Topic: Why all the Hate?: Pokemon GO

[Wah]

Type in Pokémon into google, go on. Do it!
what do you see?
Media Band wagoning at the extreme, people dying while playing Pokémon go, pedophiles and thieves using the software to trap people. Playing while driving.
I'm sick of it. Pokémon go isn't a bad thing, it encourages people to go outside (the game says pay attention to your surroundings!) and before this it was texting, before that movies and video games, before that rock'n'roll before that newspapers and even books. I'm sick of all the hate on the internet so I'm making the why all the hate? series.
So what do you think of the Pokémon GO craze and the media idiotic coverage?

[lolmonade]

I think it's because it's 1) has gotten a lot of attention BECAUSE it's Nintendo/Pokemon, 2) BECAUSE there have been issues of people hurting themselves, getting mugged, finding a dead body (remember wiihaveaproblem.com?), and 3) BECAUSE it is wildly successful, and there's always some sort of backlash for that.


That said, I haven't turned it on in 2 weeks, and I don't suspect I'll bother with it for a while yet.  I played it a good long while when it came out, but where i'm currently located has barely any pokestops, and the gyms that do exist clearly have people who do nothing but play the game or have put real money into it.


Neat diversion, but not for me.

[Soren]

Niantic's complete silence on the matter has been troubling. Government agencies communicate better than Niantic has.

[Order.RSS]

Idk, there's a lot of positivity too right? That ice cream shop which didn't go bankrupt due to PokéGO foottraffic, families out together having fun, just read today that Belgian police are strategically placing lures to reduce burglary chances LOL. Wouldn't worry too much about a lot of those elevated clickbaity articles. PokéGO became huge overnight; perfect for media to write about.

Niantic's complete silence on the matter has been troubling. Government agencies communicate better than Niantic has.

I think I've missed something, what are Niantic being silent about? They fixed the privacy bug and added the speeding warning recently, so it's not like they're completely ignoring the criticism, or?

[King of Twitch]

My theory is it touches all three rails of the idiotic local news trifecta.

1)'helpful hints' -- the first heat wave of the summer and out come the bullet point 'tips' on how to stay hydrated. Wow, I almost forgot how to drink water, thanks kcal9! With minimal effort this gets slightly tweaked to: avoid catching pokemon while driving, stay alert, dont't get raped, etc.
2) they like interviewing people on the street because it saves them from doing actual investigate journalism.
3) they love anything with animals

[Wah]

My theory is it touches all three rails of the idiotic local news trifecta.

1)'helpful hints' -- the first heat wave of the summer and out come the bullet point 'tips' on how to stay hydrated. Wow, I almost forgot how to drink water, thanks kcal9! With minimal effort this gets slightly tweaked to: avoid catching pokemon while driving, stay alert, dont't get raped, etc.
2) they like interviewing people on the street because it saves them from doing actual investigate journalism.
3) they love anything with animals

XD

[Stratos]

I read a great article by a lawyer on how liable Niantic/Pokemon Company/Nintendo are for what happens to you while you play. Summary is that it is all on you legally because you are participating of your own volition. no one forces you to play the game while driving. Darting into traffic while playing is all your fault and the driver who hits you is not liable.

Only reason it is even being talked about is because ignorant people do not know the law and see a big cash bag target over this game's head to home in on. Media sees the potential clickbait and supports this so they can boost their profit.

[nickmitch]

People just suck at driving, and they need to blame something other than their own lack of skills.  Those people would've crashed their cars doing something else on their phones anyway.  It's like, come on, people.  Git gud.