It has been more than a month since the wildly popular Pokemon Go was made available in Malaysia and it looks like public interest in the virtual phone game is not about to wane anytime soon.

In fact, just go to any public park, shopping mall or even house of worship - or any ‘hunting ground’ teeming with those virtual monsters - and you will see players of all ages furiously swiping their smartphones in their bid to capture a Pokemon.

Why, the usually quiet Tasik Taman Jaya in Petaling Jaya now boasts a large number of visitors, thanks to Pokemon Go. But in their enthusiasm to net a Pikachu (a Pokemon character) or two, many of them are landing on the wrong side of the law - according to press reports, the Petaling Jaya City Council has been issuing some 200 compounds a day to Pokemon Go players for committing various traffic offences.

Pokemon Go, which has taken the world by storm since its official launch in several countries in July, is an augmented reality (AR) game developed by Niantic Inc.

To play the game, Pokemon Go players or trainers, as they prefer to be called, make use of their phone camera, Internet data connection and global positioning system (GPS) to hunt for virtual Pocket Monsters or Pokemon that can then be used for duels between players.

For crime analyst Kamal Affendi Hashim, Pokemon Go is by all means a fun game to play, provided that players do not get in the way of other park users who are there for recreational activities, or infringe on other people’s privacy or trespass on private property.

Self-discipline important

He said the problem with virtual reality games like Pokemon Go was that players could become so engrossed and immersed in their game that they may become oblivious of their surroundings and get involved in an accident or become a crime victim.

All would be well if players practised self-discipline and made sure they did not endanger their own or other people’s lives, he said.

“As long as a player knows that it is just a game, there’s no harm in playing Pokemon Go. But when one becomes obsessed by the game, it can spell trouble for the player, as well as the people around him.

“What’s more, the AR camera, which is part of the game, requires the player to fix his attention on the phone screen, and this can pose a danger if he doesn’t look where he is going,” he told Bernama.

Kamal Affendi also said he would not be too surprised if some criminals use Pokemon Go as an excuse to loiter in secluded areas and wait for their victims.

“Should the police detain them on account of their suspicious behaviour, they may very well say that they are playing Pokemon,” he said, reminding players not to venture out to dark alleys at night in search of PokeStops or PokeGyms, for obvious reasons.

He also said that owners of premises marked as PokeStops or PokeGyms could make a request to the game developer to have the geotag removed if they feel that their privacy or security had been violated.

Not the first app to use GPS

Gaming portal JomGaming.my editor Badd Anuar said Niantic Inc should consider including parental control features in Pokemon Go so that parents could monitor their children and limit the time they spend playing the game.

As far as he is concerned, playing the game is an enjoyable way to get some exercise outdoors.

“I hunt for Pokemon when I go jogging or swimming, or when I’m stuck in a traffic jam or while waiting for public transport.

“I would advise players not to be too obsessed with the game as there are many other real-life issues that demand their attention. Addiction to virtual games and social media has led to this culture called phubbing, whereby individuals are so engrossed with their mobile devices that they don’t pay attention to the people around them,” he said.

Badd also said that Pokemon Go was not the first application to use GPS as its platform as other apps like Waze and virtual games like Ingress, Zombies and Geocaching also make use of the GPS.

“There are a lot of lesser known games that use GPS but they are nothing like Pokemon Go. This game’s main attraction has to be its monsters and coupled with the relatively easy gameplay, it has become hugely popular with the people,” he said.

Badd added that it was unfair to single out Pokemon Go as a security threat as other location-based apps like Waze and Google Maps also have access to the users’ location data.

“The smartphone that we use daily has a record of our movements based on our location... but the sheer popularity of Pokemon Go has made it the black sheep where cyber security is concerned.

“What we must do now is educate gamers to disable their AR camera and not to play Pokemon Go in areas deemed sensitive or while they are driving or riding a motorbike,” he said.

Avoid addiction

Technical writer and former Java software developer Norliza Aini Abd Samad, 31, reckons that Pokemon Go became a hit because it evoked a sense of nostalgia among generations like hers who grew up watching the Pokemon cartoon and playing the game via Nintendo’s handheld game console Game Boy.

She said older virtual games like Angry Birds and Candy Crush were all the rage due to their addictive nature, likewise Pokemon Go which compels players to capture virtual monsters and collect various rewards.

“Pokemon Go requires the player to physically move from one location to another, either in pursuit of Pokemon creatures or to capture a PokeGym... this is why certain public areas are filled with Pokemon Go players.

“But then, when too many people gather at the same place it can get a bit dangerous if there’s no proper crowd control. In some shopping malls, security guards are at hand to keep an eye on the situation and remind players not to intrude into other people’s privacy,” she said.

Norliza enjoys playing Pokemon Go but her ‘playtime’ is strictly regulated as she has no intention of getting addicted to it.

“I certainly don’t want my job performance to suffer or be estranged from my friends,” she said, adding that she used her phone battery level as a guide to stop herself from crossing the line.

“When my battery is at a certain level, I ask myself if I should continue playing by connecting my phone to a power bank, or stop playing for the time being.

“Just like how we put in place certain rules and regulations before we embark on an expedition or start an activity, we can also impose limits on ourselves where Pokemon is concerned no matter where we play the game - at home or while at work or while spending time with our friends, more so when in the company of non-Pokemon fans,” she added.

- Bernama