Every couple months, there’s always the latest gaming fad that nearly everyone can become guilty of despite how hard they may try not to. To say that I’ve never had my short-lived addiction to all the classics, such as "Candy Crush" or "Angry Birds," would be a stretch of the imagination. However, after a few weeks, I’ve always found that the hype died down more rapidly than I was anticipating. Having the preoccupation of mobile games on my mind during everyday activities was always enough to turn me off from briefly indulging at the App store.
However, "Pokemon Go" has skyrocketed into, quite literally, every facet of day-to-day life in a way that I would never have anticipated. Less than a week and a half ago, I first heard about this childhood pastime making a comeback. Before I fully grasped how invasive the nature of this game was, I was happy to hear that a game I used to play over a decade ago was coming back around full-circle. Within a few days of hearing about the debut of this game, I was blown away by how present it was.
When driving around town with my friends, we were requested numerous times to make pit-stops for the sake of this game. After arriving at our destination, I would lose track of the company I had arrived with because they scattered around, too caught up in their arenas, Pokemon and poke balls.
I understand that the iPhone and other smartphones have developed into devices often distracting us in more ways than one from interacting with the world around us, instead prioritizing the virtual world at our fingertips. However, to go to inherently social places, like a local ice cream shop, a movie theater or a restaurant, and find that the majority of people present have their heads bowed down and are allowing virtual, fictional characters dominate their actions blows me away.
Coming home, relaxing and playing a few video games is a perfectly suitable way for some people to unwind. I understand that losing yourself in games for a brief period of time can be a nice escape from the many stresses of everyday life. However, allowing these alternate universes to not only dictate, but overrule individuals’ ability to successfully engage with others and the world around them tarnishes people’s ability to be connected human beings. While I have no doubt that the "Pokemon Go" platform offers a landscape thriving with neat opportunities and enticing rewards, I have a difficult time imagining that it is superior enough to prioritize the real things happening outside of a small phone screen.
