But you know what they say about how there is no such thing as bad publicity. Over the past weeks, there were reports of how the game has made "zombies" of so many people, resulting in many accidents and incidents, most of which were negative in nature. This has led to a growing voice condemning the game and its players, and calling for a ban on it. But this must have piqued many people's interest, people who would otherwise not have been bothered to try out this game. People like myself. I must admit, the curiosity got the better of me, and I downloaded the game as soon as I found out it was available in Singapore.
My own opinion of the game: it's pretty interesting. I can see why people would be addicted to playing it, especially those who have been fans of Pokemon. From what I gather, the finding of these Pokemon characters in real life like this, and being able to capture them in the "live surroundings" setting that the game provides, is kind of a fantasy dream come true for Pokemon fans, because that's what happens in the cartoons. Furthermore, these "collecting" kind of games always has a certain appeal in its challenge to...ah...how we say...."catch 'em all".
But it's not the soul-sucking, brains-devouring, demonic, evil game that some people have seemed to portray it to be, at least not to me. Sure, it's quite addictive, but hey, there're so many addictive things in the whole. There are so many addictive games in the world. All the successful video games are successful because they are addictive. It's not the game itself that is bad. It's the poor self-control exhibited by some people that is damaging. In a game like Pokemon Go, where you have to walk around while monitoring your phone's screen, it is particularly obvious to spot someone playing the game, and there is more potential for accidents to happen. But let's be clear, it is the player who is to take the main blame for the accident.
A couple of weeks ago, I saw in my FB newsfeed a shared video about how a girl in another country was hit by a vehicle while crossing the highway to catch a pokemon on the game. Thankfully, she survived, but when interviewed, instead of being sorry for her behaviour, she, as well as her mother, put the blame on the game, saying if not for the game, she would not have had the accident. That's a really sad thing to see, that we live in an age where self-responsibility is in scant supply. Saying that about the game is akin to saying, "Well, you know, I stole the jewellery from the shop, but it's not my fault, the shopkeeper should not have put such a beautiful piece of jewellery on display in his shop, it's his fault."
So just today, I have seen a lot of FB posts on Pokemon Go. A lot were just innocent pics of the pokemon characters caught, but there were a couple of posts which talked about how "zombies" are now appearing in Singapore, people walking absently on the road, almost getting into accidents, or how the poster would try and identify the people playing the game and laugh at them. Ah, come on, it almost seems like they need to make fun of these people and show how silly they are to feel good about themselves. I've been out myself today, and on the road, and I have not encountered a single dangerous incident or accident involving a person playing Pokemon Go. Sure, there are many people playing the game, and it's quite obvious, from how they walk around looking at their phones, but they seem to be enjoying themselves, they're behaving harmlessly and not being a nuisance, and a lot of them are in groups or couples, like a social kind of thing.
And look at the benefits. People are actually walking more because of the game, and that's got to be good. Exercise is good right? Why put down this form of exercise just because it's derived from a game that you might feel is silly? The body will still benefit.
And people are discovering more landmarks and places around them. See, this game has many "pokestops", which are kind of like petrol stations where you stock up on the poke balls to catch the pokemons with, and you may get some other goodies as well, and "gyms", where you can train or "fight" with other players, which are located in actual places, often certain landmarks or buildings that have some meaning. It's actually quite educational.(man, I can almost hear the smirk)
I guess what I'm trying to say is, Pokemon Go is a game, quite an interesting and fun one, in fact, to a lot of people. We should all try to exert some self-control, and take some responsibility when playing the game, to ensure we don't endanger ourselves or others around us, and of course to not become obsessed with it, but at the end of the day, it is a game. If you don't like it, don't play it. No need to make fun of those who do. You may say walking around trying to catch virtual monsters is stupid and dangerous, but hey, so is inhaling a whole bunch of toxic, poisonous fumes into your lungs, and breathing the same gases out to harm those around you, or drinking stuff that damage your liver and cause cancer. Maybe let's ban those first.
