SEATTLE – What do Pokemon and Star Trek have in common? Both can now claim popular, tech-driven games that apparently nobody can stop playing no matter how much they try to resist.
Pokemon Go went viral almost the moment it dropped in app stores for iPhone and Android. Players use a GPS feature to go to real world locations to catch Pokemon characters.
The stories of just how far people will go to “catch ‘em all” have been astounding – even to the point of climbing fences to trespass on other people’s property.
It’s eerily similar to an incident that happened in 1991 – or more aptly Stardate 45208.2.
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Game,” Commander Will Riker returns from shore leave with a game that sends the brain pleasure signals. It seems innocent at first, but it turns out the game is meant to control the minds of the Enterprise crew and, eventually, the Federation.
Ultimately, it’s the work of young Starfleet cadet Wesley Crusher, played by Wil Wheaton, who discovers the plot. He thwarts it with the help of Lt. Commander Data and a device called a palm beacon (a fancy name for a flashlight) that emits a burst of light which reverses the game’s effects.
Sound crazy? Even Wheaton pointed this all out Sunday on Twitter.
Look, I warned you about Pokémon Go way back in the 90s. None of you listened to me then, and you better hope @BrentSpiner saves you now.
— Wil Wheaton (@wilw) July 11, 2016
Of course, this is the real world and not Star Trek. But if you find a friend of yours is overly insistent you play Pokemon Go, you might want to make sure to have a palm beacon handy.
