Every time Nintendo has launched Pokémon Go in a new region, the game has become unusable – it won't load or it crashes while trying to catch Pokémon. Less than ideal when you have a rare creature in your sights.
Read more: How to play Pokémon Go: From catch bonuses to eggs, Pokéstops, Gyms and Buddies
Niantic Labs, the developers behind the game, announced it was "finally broadcasting" in Japan. The game was first released on July 6 in the US, Australia and New Zealand and has been rolling out globally since.
In addition to various Twitter handles that are keeping a track on the server status, there are now sites that let you check the status before you even attempt to go on a Pokéhunt.
IsPokémonGoDownOrNot shows the recent server status as well as historical data. It details, using a traffic light system, if the server is working, the latency and whether it's possible to place a Lure module.
This site additionally shows the uptime, as a percentage, in the past four hours as well as during the past day. There is also an easy-to-read chart that displays its performance.
Meanwhile, the Pokémon Go Server Status is more simple. It uses a traffic light colour scheme to show whether the server is online or not, or if it's unstable. It also shows the uptime performance over the past hour, and day.
A new, more country-specific site is the Pokémon Go page on the MMO Server site. Hit the refresh button to see the current server status. Under this button are columns that relay information about countries including Germany, Italy, UK, US, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Other countries, in which the game has not yet been released, are also shown in anticipation of its imminent arrival in those regions. These include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey. The rumoured launch date in at least the South American countries is July 31.
The page also shows the server status of Google Login, Poke Club Login and whether the game is stable. It uses a ping rate as well as a traffic light colour-coded system.
Elsewhere, Bristol-based web developer Jonathan Lambert has developed Pokegostat.us. Although it has similar features to others mentioned above, it does have some unique selling points. It updates every five seconds without the need to refresh, and it also provides information about all the Pokemon Go servers, rather than just the login servers.
Lambert recently published a blog post in which he revealed how the Pokemon Go servers are hosted in the same datacentre in the US.
When you open up the app, the first set of servers encountered are the login servers. People can either login with a Google account, which means they pass through Google's stable servers; or they can will login with a Pokémon Training Club account, routed through The Pokemon Company's servers.
The second set of servers are the game servers. There's around 600 to 700 servers, according to Lambert, which appear to all be located in the US.
"We worked out the location by pinging all the servers every minute for the past two weeks, collecting all the pings in our database (which is used for the graphs on our server status page) and spending a good few hours analysing the data," explained Lambert. "Since I launched this site two weeks ago, there's over 10 million records in our database."
When the app launched in Japan, servers crashed almost immediately but were restored within six hours. The Japanese launch was reportedly delayed as the developers firmed up a sponsorship deal with McDonald's. Japanese site Excite News reports the fast food chain is partnering with Pokémon Go developer.
The possibility of sponsored locations in Pokémon Go to help monetise the free-to-play game was reported last week.
Developer Niantic has yet to confirm details, but the scheme would likely see stores and brands paying a fee to be able to offer rare items or Pokémon, enticing players to visit and, hopefully, spend with them. Read more: Find Pokémon near you right now with real-time Pokémon Go maps and apps
McDonald's Japan has also declined to provide details on what the partnership will entail, only saying it is collaborating with Niantic to ensure the launch goes smoothly.
Pokémon Go has been plagued by bugs in the territories it is available in, with many players unable to even log in.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
