For the past week, the Pokémon Go phenomenon has taken hold of the planet. To catch these creatures, players are ready to travel dozens of kilometers.
They want to catch them all. For several days, a community of young people connected and nostalgic for Pokémon has formed and swallowed kilometers to capture Pikachu, Squirtle or Charmander. Everyone is playing Pokémon Go, Nintendo’s latest game released on July 7 in the United States, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Combining geolocation and virtual reality, the mobile application offers to hunt these imaginary creatures hidden in the real world.
With their noses glued to their cellphones, players take on the role of a trainer from the yellow, red or blue team and wander the streets with the hope of finding these imaginary creatures or beating a competitor in an arena. Impatient, many French people have already installed it on their smartphone. “It’s completely addictive,” slips Priscilla, a Pokémon trainer in her twenties.
Getting sedentary people moving
The young woman installed the game on her laptop a week ago. Since then, she searches for Pokémon in the morning on her way to work, hurries to eat at lunchtime to find others and continues her quest in the evening when she returns home. Priscilla has already walked for more than 8 hours to challenge other players. “I used to come home and play video games sitting on my couch. Gambling forces me to go out and exercise, ”she explains. before continuing: “The game is so captivating that you don’t realize how much effort you put in. We realize the distance traveled once the day is over ”.
Baptiste, member of the yellow team for 4 days, agrees. “Pokemon Go is like a treasure hunt, it prompts us to go out. I think it will get the sedentary people moving ”.
A Krabby has invited himself into my office! OK. #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/xWeHtJBYMI
– Gil Avérous (@GilAverous) July 13, 2016
Risk of accidents
In fact, the whole game is built around movement. You can’t catch Pokémon if you’re sprawled out on your couch. Inactivity can also cost the loss of an arena. As a result, the player will not be able to earn the virtual coins and stardust needed to upgrade their Pokémon. Hours spent walking will therefore be wasted.
Therefore, the trainers play as soon as they can so as not to lose their lead. A frenzy that can be dangerous, underlines Aurélie who has only been playing for 2 days. “On the Internet, a video shows players going on the highway to catch a rare Pokémon,” explains the young woman. Police in the United States and Belgium have had to remind drivers not to play Pokémon Go while driving after several traffic accidents have occurred. In addition to the risk of accident, Aurélie points to the risk of intrusive entry into private places: a creature had taken refuge in his building lobby.
Jog a little dangerous on the periph, but it was worth it, I had Pikachu. Results: 23 accidents. #PokemonGo pic.twitter.com/ixIh4RyaIQ
– Romain Brami (@romainbrami) July 9, 2016
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