POKEMON GO: Is it here to stay or is it just a passing fad? Your guess is as good as mine. But the hunch which lead my friend to act this late Wednesday, just a couple days back, here in Sydney, New South Wales, was bold and it paid dividends. He jumped in and bought Nintendo stocks valued at 20000 AUD and just in a couple of days the stocks have gone up by 25 per cent. I should have had the guts to join him but I am more the faint of heart kind of an individual. And now I have to hear my friends brag and his almost taunting words, as he repeats the phrase, “No guts no glory.”
The app made its debut in Australia, New Zealand and USA. But the gaming public all across the globe eagerly awaits its release in their country. The hacker types have successfully latched on to the app even prior to its release in their jurisdiction at the expense of picking up viral overload on their devices. While some are picking up viruses all of them are after the Pokémon bugs in all different places. Pokémon Go phenomenon has resonated with people of all ages.
The Pokémon hunt abounds in virtually every locale be it offices, outdoors, near the water, public bathrooms and even your very neighbourhood as these Pokémon lurk around ready to be captured by throwing the pokeball. Pokémon slogan urges you that you ‘Gotta catch ’em all!’
It is almost as if the real world and virtual reality world have collided head on!
Here is a good link for getting the lowdown on the Pokémon Go craze which has swept across nations uniting gaming communities and people into homogenous groups with a strong cause by letting them identify in what they probably proudly feel is an esoteric group of like-minded individuals. On a local level it has lifted the inhibition of interacting with others as excited Pokémon hunters gather in groups and swarms with the common objective of catching Pokémons and sharing with each other their experience with different bugs such as Hypno, Jynx and Bulbasaur and many others while accumulating stardust and candy. The individuals in the group now talk about their take on the skill in catching the most Pokémons and of nurturing and training them and of taking over the gyms as a sign of success.
The whole new lexicon related with this game — and there is lot of it — is bound to make people interact and make new friends in the process and that is the biggest benefit of this game. Thus far the greatest criticism of gaming aficionados has been their acquiescence to a sedentary mode of life and solitary interaction with their application device and now comes Pokémon Go which breaks this pattern.
A surprised mom witnessed her teenage son jumping out of bed at 5 in the morning on the weekend getting ready to go out. Certainly she was surprised as this laggard used to sleep till about 12 noon on a holiday. “Where are you going?” she asked and he replied, “I am going on Pokemon hunt,” and left a confused woman who did not even know what he was saying. I am sure these ‘square’ parents of the millennials will finally catch on but till then it certainly gives the new generation a lot of glee for doing something the over the hill generation can’t even fathom.
On the downside The Pokemon game is a grave threat to the safety of youngsters as reports abound about players of this game being robbed, hospitalized, abducted and exploited. These facts are bound to get the parents of the young gamers to quickly learn about the new craze and try to introduce parental rules out of fear for the security of their children. National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children is already warning of the pitfalls of this game. As The Telegraph reports: Pokémon Go was used by four armed robbers in Missouri, US, to lure 11 teenagers to a secluded area by using the game’s location technology to create a signal at a “Pokéstop” — a location that players can visit to replenish in-game supplies.
Players have also admitted to injuring themselves while trying to catch Pokémon. And don’t forget, even grown up players may be lured into dangerous situations.
The Japanese always had their countrymen involved in strange and weird and often very involved games, be it on TV sets or other media. The popularity of the games were largely received with enthusiasm by the Japanese and South Asian populations, but Pokémon Go appears to have broken the barriers as it infiltrates into the western world and other areas which so far have not had much appetite for such Japanese brand of frivolity. Credit goes to the brains behind the Pokemon Go concept of a very interesting and involved game and by any definition a killer app.
But while the jury is still out as to the risks of the Pokémon Go craze outweighing the benefits, my savvy friend texted me informing he has already sold his stocks for Nintendo and cashed in a tidy profit. “Come over to join me for dinner at Rockpool at 11 Bridge Street, Sydney you jello Kiribillian” he texted. I am sure he wants to celebrate his success at making a wind fall in a short time. I for one will settle for the tasty cuisine at Rockpool.