively small "fits in the palm of your hand-sized" alien ray gun and fires it, causing massive damage.

      --
      Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  4. lsd by phantomfive · · Score: 2

    Does anyone use lsd anymore?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    1. Re:lsd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yes

    2. Re:lsd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      x2

  5. Obligatory Python reference by Archfeld · · Score: 1

    And now for something completely different...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    --
    errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
  6. They should! by crow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Based on the popularity of Pokemon Go, I would expect every mobile game company out there is working on a re-themed clone of some sort. Harry Potter would certainly be a great idea for a game like this.

    There are plenty of people who like the idea of Pokemon Go, but don't have any interest in Pokemon.

    1. Re:They should! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Magic fights, trials and such, or whatever they are doing in the Potter universe. Lets put AR and acceleration sensors into the use they were always meant to be put.

    2. Re:They should! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the evangilical version of the game is you go round , finding and burnig to death any one playing the harry potter version for witchcraft!

    3. Re:They should! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is, the game that came before Pokemon Go, it's called Ingress.

    4. Re:They should! by Tukz · · Score: 1

      Play the original then; Ingress.

      Pokemon Go is basically a reskinned Ingress.

      --
      - Don't do what I do, it's probably not healthy nor safe. -
    5. Re:They should! by crow · · Score: 1

      Right, but Ingress is not Harry Potter. Why not a licensed version for various other themes like Harry Potter?

  7. Metro is not a newspaper by julian67 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Metro is not a newspaper, it is an advertising bulletin freely given away on buses and trains.

    1. Re:Metro is not a newspaper by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What makes it (extra) insidious is that it doesn't just have commercial advertisements (which are usually marked as such) but the unmarked supposed news content is basically an advertisement for the conservative currents in politics, in particularly the right-wing of the conservative party. It's preying on people's boredom to win souls for the movement that at its heart just wants to return us to the mediaeval period.
      Fortunately in recent years I see less people reading it when commuting. I think it's because decent internet access is getting more common, including WiFi on trains and buses, so people have a better way to entertain themselves while waiting for their stop.

    2. Re:Metro is not a newspaper by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

      It's a subsidiary of The Daily Mail so it's best served with a pinch of salt

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

  8. Re:Clickbait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i used to visit snopes.com and sneer at the idiots who had been taken in by fake news sites, but there are so many of them now.. i see them as the web equivalent of the retard who shouts "PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" and doesn't care what crap he spouts in order to get that attention.

    so much.. for the new journalism.

  9. That's a mashup we don't need. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Harry Potter Poke Mongo?

    That not fair. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  10. If no one's heard of it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If no one's heard of it, and it started just three months ago, can it really be said to be "Infamous"?
    The whole of the summery seems like ad for this "Hoax" site.

  11. Re:Pokemon Go is a remake of... by dwillden · · Score: 1

    Not a remake. An expansion on the concept. There is little in common in the actual game play between the two, other than the need to get out and visit real world locations to play the virtual game.

    And this is not news. The fact that Niantic is behind PG and Ingress has been well covered.

    --
    I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
  12. British Papers Fooled? by jennatalia · · Score: 0

    In other news, water is wet.

  13. Sick of these fake news sites. by Mike+Van+Pelt · · Score: 1

    They're like cockroaches... Endless stream of gullible people freaking out over some "news" story from one of these idiotic sites and spamming warnings of The Dire Threat To Our Precious Bodily Fluids or whatever.