Pokemon Go, the fad of 2016. Causing people of all ages to become accident prone, slightly obsessed gamers who must 'catch' little critters which do not exist.
You would have seen these people, wondering around with their phones in front of them and not paying attention to much else. I even had a colleague pointing their phone at me in the office as there was a 'Bulbasaur' next to my desk (I lost a little respect for him after this).
But why on earth is a game which is based on imprisoning creatures to then fight others for our own amusement/gain even popular? Did Pokemon originate from an ancient way of life / entertainment ideology? Heavy viewpoint I know and yes, yes I know it's based on a fun 'children's show' (maybe the adult gamer's out there should remember that) but the overall concept is loosely similar to that of the Roman Empire and the use of (some) Gladiators.
I realised this when (and don't judge me) I had a dream that my cat, aka my furry child, had someone trying to imprison her into a poke ball and steal her from me. It was awful! I then woke up, firstly realising how sad that was, and then the fact that we see kids want to go and capture 'make believe' characters in augmented reality. And obviously augmented reality makes this more 'real' than sitting in a room on a console.
Will or could this impact their view on actual reality? Could this make them believe that animals are our future property, simply up for grabs, and devalue their freedom?
The world has already seen that aggressive games such as GTA can corrupt vulnerable young minds, but the majority of gamer's were in no way impacted - I didn't exactly grew up and believe I could have any car I wanted by simply throwing the driver out of it and hiding in a garage until the cops passed by.
But could Pokemon Go have any type of impact? It's just a thought. If kids are addicted and stupid enough to run up train tracks for non-existent creatures, what long term mindset could this also manifest into (especially if the child has a rubbish parent who doesn't explain that this really is only a game and you cannot use animals to fight... or trespass into your neighbours garden).
Pokemon Go fans, please don't berate me - it is a gaming phenomenon, that's not being questioned. It is an intelligent and addictive game which has immense health benefits and gets everyone moving a lot more. My husband has played Pokemon Go, although it did cause us to take an extra twenty minutes to do the food shop with him trying to catch a Pokemon in the cheese aisle, he did get into it for two weeks before the novelty wore off.
I'm just considering what the premise actually is for a moment and it would be interesting if there's any research in the future to see if this alters the mindset, be it positive or negative? Will the WWF see a reduction/increase in donations or will the RSPCA (animal welfare charity in the UK) see an increase of animal abuse i.e. dog fights for one. Or could the opposite happen, and a need for ownership increase the amount of abandoned pets who get re-homed? Who knows (but sadly we have already seen some fecking idiot dye their dog yellow to look like Pikachu)
Want to catch Pokemon? No thanks, I'd rather go shooting at targets at my archery club... which must be because I grew up playing 'Time Crisis'