GAME TO TRAVEL

Posted on 08/03/2016

: Full disclosure. I know not of what I speak. Unfamiliarity about a subject has rarely stopped me from writing about it, but this time my lack of knowledge is deep, and I say that at the start to relieve my editor from any fact-checking omissions. There is a phenomenon familiar to millennials that is having an affect on the travel industry. It is fascinating and also disturbing and I welcome any gamers to correct my comprehension of the ways of Squirtle, Charmander or Jigglypuff.

The names refer to characters (heroes? monsters?) in Pokémon Go. This is a Google Maps location game (played on a smart phone) where players walking in particular areas around the world are alerted to and can capture digital creatures imbedded in an augmented reality.
I am familiar with augmented reality.
The game is making $10 million in revenues daily and restaurants and exhibits are enthusiastic and eager to sponsor The Pokémon Company to be pokestops and attract the foot traffic that it draws.
The app is based on a video game with 151 monsters of which 142 are in the US.
Items in the news speak to the popularity of the game. Travellers are outraged that Pokémon Go is not at the Rio Olympics. Characters that were appearing at the state capital building in South Carolina inexplicably disappeared (except for one). Governor Nikki Haley tweeted a request to have them returned.
Brooklyn based Nick Johnson says that he is the first person to catch all of the 142 Pokémon in the states and he hopes to catch the three international monsters to complete his collection.
Marriott Rewards and Expedia will sponsor his flights and hotel accommodations to Paris to catch Mr Mime, to Hong Kong to catch Farfetch’d and then to Sydney to catch Kangaskhan.
Johnson will seek help from the local Pokémon Go player communities in each city.
Destinations benefit if the game draws people, particularly the millennials but in cases where people are walking along train tracks (TTC tracks in Toronto, SkyTrain tracks in Vancouver) looking for elusive digital monsters - there is a serious safety issue.
When players are found dashing through cemeteries, churches and hospitals after public hours to increase their game count there is a trespassing and respect issue.
More than a week ago, a reporter was caught checking out Pokémon Go during a briefing on efforts to combat ISIS. He was called on it by US State Department spokesperson John Kirby.
The real danger is the potential for accidents as players are engaged in the game while driving.
The US recorded their first car accident blamed on Pokémon Go when a player went off road and hit a tree in Auburn NY two weeks ago.
The Pokémon Go web site states: "For safety's sake, never play Pokémon GO when you're on your bike, driving a car, riding a hover-board, or anything else where you should be paying attention, and of course never wander away from your parents or your group to catch a Pokémon."
I may not understand the complexities of the game, but I am clear on its dangers.