Pokémon Go: Are you playing it yet, or does it still crash?

Dear users and authors,
the Pokémon Go app isn’t working for me right now, so I haven’t been able to try it out yet.
Do you have any experience with Pokémon Go?

I have an informational article here for parents whose children want to try Pokémon Go.
It includes some helpful tips for playing safely.
http://www.t-online.de/eltern/erziehung/kinder-sicher-im-netz/id_78427376/-pokemon-go-das-muessen-eltern-ueber-das-ios-und-android-spiel-wissen.html

Dear Josefa, and I thought this was a Pokémon Go-free zone. ;-)
I don’t have the app myself, but my kids (ages 21, 15, 14, and even my 4-year-old is in on it) run around with it every day.
The upside is that even couch potatoes are getting some exercise in the fresh air. 

Dear Sabine, I just thought I’d pick up on a few trending topics here so that the Crazypatterns forum stays nicely up to date. :-) But we have plenty of topics—it’s not just about Pokémon Go. Maybe you’d rather say something about Bobbels?
https://www.crazypatterns.net/de/forum/topic/19705/bobbels

For heaven’s sake, anything but that game! (laughs)
Yeah, I guess it has the advantage of getting people—especially younger ones—to go outside again, but it definitely comes with risks. Unfortunately, there have already been accidents caused by the app.
Luckily, I’m past that age... ;-)

My oldest son has also caught the fever. He and his friends have already walked quite a few kilometers because of it—here in our rural area. Our dog gets to come along and is especially happy to get some extra exercise.

I’m glad my oldest son is responsible enough not to play on his phone while driving. 

My kids are also hooked on Pokémon. My oldest is actually getting outside for a change! Our daughter doesn’t play it that often, though, because almost all of her friends are on vacation and she doesn’t want to go hunting alone. We have one strict rule: Put your phone down and look carefully when crossing the street! She follows it, too, because unfortunately we’ve already seen a girl almost get hit by a car....
It’s not for me—I’m mostly just at home, so there isn’t much to catch there....

My children (8 and 10) have either not noticed this game yet or aren’t interested in it. At least neither of them has mentioned it to me yet, and I’m quite happy to keep quiet about things like that.
I’m also lucky that both of my children are always outside anyway, and even more so now in summer.
Unfortunately for me, our garden is a bit like a jungle. But at least that has the advantage that the children have plenty of trees right by the house to climb, etc. On top of that, each child has gymnastics and football twice a week, and there’s a cul-de-sac where they can ride scooters, bikes, inline skates, etc. for hours.
Even though we live in a small town, I don’t like letting them go toward the forest on their own. Our forest is somehow just too big and confusing for that. We prefer to go there together when logging is going on.
Unfortunately, within the town itself, we have the bad luck that although our village is nice to look at, it’s not really child-friendly.
Schoolchildren aren’t even allowed to ride their bikes in the schoolyard in the afternoon. :-(
But to be honest, I think if we still lived in the city, I might see this game differently. Still, with younger children, you really have to be with them. That’s what I think!
Best regards
Birgit

Hi,

I’m thinking of buying a Sony Xperia XA so I can play Pokémon. It can’t be that my little brother can play it and I can’t. After all, I’ve been watching the show since elementary school, still every Monday through Saturday ;)

Can anyone recommend the Sony Xperia XA? I’d also like to use it as a camera at concerts, and it doesn’t have to be a €600 phone—it’d be even more annoying if one like that were to get dropped.

Best wishes

Annika

Dear Josefa,
I didn’t mean that in a negative way :-)

I think it’s great that you’re covering these topics, and Pokémon is definitely one of them right now.

As for my youngest playing the game: I’m glad his older siblings are playing it with him in the neighborhood. It makes him feel like he belongs and like a big kid.
It’s also doing my daughter a lot of good. She just got a Vespa recently, but unfortunately took a spill right away and didn’t really want to ride it anymore after that. With the game, though, she’s still meeting up with her friends and riding to their agreed-upon meeting spots :-). To ensure her safety on the road, her big brother still accompanies her, so I can rest easy.
So it’s a double bonus: fresh air and riding practice.

Dear Sabine
I enjoy reading your posts :-)

Pokémon isn’t a new game, even though this is the first time there’s a mobile version. Augmented reality isn’t new either—it was already available on handheld consoles like the Nintendo 3DS years before the current hype!

This new “epidemic” (written with a wink) was also a topic of discussion at driving school today.
The driving instructor brought it up—he’s out on the road with his students almost all day, and ever since the hype started, he’s seen almost nothing but teenagers walking around staring at their phones without paying attention to traffic.
I haven’t really paid much attention to it myself yet, but once my practical lessons start (I’m currently getting my driver’s license—a late bloomer ;-)), I’ll probably have to be extra vigilant so that none of the Pokémon hunters run out in front of my car. ;-)