Researcher: Time to study Pokémon Go

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Do Pokemon Go players exercise more?
Do Pokemon Go players exercise more?
Some health advocates view Pokémon Go as: 1. A hazard because the game distracts players as they walk mindlessly into traffic, etc., or, 2. A benefit because players are getting a workout.  

    As strange as it may seem, both answers are correct. And now, a pediatrics professor is urging researchers to study the game’s impact.
    Pokémon Go is the much-loved augmented reality game from Nintendo Co. in which players use smartphones to pursue and catch animated Pokémon creatures. The creatures are depicted on real-world images within the geographic area around the player. In a video on the game’s website, players walk, run and cycle as they chase the imaginary creatures.
    From the beginning, the game has been a smash success. Research company SensorTower Inc. reported earlier this month that the app had "surpassed $160 million in worldwide net revenue on the App Store and Google Play since releasing on July 6." But the game also has been the cause of eye rolling, as Pokémon Go players hunt virtual monsters everywhere.
    Even so, researchers should study the game, argues an editorial by Tom Baranowski, professor of pediatrics in behavioral nutrition and physical activity at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and editor-in-chief of the journal Games For Health.
    “Despite conventional wisdom, substantial numbers of people (even some couch potatoes?) were willing to be physically active (i.e. substantial walking) for long periods of time,” he wrote, adding that some newspaper accounts reported players in pursuit for hours.
    “What differentiated those who responded more intensely and/or for longer periods of time from those who did not?” he asked. “Were some aspects of the game more played or more effective, or did different aspects (e.g. different characters, different locations) motivate different people?”
    The journal is interested in rigorous studies dissecting the game’s impact. And in order to understand how such games can promote exercise, Baranowski suggests that game makers team with academic researchers in the future.   

    Related:

    Most teens go online daily, survey finds 

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