Pokémon Go is Bringing Life Back to Cities
I occasionally go into the downtown area of my city. I don’t go very often because it’s usually boring and not many people are out walking around (except the teenagers). The past two weeks, however, I went downtown both Friday nights in a row. Why? To play Pokémon GO, of course! Here’s what’s so special about it: It was packed! There were people playing everywhere. You couldn’t turn a street corner without hearing, “Oh, look, a Mankey!” One guy I met was particularly awesome. He was walking around the square wearing a Pokémon t-shirt, blasting Pokémon theme music everywhere he walked. I asked him his story and, apparently, he comes downtown every night now rather than staying in his apartment because he loves Pokémon and everyone stops him to talk to him. He’s met dozens, if not hundreds, of people just by being a little different and playing a game he loves. Here’s the real kicker: he lost 15 pounds because he was walking around so much! And he isn’t alone — people all over the world are leaving their apartments, making friends, and losing weight, all thanks to Pokémon.
In Fact, Pokémon Go is Fighting Depression
In fact, this game is fighting depression. All the walking around and exercise helps by itself, but the social aspect is a totally different game changer. It’s backed by science and the players themselves. Reddit user Forexal posted on the Pokémon GO subreddit about how the game helped his severe depression: If this game is able to change lives to such an extreme extent, how can anyone say it’s “destroying society”? Yes, there are some stupid people doing stupid things. Yes, it can be played too much and affect other parts of people’s lives. NOW, Pokemon GO releases on the 6th of July in Australia and a friend of mine tells me to give it a go because I’m such an avid pokemon fan, so I go finally buy some phone credit and download the app… In the past 4 days, I have walked over 50km, I’ve met some cool people, I didn’t cry once, I’ve gotten rid of some semi-permanent artist block and photoshopped some things, I got a date with a girl for Saturday and I walked into a bar and got an interview for Monday.” However, stupid people doing stupid things is nothing new. Anyone with half a brain will look before they cross the road or think twice before breaking into a church. The people doing these things would have done them anyway with some other reason as an excuse. Just use your head, play smart, and don’t play it too much. You’ll probably find some friends and get some great exercise while you play! Featured photo credit: Chicago Tribune via trbimg.com
