‘Pokemon GO' Gen 2 Update Does No Good To Physical Health; Mobile Game Finally Available In Other Asian Countries

With all the frustration Niantic Inc. is getting recently from users of the popular mobile application, “Pokemon GO” because of the disappointing results of the latest update, one would think it ends there. But it does not. Apparently, the said mobile game is getting flak for not contributing to the physical health awareness.

One of the things that made “Pokemon GO” a great application is that it forced users to walk around to look for and capture pocket monsters as well as go on long hikes to hatch countless eggs. But just recently, according to a Harvard study that was reported by the British Medical Journal, the said mobile game possesses a major flaw when it comes to its fitness benefits. An in-depth study said that the effects of the game to the fitness of the users were not long term.

It has been reported that records show that users of the “Pokemon GO” showed more steps taken in a week the moment the said game was launched. But six weeks later after the official release, the records show that the number of steps taken by users have drastically dropped back to levels similar to even before the said game released. The British Medical Journal concluded that there was no significant effect made by “Pokemon GO”.

Hopefully, with the latest Gen 2 patch update focusing on hatching eggs to obtain the new pocket monsters, the number of steps of users take will increase. “Pokemon GO” has been updated to determine whether the distance traveled was by foot or any other means. Meanwhile, while some countries are complaining over the fitness benefits and the lack of new pocket monsters in the new update, “Pokemon GO” has just been launched in other countries.

The “Pokemon” inspired application was released in July 2016 and it was only made available this month to certain countries in Asia, namely India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Niantic Inc. has apologized for the delay in the release in the said locations and emphasized that they had to resolve administrative challenges before launching the game in those regions. It has further announced that the game is available for Android and iOS in the said countries.