When Pokémon Go was first released in early July 2016, it was lauded by Fusion for positively affecting the gaming community. The game’s interactive nature seemed to encourage social meetups between players, and many players improved their fitness simply by walking around and looking for Pokémon. However, as the game became more and more popular, several incidents showed Pokémon Go was less of a positive breakthrough and more of a hazard. Pokémon Go players became involved in car accidents and encountered dead bodies; many just fell down because they were paying attention to the screen rather than the real world. Though the physical benefits of an interactive game are much higher than those of more traditional, stationary video games, Pokémon Go has shown that the single-minded focus involved in gaming can be dangerous when taken to the streets.
One of the biggest faults of Pokémon Go is its safety instructions and set up. Its original instructions recommended “to be alert at all times” and to “stay aware of your surroundings,” but the game required an upgrade, given the incidents that have occurred around the world. Pokémon Go players have trespassed on private property and been shot for their actions and, though Pokémon Go now warns players against trespassing and driving in a new set of improved safety instructions, the game’s exploratory nature lends itself to dangerous situations. This could be solved by modifying the game to eliminate the option to hunt for Pokémon in private homes. A small typed cue at the start of the game is not going to stop people from searching for rare Pokémon, no matter the location.
This safety fault within the game also exposed how the game, like many other forms of technology, has taken over people's lives. Video games can be addicting and, through the use of Pokémon Go, intense gamers have been able to take their addiction to the streets. In a Forbes article, Russell Belk, professor of marketing at York University in Toronto, explained the notion of collecting that is associated with Pokémon Go led to its inherently addictive nature. Belk explained good collections become not only a personal victory, but also something to brag to one’s friends about. He said, “With augmented reality, they’ve made the ‘thrill of the hunt’ in a version where you can tweet about it, you can post about it on your website, you can carry around images of the Pokémon that you’ve collected. That’s a conversation piece, and something you can carry with you or brag about online.” Though the psychological impacts of collecting may seem small, for many players, the drive to gain recognition and collect better Pokémon has driven them off cliffs and into dangerous locations.
Though the average player of Pokémon Go is probably not jumping off of cliffs in search of interactive Pokémon, the game still encourages negative behavior in a way that many other video games do: by creating a false sense of power and invincibility within its players. The motto of Pokémon is, “Gotta Catch’em All,” and some players take that to heart and believe they can go anywhere and do anything to catch every Pokémon. Though characters in videogames may have an ability to roam nearly anywhere they please, the same cannot be said for people in the real world. Though the game has encouraged hard-core gamers to get outside in the fresh air, the aura of invincibility that gaming creates is decidedly safer inside. By taking Pokémon hunting to the real world, Pokémon Go has created a dangerous environment for its players because the invincibility of the virtual world doesn’t translate over.
Carly Mulvihill is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at c.mulvihill@cavalierdaily.com.
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