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New distracted driver hazard - Pokemon Go


Jantrix

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My sons and wife :angry: are playing a new phone game called Pokemon Go. This game is tied into your phones GPS and you search for pokemon and pokemon related locations using a gps map. My wife was playing it as I drove this morning. There's actually things to do as you travel, BUT once you are at 20mph plus, the game stops functioning. It can't update fast enough. 

Long story short, there will be people driving distracted even more now, albeit more slowly. So if you see people driving slowly or parked in unusual places, and suspect something nefarious, odds are they are just looking for pokemon. Which is altogether sad in itself. :wacko:

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Not into these games, can't stand drivers with phones anyway. Last night watching the 10pm news they had something that sounds like this game that some women was playing. As part of the game she stopped on the side of the hiway and went under the bridge to find something as part of the game. She got far more than she was looking for. She found a dead body at the waters edge. The police said that it was a good thing that she found it since a rain storm was on the way and they were sure that the body would have been washed away in the storm.   

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People have already died, gotten injured and phone jacked because of this game. The first time I heard a friend of mine say she was in a park lookin for Pokemon, my first thought was she's on dope. Then she explained what it was. I really don't get it. But, hey, guess it gets the kids outside, right?

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From what I understand, once the game realizes that you're going that fast, it locks things up so you can really play the features while driving.  I was reading on Gizmodo that there are a bunch of people that were either walking or cycling around to find the critters and other stuff, only to exhaust themselves. Apparently the players don't have the stamina to start walking a couple miles or more in one day.

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  I was reading on Gizmodo that there are a bunch of people that were either walking or cycling around to find the critters and other stuff, only to exhaust themselves. Apparently the players don't have the stamina to start walking a couple miles or more in one day.

That's my friend said. She hasn't exercised that much in about a year.

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Personally I'm glad it shuts off at 20 mph but the phone shouldn't be in your hand in the first place.there was a a gal in Denver not long a go that took out two people because she was taking a selfie at 100+ not even a skid mark, next post she made..a selfie in a gurney saying how luucky SHE was to be Alive!! she just killed 2 people!

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in the last few days, this game has increased Nintento's revenue $7.5BILLION. :blink:

I am of the Pokemon generation, but I never played it. I was always playing Micro Machines (on Nintendo) or sports and racing games. I could just never get into Sci Fi or those cartoon character games. On the bright said, people are exercising and meeting new friends. 

I think overall, it's a good thing, even if I have no interest in it. Of course, people have to be reminded not to drive and be on their phones, but even before the game, they had to be told this. 

I haven't heard of anyone dying though, that seems a little far fetched. Someone did find a dead body, and a few people have been robbed by being lured to certain areas. There are also people reporting seeing multiple police cars parked together while the officers hunt for Pokemons or whatever. That is not very reassuring. 

 

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I keep reminding my now-married daughter that she can never repay me enough for having taken her to see "The Pokemon Movie" when she was little. It was excruciatingly awful. I don't know how much we spent on game/trading cards.

Edited by sjordan2
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I‘m a fan of pokemon since 8 or 9 years old. As it's cartoon been broadcast on TV in my childhood. But i use portable device to play it. First on a Gameboy, long long years ago, and then on a 3DS.

And i personally think VERY VERY MUCH that pokemon should be played on portable devices but not on a cellphone. I don't know why I just believe this.

So so many years after that Nintento finally anounced that they will add Chinese, the language to the next pokemon game. Finally.

And back to this topic, i remembered that yesterday or the day before yesterday, Pokemon go seemd stop opening to China, for one hours.(they seemed just fixing some servers and one hour after they back on), But i saw online someguys in my country really sad. Nothing more, pokemon go really a hot potato.  Guess i should check on this pokemon go, as i don't wont to left by my generation?:D

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I quite agree. But an entire generation of millennials grew up on this stuff. As a kid from the 70's, I don't dislike Bugs and Daffy now that I'm an adult, and still watch the old toons occasionally. So I don't hold it against my sons. 

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I've been warily observing this phenomenon from a distance...I'm not sure what to think. As a "new" technology it's nothing special. Things like this have been tried before, and flopped. It's only the addition of the Pokemon brand that seems to have given it some hype.

I don't play cell phone games or Pokemon, but I DO understand the appeal of being able to locate and collect things. In the past I've done some geo-caching, which involves using GPS to locate hidden stashes of stuff that others have squirreled away. Usually it's just a notebook to record your visit, some trinkets, fridge magnets, whatever. But it's a thrill to wander under an abandoned bridge, climb up a support spar, stick your hand between a couple of bricks and pull out...AIDS. Just kidding! A geocache, something that someone has hidden for you to find. It's a fun way to get some exercise and have a little adventure, find some new places.

So the treasure-hunt appeal is strong...I know I spend WAY too long checking classifieds ads for classic car projects, because I love the thrill of searching for awesome deals or unusual finds. Pokemon Go is like a combination of geo-caching (finding hidden caches) with seeking behavior (searching, collecting, discovery, reward). I love garage sales and swap meets too...I can easily imagine people getting excited at potentially finding that "thing they're looking for" literally around the next corner.

The fact that normally sedentary people are now actually...walking!....because of a video game is hilarious to me. I just hope that while they're at it, they notice some of the real world around them.

As much as I might want to dismiss this game, I know that if there was a car-related game with a similar mechanism, I could see myself getting hooked. "oh, hey, hold up, there's a 6x2 Weiand Drag Star manifold on that park bench (points phone at confused people waiting for the bus). I think I can barter for it...I'll need to get 3 more carbs, but there's a place in the river valley where I know there are tons of used carburetors, so I could probably score some for cheap and refurbish them, and then my '56 Chevy will kick ass at the drags!"...

The only thing that bothers me about the whole thing is that when realities diverge too much, there can be friction and violence, whether it be cops wrestling a schizophrenic guy who thinks he's fighting demons, or a bunch of kids climbing onto the private property of a grumpy gun-owner because "that's where all the best monsters are". I read a story today about a guy who heard some teens by his garage, went out with his gun (first mistake)...hear one of them say "did you get anything" as they were getting into a car...so he confronted them with the firearm. Driver accelerated towards him, he fired at the car. Long story short, the teens were playing Pokemon Go. Homeowner's reality: chased off thieving punks, nearly got killed by them. Kids' reality: were playing a game that involves collecting cute virtual creatures in real-world locations, had a crazy man shoot at them, fled in fear.

Man the world is getting weird.

 

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I'm beginning to wonder if there's a Pokemon GPS reference location in my front yard. Over the past week or so, I've been getting a ton of people looking at their little hand-held devices literally drive on to my lawn and park (no curb, quiet side street).

I now have a nice dead pair of tire tracks where grass used to be.

I guess playing some retarded frigging game transcends the right of someone to HAVE a decent looking lawn.

I think spike strips may be in order.

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This game seems to be taking San Diego by storm. I live near a park, and it's been full of kids. On the plus side, they're out walking and face to face socializing. Nobody's gotten run over yet, but a couple of geniuses walked off a cliff near the beach. One fell 80 feet, the other 50, and had to be rescued from the cliff face. Both are going to be very good friends with their orthopedic surgeons for a while.

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My wife needed a new phone so we were at the Verizon Store this evening.  Several people... adults... came in to say their Apple GPS stopped working. The store clerk rolled his eyes and said "Pokemon Game, right?"   Seems it takes out cell phone GPSs... hehehe 

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I guess I'm in the minority, but I totally don't see the appeal of BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH like this. It's so silly and juvenile... it wouldn't hold my attention for 30 seconds.

But like I said, I know I'm in the minority.

It's for Millenialls and younger...  You are too old for it (as am I).

Edited by Rob Hall
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I seem to recall an article that indicated that Nintendo didn't create this "app"

Nyantic did...it's basically a Pokemon variation on their existing Ingress game...the game isn't even available yet in Japan, the home of all things Pokemon.

Edited by Rob Hall
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