HANIS MUNIRAH BINTI ZULKIFLI

PISMP BIMBINGAN DAN KAUNSELING JUN 2016

Essay : Should Malaysians be allowed to play Pokemon Go. Discuss.

At the moment, one of the most popular invention in this era is Pokemon Go
created by the company Niantic, which also created the transreality game named
Ingress that used similar concept. This location-based augmented reality game
enable players to use a mobile device's global positioning system, or GPS to
interact with virtual creatures, called Pokemon. In context of Malaysia itself,
Pokemon Go is a new and viral trend to the society and people are wondering
whether this game should or should not be allowed to play by Malaysians. There
are some advantages and disadvantages that we might encounter by playing
this game.
First and foremost, Pokemon Go is undoubtedly a distracting game. It is
distracting until the point of causing nuisances, disturbances and accidents to
surrounding people. Due to the game specialty which is AR or augmented reality,
people have been locking their eyes on their smartphone all the time even when
in middle of walking. There have been reports of accident such as people falling
and tripping while "hunting, traffic jams provoked by human stampede and cars
being parked irresponsibly by players in quest of searching Pokemon. With AR
features also, players need to flash their camera at certain specific direction of
the Pokemon to capture it. Sometimes, this act caused nuisance and disturbance
as people thinks that players are taking pictures of them without their
permissions, an intrusion of their privacy. Pokemon Go had increased the
likelihood of accidents and disturbances since the release of the game.
Next, many crimes related to Pokemon Go have been reported in overseas
countries. Players unknowingly play this game and lured into specific locations
which was believed to be inhabit by rare Pokemon in order to catch them. Little
did they know these places were traps set up by criminals to harm them. Once
they fallen prey to this simple trick, muggers assaulted them and ran away with
their precious belongings. There even some cases where players were injured
physically. This phenomenon also happened because some players plays during
late nights and ventures into dangerous secluded areas such as dark alleyways

and hidden areas of cities. Thus, this game does contribute to the rising of petty
crime such as theft and robbery which someday could cost someones life.
Other than that, Pokemon Go like any other games, may become costly for
some nave users. This game could be downloaded free from Google Play Store,
yet it has microtransactions or in-app purchases where players could buy items
in the game with real-world currency. Those who wished to advance faster in the
game using easier path often invested their hard-earned money for this pointless
cause and end up wasting a lot of money. It is also said to lure people into certain
popular shops, making players spend their cash on their products. Companies
may build partnership with the game developers to make their shops an
attraction to the players. By doing this, many players are lured to hunt Pokemon
in their shop and coincidently purchase a thing or two. Hence, this Pokemon Go
mania mainly leads to a waste of money.
Besides some disadvantages of Pokemon Go, there are some advantages
of it such as it can make improve players physical and emotional state. This
game gave them the cause to get up and go. It encourages people to explore
their surroundings and met new people who share the same interest. In, addition,
walking which is essential in the game, is a form of exercise that contributed to
lower obesity level. People who often suffer from emotional problems such as
social anxiety and depression also find this game offer opportunities to ease their
problems.
In conclusion, Pokemon Go has its own good and bad side which depends
on the players itself. From my point of view, this game should not be played by
Malaysian considering the side effects which is distracting, dangerous and waste
of money. Malaysians also are not encouraged to play because majority of us,
lack self-control and did not have the same level of awareness as other countries
that may cost us our own lives.