Pokémon Goes Outside
Photo courtesy of www.cnet.com

Pokémon Goes Outside

Pokémon Go was released in July of this year and millions of people are itching to catch ‘em all, but what are the impacts of such a popular app bringing people outside?

Parks are now popular destinations for Pokémon hunters. Even at National Park Service sites, there have been large influxes of Pokémon trainers. Players are going outside, even if they’re on their phones the whole time. The controversy is whether or not players are actually experiencing nature, or just passively playing a game while being immersed in virtual reality.

Some do not view the app favorably because they believe that, while being outside is good, being outside and staring at a phone isn’t actually experiencing the outdoors.

Ethan Robers, senior fire science and ecosystem restoration management major said, “Yes, you get out of the house, but you’re trading one screen for another. I think it’s a good idea, but I think the way it’s used can be improved.”

Wes Haas, senior English major said, “The only people who have their faces in their screens are people who choose to have their phones in their faces. The way Pokémon Go works is you don’t have to constantly be staring at the screen, your phone will vibrate when a Pokémon shows up.”

There are many social groups that meet up to share hints and tips for catching Pokémon. In Stevens Point there are two Facebook groups dedicated to notifying players where certain Pokémon can be found in the city.

Photo by Colton Oltesvig.

Photo by Colton Oltesvig.

The City of Stevens Point website has an official Civil Alert on their website to ensure that those participating in the game are both safe and respectful of others’ property. There have been issues with players of the app trespassing on private land.

On Sep. 12, the Stevens Point Area Pokémon Go Group worked with the student organization, Daisho Con to organize a Pokémon Go crawl. During the crawl, students and community members were socializing and walking around campus while collecting Pokémon.

When asked how much he was actually experiencing nature during Pokémon hunting, Mark Gypsy, a recent graduate of arts said, “Ever since I graduated from UWSP I’ve been kind of down, Pokémon Go got me to go outside and get me back into nature and that kind of helped lift my spirits a little bit.”

Regardless of whether or not people favor Pokémon Go; people are going outside because of this app. Some have argued Pokémon Go is nothing more than vamped-up geocaching, which is a popular outdoor activity where people use GPS systems to locate hidden objects.

As far as phone applications go, there are actually many games in the category of “augmented reality”. This type of game requires players to physically walk outside and discover landmarks around their cities. Pokémon Go is the most popular augmented reality game due to its prevalence as a game on Nintendo Gameboys in the early 2000’s.

Pokémon Go has become a cultural phenomenon. Parks are packed with Pokémon, but it’s up to the players to determine whether or not they are absorbing nature or ignoring it.

Genevieve Adamski

Environment Sectional Editor

gadam590@uwsp.edu

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