Could Pokemon’s legacy be better health?
Popular app has driven some gamers to do more walking and socializing
Amid the news of injuries suffered by Pokemon Go gamers looking at their phone instead of where they’re going, there’s been very little coverage of the plus side of game play: Pokemon Go addicts are working up a sweat.
The virtual scavenger hunt that’s been gaining users by the millions has been reaping accolades from fitness advocates for its ability to get gamers, known for their sedentary habits, into the fresh air.
It’s not just the added exercise that has health experts so pleased.
Gamers are having face-to-face interactions rather than communicating as part of a virtual community. Parks and public spaces have welcomed an influx of Pokemon Go lovers gathering and exchanging game tips, interaction that — when combined with exercise — has the potential to make healthier communities.
Even the language of Pokemon Go suggests it wouldn’t be out of place in most fitness centres. Players searching for Pokemon are called Trainers who find the virtual creatures in PokeStops located in parks, public spaces and around buildings and monuments in cities all over the globe. Once found, the Pokemon battle it out in Gyms.
The really interesting aspect of Pokemon Go is the amount of movement required. It takes two kilometres of walking before a Pokemon Egg hatches, with some of the rarer eggs requiring up to 10 km of walking before the Pokemon breaks free of its shell.
“Playing the game is a lot of fun, and it has been a catalyst to get people moving,” said Matt Hoffman, assistant professor at Texas A&M college of nursing, in a Science Daily article. Hoffman also credits Pokemon Go for encouraging families to exercise together.
“I have seen families walking around playing the game together,” Hoffman said.
“Pokemon Go has the ability to transport families away from an evening on the couch to walking around the neighbourhood.”
So for families who have trouble getting video game-obsessed children out of their room, it has the potential to spark interaction between parents and children.
As for Nintendo, which hasn’t seen this much buzz around a game since the original Pokemon back in the late 1990s, the 2016 version is part of an increasingly large market of video games requiring movement.
With children and adults spending upward of 50 hours a week in front of a screen and only a fraction of that time being active, exergaming joins technology and exercise.
One of the first exergames to hit the market was Dance Dance Revolution, which had game-console addicts dropping the remote and busting a move.
That was followed by Nintendo Wii, which introduced sports like tennis and golf using a hand-held console and full-body sport-specific movements.
While there seems to be agreement on the potential for exergaming to encourage more physical activity, there’s little data to support claims about benefits beyond the initial excitement stage.
Will Pokemon Go prove to be a game-changer in the emerging market of activity-based video games?
It’s still too early to tell. But in the short term, there are more people running and walking than there were a few weeks ago.