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The newly released online game Pokémon Go , has only been launched for less than a week, and the game has estimated to have been downloaded for 7.5 million times. However, it is said that it has many negative side effects.
This game is only available in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the US, but it has gained so many popularity that the users of Twitter will soon be outnumbered by users of this application. It is said that 2 out of 3 people in US are downloading this application.
People in Asia have been unofficially downloading this game, but The Wall Street Journal stated that it will be available for Android and iPhone within the next few days.
This game uses the smartphone GPS to reflect locations in the real world in its virtual map, which have been tailored for certain purposes in the game.
This game encourages its users to explore their real-life neighbourhoods. You can capture Pikachu in a wild or go to shop to collect PokéBalls.
This game has received so many credits for having its players to go out and explore their surroundings, which will offer a good health and fitness benefits.
But at the same time, there are some negative issue about the game.
A group of teenager in Missouri, ranging in age from 16 to 18, used the geolocation feature in the application to lure as many as 11 victims to isolated trap and committed armed robberies over the weekend.
According to Sgt Bill Stringer, a total of 11 people in Missouri were lured to secluded areas where they were robbed at gunpoint. He told The Guardian, "Using the geolocation feature, the robbers were able to anticipate the location and level of seclusion of unwitting victims."
He also suggested that the criminals had developed a beacon at a Pokéstop to target the unsuspecting victims. “As far as we can tell you can put a Pokébeacon or something on [the app] and it attracts Pokémans [sic] and alerts other players to your location,” he told Motherboard.
“It’s a great app for getting people off the couch, but it can be used for nefarious reasons, also,” he added.
Fortunately, the police had arrested the criminals responsible to this action.
Another negative impact from this game is that the players are reportedly lost their awareness to their surroundings.
A couple of injuries happened while the people were playing this game were being reported.
A reddit user claimed playing Pokémon Go resulted in a trip to a hospital emergency room. He wrote, “Not even 30 minutes after the release last night, I slipped and fell down a ditch. Fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in my foot, 6-8 weeks for recovery. I told all the doctors I was walking my dog lol ... Watch where you’re going, folks,”
A 21-year-old said he glued his eyes to his smartphone and accidentally stumbled and cut his hand on the pavement.
“I just wanted to be able to stop quickly if there were any Pokémons nearby to catch,” he told The Sun.
While he was searching for Pokémon in a park, a communication graduate in New York Mike Schults, tumbled from his skateboard.
Lindsay Plunkett, a waitress from North Carolina, tripped over a concrete block while playing and had a nasty bruise in her shin.
A 22-year-old web designer, Kyrie Tompkins, twisted her ankle after the game notified her a Pokémon was nearby. It vibrated to let me know there was something nearby and I looked up and just fell in a hole,” she said.
The risk of car accidents are going much higher because many people sharing screenshots of them capturing Pokémon while driving.
The troubling trend has led to Police all around the globe issuing warnings about the behavior.
An Australian expat in Singapore sacked from his job because of Pokémon Go. The New Straits Times reported Sonnt Truyen lashed out Singapore for being a "F****** s*** country because he can not catch Pokémon in the country.
Singaporeans did not appreciate his rant and he was let go from his job at 99.co, a real estate website. Darius Cheng, chief executive of 99.co, said “I am a proud Singaporean too and I apologise for the incident.”