Pokemon Go was just released in the United States and it has been an instant hit. Within hours the app was the Top Free App and the Top Grossing App on the App Store for iOS. The game is essentially a real-life Pokemon app where a person walks around with the app open and Pokemon pop-up on the street using the device's camera. Although the app was just released, the dangers of the app have been evident.
My friend and I, on the day of the release, drove around our town, our local parks, and the shopping center. There groups of kids were walking around staring at their phones not looking up, just playing the game. Anyone could see why this is a danger hazard, someone could easily not realize they're crossing the street and it could turn into a very bad scenario. People have shared their stories about walking into their neighbors yards to catch Pokemon which has led to confrontation.
Players can go to historic landmarks known as "Poke-Stops" which gives players free items of value if they get within distance. A police station had many players coming to their station due to a high number of players entering the facility to acquire items players would receive from Poke-Stops. These Poke-Stops could be potentially very dangerous, considering on my drive home today I took an exit to the side of the highway to get gas and figured I would check the game quickly while doing so, and I saw one of these Poke-Stops on the side of the highway. Although, I doubt many would pull over on a highway to get 3 Pokeballs or go to any other location that seems risky, it is still a hazard.
Pokemon Gyms work in a similar way, Gyms are spread around and are usually on a historic landmark. A player can knock another player out of the gym and take control. I feel like this could lead to confrontation if many players are surrounding a gym all trying to knock-off the current owner.
While the main focus of the game is to capture Pokemon, people have come across Pokemon in strange places. Today I loaded up the game to find a Pidgey in the middle of the street which was very dangerous. What if someone ran him over!? Luckily, I caught him in time. I feel as if younger children playing the game would be very into the game and try to get closer to the Pokemon and next thing you know, your kid is in the middle of the street trying to catch Pokemon on his/her phone (if they should even have a phone assuming they are around the age of 5-10). Players do have a nice battery save mode where a player can leave their screen on and put their phones in their pocket or hold it upside down in their hand. This will turn the screen black but players will still hear a noise and feel a vibration when a creature comes up. This could save battery and somewhat solves the issue of people constantly holding their phones and looking down at them, potentially endangering their life and other's lives.
Overall, while I feel like the concept of this game is fun, I feel like people should be more careful to not stare down at their phones the entire time while walking. I love the idea of people going out to get exercise and meeting up with their friends to play, I just feel like the dangers outweigh the benefits.
