Serious questions about whether the large-scale sale of state houses in Tauranga is justified appears to have been overshadowed by the craze of Pokemon Go.

More than 200 Pokemon Go walkers were on the hike around the city, like a herd of sheep they slowly made their way to Pokemon hotspots.

Protesters at today's protest against the sell-off of state houses in Tauranga. Photos: Greg Taipari.

So stuck in the augmented world they hardly looked up when they reached Red Square to see another group numbering, if they were lucky 100 people, taking part in a protest about the sell-off of state houses in Tauranga.

Pokemon Go walkers walking past the protest oblivious to the protest.

The state housing sell-off protest was organised by Tauranga Social Housing Action Network and spokesperson Vanessa Kururangi says serious questions about the sell-off of the Government-owned houses needed to be asked.

She says the group decided to take action to promote public discussion over what will be potentially a major privatisation of a Government-owned assets in the Tauranga area. Up to 1200 Housing New Zealand properties are being tendered for.

Those who took part in the protest may not have been loud but they were visible with their signs showing they were against the proposed sell-off.

Their protest attracted the attention of one Pokemon Go walker, who managed to pry her eyes away from her smart phone long enough to ask her friend, 'what's going on over there?” To which her friend quickly replied 'who cares, you're falling behind, hurry up.”

The virtual reality herd then slowly moved on in their vain attempt to capture some make-believe character while totally oblivious to what's actually going on around them.

It prompted one young protestor to suggest, 'maybe we should have arranged the protest near a hot spot?”