AUG 15 — I was on an Old Frees chat group and a friend, Datuk Ricque (sorry, you are now exposed), boasted on the chat group that he has caught a few Pokemon. This was last Monday and I private messaged him inquiring how I can get the game. There was already plenty of controversy from social scientists, psychologists and the religious fraternity that I had to find out for myself the nature of the game. So, on Aug 6, my Pokemon journey began.

I must admit, I enjoyed the first three days of catching Pokemon and was proud that I had 82 Pokemon while my 14-year-old son had only 31 then. Even now I am leading with 162 Pokemon after about five days playing it. My son advised me to play less and focus more on work complaining what the world has come to where children have to advise their parents about playing less online games. What he didn’t know was that in Kuala Lumpur, you get caught in traffic jams often and when you are being driven around, you have plenty of occasions to collect Pokeballs and catch Pokemon.

I did notice some people playing Pokemon in traffic jams while they are driving which I feel is a bad thing. However, it has become a sight in Kuala Lumpur to see people on their smartphones either Whatsapping or messaging even in jams and some while driving. So, I suppose the danger remains the same — you are to focus only on the road when you are driving.

Whether it is playing Pokemon, Whatsapping or using the mobile device for any purpose, the do’s and dont’s I suppose remain the same. The health and psychological consequences too are about the same with some specific differences. You must always be conscious of your surroundings and must know the right time and place to go on your device.  Having played Pokemon, I find that it can be as distractive or as joyful as being on Whatsapp or Facebook. Even while writing this article I keep getting Whatsapp messages and that takes up time too — in fact more Whatsapp messages than Pokemon appearing on my mobile. All these can take up a lot of your life if you do not manage your time well and allow the "thrill” to control your life. It really depends on why you are doing what you are doing and how you are doing it.

Pokemon Go is an online game that forces you to go outdoors to play it. It makes you walk and explore. This part of the game thrills me. In my quest to collect Pokeballs, I learnt the names of places that I have passed by but never knew. It is like being a tourist in your own hometown. I discovered a nice eatery in Sri Hartamas and was wondering about the advertising potential of the game. Imagine if your restaurant or shop is made a Pokestop.

I found it amusing when I went to the park recently where there was twice the number of people usually there and most of them were walking about looking down at their mobile. When they stop, you know that they are trying to catch a Pokemon that just appeared on their phones. I went to the park with my son and it did give me a chance to discuss with him whether it is a good thing that more people are now coming to the park. His view is that it is not a good thing as it takes away the park patrons appreciation of the park environment unless you use Pokemon as an excuse to explore the surroundings. He also feels that this will be a passing fad and that a game is after all a game with a shelf life. This one I have to agree as I once thought that the game "Prince of Persia” was the ultimate game.

He educated me on a more challenging game that is going to hit the markets soon — virtual reality (VR) — which is an indoor game where you are literally sucked into a virtual world. I start imagining the movie "Matrix” where you just lie down on a reclining chair and the game goes on in your mind. Now this is scary and I suppose that is where the real caution should be. If we were concerned before about the impact of video and online games on perceptions of reality, I suppose the impact may be many fold with these VR games.

Many people do not know that this not Niantic Company’s first game where they try to marry the real world with the virtual world. I didn’t either until I was educated by my son. In 2014, they created a game called "Ingress”. Ingress is a story-driven, real-world augmented reality game. This means you install a game on your phone, and the game takes place in the real world so you have to get out of the house to play. In this game you are sort of a secret agent who is out to save the world from mind hacking and so on. However, this game did not become as popular as Pokemon Go probably because Pokemon was already around for years.

What fascinates me about all these are the technological possibilities that can happen in the future in the real world and how prepared we are to coexist with them. I always remind myself that what the mind can imagine, it has the potential to create in real life. In this context, we can either have a typical defensive mentality created by our limited past experiences or open up our minds to the current situation and future possibilities. As for Pokemon Go, since my research is over, I have just uninstalled it. It is a nice game but I prefer the real game of life.

* Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos is a senior lawyer and founder of Rapera, a movement that encourages thinking  and compassionate citizens. He can be reached at rapera.jay@gmail.com.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.