POKEMON GO EXERCISE EFFECT DIDN’T LAST

In July 2016, when Nintendo unleashed its Pokemon GO game, many were excited because, at long last, a video game had successfully convinced people to get more exercise (* Really? “Many”?). Pokemon GO was immediately popular, downloaded some 100 million times in less than a month, and to play you had to get out and walk in the real world. But, as they say, that was then. According to a new study from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal’s Christmas edition, the boost in step counts was moderate and short-lived. Researchers looked at the step counts of 1,182 iPhone 6-series users between the ages of 18 and 35, comparing the stats of Pokemon GO players and non-players over several weeks. That first week, the activity increase was significant – a boost of 955 steps, or an estimated 11 minutes of additional walking a day. But then, after the first week, the disparity between players and non-players tapered off. After six weeks, the Pokemon GO effect had disappeared completely.
* Pokemon GO bust. (Or, Pokemon GO went.)
* I want to go on record as saying that I was never excited about Pokemon GO.
* But I love how they tried to spin a video game as a healthy thing.
* They thought we would walk 11 more minutes a day? Did they do NO market research?
* Meanwhile most people get more exercise walking from their sofa to the refrigerator.
* And what was the plan for when winter came?
* Nice to see Harvard focusing on the big issues.
* Should we tell Harvard that we knew Pokemon GO was over months ago, or would that be not nice?
* I swear the electoral college makes more sense than Harvard these days.