Latest pokemon game

Well first there was “Angry Birds” next “Candy Crush” now we have “Pokémon go”. I recently downloaded the game. I have to say it is very interesting this takes the concept of the original game which is to catch Pokémon and places it in the real world. You are no longer looking for Pokémon online you can find them in your local park, street corner or beach. The purpose of the game is to get you or children out of the house. This takes gaming to another level the game application connects to your GPS on your phone it will list your location and the location of any Pokémon characters in your areas. Each Pokémon Character depending on the type of the character and the location gives you different amount of points.  Although the concept of the game is great there are many safety concerns I have especially with children.

In order to catch a Pokémon you have to leave your home and walk the town. When you find a Pokémon character throw a ball at the character and trap it in your ball.  The game has many stops in your city they are called “Poke Stops” others are called “Gyms” here you can catch Pokémon and interact with other players. The stops could be located almost anywhere your local park, a Church, or other places of interest. What concerns me is the “Poke Stops” and “Gyms” are highlighted on anyone who downloads the application. This could be a place where child predators could be lurking so do not let your children go to these spots alone if you see a suspicious person in the area contact the local authorities.

While playing the game it can be very distracting the player is unaware of their surroundings. The player is using and completed dependent on the GPS system to locate the Poke stops or Pokémon. There is a potential for a person to slip, trip and fall while playing the game so be aware of your surroundings to avoid injury while playing the game. In order to capture the Pokémon you sometimes physically adjust your distance so moving back and forth you could easily trip or bump into an object or even worst back up into moving traffic so be careful around areas where there is vehicular traffic. 

Another concerns is the Pokémon Characters could appear anywhere in the middle of the street, in a neighbor’s yard or on private property.  You should warn your children not to go on private property when playing this game. There are different characters which appear during the day and at night so your children may want to go out at night to find a Pokémon characters so it would be wise to implement a curfew on when your children can play Pokémon. 

I hope this post was helpful please leave a comment

Mark Carvajal