While the interest in Pokémon GO has waned, the passion for the game remains alive for 70-year-old grandfather from Taipei City, Taiwan.
Chen San-yuan travels around town with his bike with 11 phones attached to his handlebars as he seeks to catch all the Pokémon that he can find. Chen's enthusiasm for the game has earned him the title Uncle Pokémon from the locals. According to Chen, he got hooked on the game, which involves finding and capturing as many fictional Pokémon creatures as possible, through his grandson. The game earned accolades for encouraging users to enjoy the outdoors and exercise.
With Chen, he has many chances of capturing many Pokémon creatures because of his multiple phones and he has the mobility through his bicycle. Chen first got the attention when he made it to the front page of Reddit when he was still using six phones. After that, he increased his possibility of catching many Pokémon characters by adding three more phones.
Chen Plans To Add More Phones
Despite having 11 phones now, Chen said he wants to add four more phones to his bicycle, bringing his total to 15. Chen's portable battery packs allow him to operate his phones for up to 20 hours at a time, giving him a chance to play until 4 a.m. Chen revealed that he spends around $1,300 a month on his hobby, which he claims, keeps him healthy and feeling young.
"There's a lot of fun," Chen told EXP.GG in an interview. "I can connect with people [and] prevent Alzheimer's disease." As for his bike, Chen said he uses an old-school hybrid cruiser with a basket for his phone chargers and phone mounts. It even has an umbrella that will protect him from the elements as he chases Pokémon characters.
Pokémon GO Can Make A Person Healthier
A study conducted by Duke Health said that playing Pokémon GO is beneficial to the health as it encourages people to get up and walk. In its study involving 167 iPhone users who had played Pokémon GO in July 2016, Duke Health said that people playing Pokémon GO have added around thousands of steps a day. The finding was presented during the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/ Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health meeting in Portland, Oregon.
"Lack of enjoyment and lack of time are the most common reasons for not being physically active," said lead author Hanzhang Xu, a Ph.D. student at Duke University School of Nursing. Xu emphasized that using gameplay on mobile devices in physical activity could give anyone an alternative way to remain healthy through exercise.
