Un-Nintendo'd Consequences

[steepholm]

Pokemon Go has brought millions of otaku stumbling into the light and made them walk huge distances in search of prey. Soon, inevitably, they will become a muscle-bound master race, combining brains and brawn in an unbeatable combination. Nintendo, what have you done?

Meanwhile, people are casting around for other reasons for moral panic. How many more children must get lost in caves in Somerset while searching for Clefairy? What's the best way for Pokemon gyms to exploit the situation? Can African Americans play Pokemon Go without being shot for loitering? Is the sight of large groups of people enjoying themselves proof that the game has "gone too far"?

My daughter, a Pokemon fan from her cradle, has of course downloaded the app, but being almost housebound I still haven't done so. By the time I do, I dare say everyone will have got sick of it, and Pokemon will be Gone.

Comments

[oho.livejournal.com]

People's attention span became increasenly shorter than it was even a couple years ago.
I'd give Pckemon GO two weeks, and purely because in some 'rural parts' of Britain a good internet connection is still a novelty.

The next big thing will be a phone that can take a sample of your DNA and an app that allows you virtually modify the DNS and show what would happen. The results you can publish to BBC and Guardian comments or send to Virgin DNA Media and breed your own creation.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

That sounds fun!

[vixenofflames.livejournal.com]

People really need to stop being stuffy curmudgeons about the whole thing. For every outlying negative, there are 5 positives. It's a silly game, it's free (minus data), and it's really brought communities together.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

It seems to be an instinct with many people, when they see people enjoying something that they can't imagine enjoying themselves, to look frantically for reasons to disapprove and thus validate their own impulses as normative.

[vixenofflames.livejournal.com]

Ah! Yes, well-said ^_^

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I must admit, I'm quite tempted to download the app. I played Ingress for a while, but gave up because to advance further than Level 4, you needed to be much more dedicated than I was prepared to be.