I walked to the Riverfront Park after class by myself, to catch Pokémon along the river. One of my friends told me that when she played the app over the summer, she found aquatic Pokémon by water features. I spent about fifteen minutes trying to login to Pokémon Go. The app said that it didn’t recognize my account and requested that I try again or try a different account several times. I used more data than Wi-Fi as I played the game. For some reason, that works better. I successfully found a few Pokémon that I’d never seen before and captured them. I collected more Poke balls from the stops / landmarks than ever before and achieved level ten.
The article “Gamification and Post-Fordist Capitalism” presents gamification as a form of manipulation. It makes something mundane appealing and enjoyable. For instance, Pokémon Go makes exercise like walking a fun, diverting experience. In this case, walking is gamified and encouraged through the phone app. This is both positive and negative. I’ve seen videos where Pokémon Go helped little kids at the hospital be active and have fun. I’ve also heard stories about people almost getting hit by a car because they were playing the game and not paying attention to their surroundings.
I noticed that when the app boots up, the reminder to be alert at all times appears first before the game begins. I usually heeded that warning. When I played the game at the park, I was walking in the middle of a paved footpath when I looked up to see a bright light. In a couple seconds I observed that the light was coming from a bicyclist’s helmet. I got a gruff and loud “right in front of you” before I quickly moved to the side. This app can definitely be a dangerous distraction, especially if the player isn’t paying enough attention to the world outside of the game.