Pokemon Go, the world’s first ‘real world gaming’ platform has become a cultural phenomenon, inspiring thousands of people to go outside and capture virtual Pokemon characters. The game’s popularity has surpassed Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp in daily usage time, and it has proven to be highly addictive.
Players express frustration with the game’s demands on their battery and data plans, but that doesn’t stop most people from hunting these adorable virtual creatures in malls, parks and even graveyards. While describing the game, older players recollect their physical collections of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) bubble gum stickers, stamp or currency collections. However, the new ‘born-into-the-smartphone’ generation has no limits to expanding their virtual collection. Pokemon’s franchise caption summarises the addictive nature of this game well: ‘Gotta catch ‘em all!’. It is a massive treasure hunt at its heart.
Like all popular cultural phenomenon, there are benefits to be reaped through responsible use, and ill-effects that can cause physical and mental harm. For instance, different characters of Pokemon are present in different locations, which help children identify different virtual traits of characters (fire-based, water-based and so on), and their association with corresponding physical environments.
So, you can encourage children to walk with you to a park to locate Pokemon, while getting great exercise in the summer. Some locations even improve social skills by allowing players to engage in competitive ‘gym battles’, which involve trained knowledge about the traits of various characters. You congregate with others, you may defeat or get defeated, and if you win, obviously that gives you further confidence. It also benefits businesses and landmarks.
The game has an obvious downsides to players’ lives when excessively used. Addiction to any game could harm your day-to-day routine. Some players give up their day job to play this game full time. If you choose to go hunting for characters in the car, you might end up in an accident due to increased active screen time and buzzing of the phone. Also, Pokestops could be isolated places that can act as a lure to harm younger children.
The reader is a corporate sales professional and entrepreneur, based in Dubai
