Pokemon Go or Pokemon No?

At the time of writing this blog, the smash hit, augmented reality and location-based game Pokemon Go
has not yet come to many countries (officially). It has taken the country I live in by storm, so obviously I
also tried it as well.

If you’re in the US, Australia or Canada, you’ve heard of Pokemon Go. Even if you live under a rock, dozens
of crazy Pokemon hunters have probably already trampled all over your precious rock, and even lifted it
up to look for Pokemon.

I’ll will be honest. I’ve totally missed out on the Pokemon craze of the last 20 years. The only one I knew
of before Pokemon Go was Pikachu. However, if my observations of the people around me are anything
to go by, a lot of people playing the game don’t seem to be die-hard fan either. They seem to love the AR
experience, which is to go to Pokegyms and battle other players using the Pokemon you’ve collected.

I’ve seen some people use the game like a tourist map, by showing more interest in visiting the interesting
cultural spots shown on the game’s map. Since no one seems to care about accuracy anymore, quite a
few media sources called it “Nintendo’s Pokemon Go”. Obviously, this caused it’s stock prices to soar.
Then, Nintendo sent out a press release, and people realized that Nintendo wasn’t the one who would be
making the big bucks off this game, it was Niantic.

It’s not just big companies that are affected. People have quit full time jobs to play the game they’re
banking on the fact that some lazy gamers will be willing to pay big bucks for a phone and a Pokemon Go
account that has a lot of highly evolved Pokemon.

Taxi drivers have started advertising special rates for Pokemon Go players, because why not? There are
accidents happening, as eager palyers who are driving are slamming their car brakes when they get an
alert that there’s a Pokemon nearby. People have walked into traffic, poles. Fallen into stuff, got injured,
trespassed, get into fights. Heck, even sending obscene pictures has gotten Pokemon involved – people
use the Pokemon character to hide their privates and send suggestive pictures to one another. Pokeporn?

You’ve probably seen the memes, where people make fun of us geeks and gamers, basically saying how
we’re finally getting some fresh air! It’s actually hard to argue with that, because it’s probably true for
quite a lot of us. However, although it is certainly getting people outside more, whether or not that’s good
is still up for debate.

Already many tourist sites are calling for Niantic to remove their locations from the list of Pokestops,
because they want people to actually appreciate the landmarks, not come there only to take screenshots
of ridiculous looking cartoon devils. I can just imagine people running up and down the gardens of the Taj
Mahal flinging virtual balls at cartoons, just ruining the experience for everyone else.

You have to decide if you want to put yourself at risk just to play some silly game that only makes some
guys in the US rich. Why? Just because you have a fear of missing out on some weird cultural experience?

I’m really hoping that if you haven’t already been Pokemoned you will choose to say, “Pokemon No. Hell
no!”