The new and hottest game right now has to be Pokemon GO. This location-based augmented reality game was released in July 2016 in selected countries and has been downloaded by more than 130 million people worldwide. The popularity of catching creatures in balls has been increasing every day since its release.
I would be shocked if you have not heard of this game. It is all over social media, commercials, and even the news. While on the surface it seems as if this game would be innocent and a good way to get people out of their houses, the news has uncovered some gruesome and disturbing stories that have occurred due to Pokemon GO.
People have actually been killed due to this game. Most of these cases are due to people not being aware of their surroundings and either result in trespassing or putting themselves in a hazardous environment. The first death that was reported was when two teenagers trespassed into someone’s property and one of them was killed due to gunshots while the other was severely injured.
There has also been some predicaments with Pokemon GO and driving. While there are many commercials and warnings in the media to not call or text while drive, now we have to have advertisements to promote not playing Pokemon GO while driving. There has been an increase of people getting into car accidents while they were on their phones due to this game. Drivers have been crashing into other cars, trees, buildings and sadly, even pedestrians.
Not only are the drivers causing the accidents, but also the pedestrians. Many people have been walking into the street to catch Pokemon. The result of this is either people are getting hit by oncoming traffic or the cars are swerving and hitting something else. Either way, it ends badly.
Because of everything that has occurred, countries are now creating legislation to prevent the accidents caused by Pokemon GO. According to Karen Zraick at The New York Times, Kuwait banned the app’s use at government sites, Israeli officials told their soldiers to not avoid the game so they do not reveal their location, and Indonesian officials have said that it could be a national security threat that allow enemies to obtain their top-secret data.
And it is not just happening in other countries. Justina Vasquez from NPR reveals that in New York, registered sex offenders are banned from playing Pokemon GO to prevent them from going to “PokeStops” and other Pokemon locations where children might be.
It just seems a little ridiculous of how far this has come with having several people now dead and having to take extreme measures with new legislation and warning advertisements. The sad part is, the outcome has to be this extreme because of what the ignorant player of Pokemon GO are causing.
