If you want to know the reception by the media of Pokémon Go, just take a glance at the headlines:
“Pokémon Go player crashes his car into a tree” – USA Today
“‘Pokémon Go’ is Causing Car Accidents Across America” – U.S. News
“Playing Pokémon Go is becoming dangerous” – New York Post
Well, that escalated quickly. Among charges of luring children into dark alleys and corrupting the moral fiber of America, the new game has been demonized by the media for causing reckless driving. Could fears that the game will destroy society as we know it be justified?
The past and future of location based AR games like Pokemon Go
New Things Are Scary
Perhaps not. Many of these news reports are found to be hoaxes. As the first game with augmented reality to gain such massive popularity, it should be concerning to the gaming community that the media has reacted so harshly to mobile game.The negative reception the app has received thus far is partially because it is a strange and new type of game for consumers.
People have approached playing the game in inventive and strange ways. Some fans approach the game as it was intended by simply walking to discover new monsters, filling their pokédexes, and hatching eggs.
But the internet is far too clever (and sometimes lazy) to stick to this method. Hundreds of businesses around the world offer “Pokémon Go tours,” in which drivers escort customers in buses, SUVs, or golf carts, coasting at just a few miles per hour so that customers have time to catch each creature they pass. Some users have discovered that they can hatch eggs by keeping them on a slowly moving ceiling fan, or on a turntable. Other gamers cheat the game by playing on their computers using GPS spoofing software.
However, there will inevitably be those crazy enough to try to “catch ‘em all” and drive a car at the same time.
Because of growing concerns about irresponsible drivers, Pokémon Go developer Niantec has responded by updating the game in several impactful ways. There are now several in-game messages discouraging distracted driving. Upon booting the game, one of several warning messages that can appear warns you to not play while driving. If the game senses that you are travelling at a high enough speed, a second warning message will appear, checking if you are driving or merely a passenger.
If that was the extent of Niantec’s changes, rational fans would not be upset. However, some other changes are causing players to quit in droves. At the beginning of August, an update changed the scan refresh rate from five seconds to ten seconds. This means that the game will “search” for nearby Pokémon at half the speed. People moving faster than 12.5 miles an hour may not see any critters at all. While some of these updates don’t explicitly state that they are designed to stop irresponsible behavior, but signs seem to point to that agenda.
Adding further to player frustration, there is no current system to track the location of nearby Pokémon at all. Cease-and-desists have been given to all third party sites designed to help players with tracking. While a new update for better tracking could be on the horizon, players are currently left with little information to track pokémon.
Many fans are convinced they are effectively being prevented from playing the game. There is no question that distracted driving is a huge problem. It is possibly a bigger threat than drunk driving. Regardless, is this way of handling it appropriate?
Recent updates can make progressing in the game extremely inconvenient for some players. Players with limited mobility will now have an even harder time playing.
POKEMON GO REVIEW!
One example of such a person is Youtube celebrity Boogie2988. He has been outspoken about his struggles with his weight, which leaves him immobile throughout most of the day. In a recent tweet, he stated: “Pokemon go is amazing… But it’s also like a cruel trick to someone as immobile as I am”. He was able to play with friends by driving from pokéstop to pokéstop. With the new updates. This may no longer be an option. There are certainly thousands of players with similar circumstances.
Can This Pokécraze Last?
Pokémon Go will eventually allow players to trade Pokémon
We are left questioning if Pokémon Go will survive for long without drastic changes and more communication from the developers. The influx of negative reviews from both Apple and Android users should be sending a clear message to Niantec. Time will tell if further updates can convince us to keep the game installed on our phones.