SOUTH Coast folk of all ages are being seduced into the natural world, and the unnatural one, in the pursuit of Pokemon creatures since a new Nintendo phone app was launched earlier this month.
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Some say it’s simply fun and a good excuse to be outside, others warn it’s yet another step towards a machine-addicted future, with accidents, trespassing, and social dysfunction all part of ‘the game’.
Bega resident Tamika Johnson travelled to Eden last Monday specifically to hunt Pokemon characters, and admitted to the strong mind control of the game after being enticed to step into a closed car yard at night to secure a “Golbat” character.
“It’s trespassing I guess, but I just stepped over the chain, got the Pokemon and left,” Ms Johnson said.
Police report further physical and psychological “trespasses” resulting from Pokemon GO.
“Of significant concern to officers were two incidents at Cabramatta, where the drivers of two vehicles were engaged in playing a game on their mobile phones while driving,” a Police Media spokesperson said on Tuesday.
In each case, those drivers were effectively putting themselves, their passengers and other road users at great risk, the police said.
But it appears there’s no limit to how far people will go for the game, with Eden student Kye Drewberry literally lured out of town.
“There are no Pokemon around Wolumla,” Kye said on Tuesday.
“So we drove to Canberra for a day.
And we wanna go to Sydney to catch Pokemon soon.
We’ve wasted a lot of fuel, driving around.
We have jobs, so we can work and pay for our fuel.
But it’s making the bank balance go down a bit!”
An Eden psychologist, who wished to stay anonymous, said the game is just another “addiction to a machine that mediates everything”.
“Emotional health, social connections, a sense of being worthwhile; the machine is becoming increasingly vital in that,” the psychologist said.
“We’re becoming a cyber people.”