Pokémon Go Research — We Often Love what we Tear Apart
How it Started
Imagine this: a lab full of nerds (myself included) obsessively playing Pokémon GO as it comes out in 2016. That’s where it all started. Our professor, Brent Hecht, initially thought we were just wasting time, but then something clicked for him during a run. He noticed everyone was playing it — and that sparked our unique research project.
Study Insights
Our research highlighted how Pokémon GO influenced player movements and behaviors in urban environments. We discovered that the game’s design favored urban areas and those with smaller minority populations, by having more PokéStops, inadvertently giving them an advantage over other areas and reinforcing existing geographical biases. This finding was critical in understanding the broader implications of location-based games on societal and urban dynamics.
Methodology
We employed a mixed-methods approach, combining field surveys with a geostatistical analysis. This robust method lent credibility to our findings, highlighting the intricate dynamics between digital gaming and real-world geography.
Supercon Surprise
Fast forward to Supercon this year, and there I was, face-to-face with the creators of Pokémon GO all this time later. I was modifying my Pokemon Go+ to remove the sound and vibration physically from the device that I didn’t like. You’d think it’d be awkward, discussing the critical findings with them and modifying their device. But it wasn’t. It was like meeting fellow enthusiasts who spoke the same language of passion and curiosity. To my maybe naive surprise, one of them had read our paper and taken the feedback. He seemed surprised that I was such an enthusiastic fan after writing the issues with Pokemon Go, but was thrilled to meet me.
Takeaways
Our critiques, no matter how sharp, often come from a place of deep love of what we so viciously tear apart. We critique because we care, because we’re fans at heart, and in this case, because we want the game we love to be inclusive of everyone — no matter the racial makeup of your neighborhood and beyond the rural/urban divide.