Pokémon Go was launched in Singapore on August 6.

Although I have no interest in video games, the stories of people walking into lakes, highways and dead bodies while playing the game piqued my interest. Well, Pokémon Go stands out since this augmented-reality game has made the digital world somewhat real.

Watching how the people around me get so immensely, helplessly absorbed into the game was really amazing...

The Good

Pokémon Go makes video game fanatics get up and out of their home, venturing outdoors. This meant not so popular places like museums and parks are finally getting more visitors. Shopping centers and F&B establishments also get to benefit from the increased foot traffic if they come up with creative ways to convince the game players to spend at their store.

Not to mention, there is a surge in powerbank sales since playing this game drains battery life tremendously as the player has to be mobile to capture Pokemon or find PokeStops.

The Bad

Obviously, people are getting hurt walking into walls, lakes and so on since they are too engrossed in this game. Even drivers got into accidents when they drive and play the game at the same time! There are also reports of people getting killed.

Aside from the obvious physical danger this game poses, Pokémon Go exposes the human's psychology need to collect and accumulate stuff, even if these are just virtual rewards!

In addition, data privacy is another big concern since this game makes use of a player’s location data and there is no way to shut the location information off.  Malicious applications that install a remote access Trojan on mobiles is also yet another major concern!

Okay, I know that these are nothing new...

The Sinister

Actually, the most sinister aspect of this game is how much it enslaves people and got them waste so much of their time catching the virtual creatures. This game effectively made the gamers look like walking zombies that spent countless hours trapped in their own virtual world.

Case in point?
I know of people who either skipped lunch or took leave just to play this game!

Seems ironic that millions of gamers are so  enthralled by Pokémon Go, Gotta Catch 'Em All...
while in actual fact, it is the Pokémon Go that has already Caught 'Em All.


Image from probano

Image from minimography