Pokemon Go

[Thrik]

I think it's fantastic. Personally I'm not that keen on the game itself — on my iOS device it's laggy, low-res, and it seems like it needs a lot of polish including allowing you to skip the super-long animations — but it achieves its goal, which is to allow you to fulfil that childhood dream of going around the real world catching Pokemon and having adventures. OK, you might get mugged or chased off with knives, but it's all part of the fun!

In my opinion it shows that more than anything else people just want to explore the world and connect with each other, otherwise they'd just be playing the billion Pokemon games already out there. This is great and something developers should take into consideration, rather than churning out yet another shitty mobile game with 'social elements' which actually just means spamming people on Facebook or allowing chat.

Even at work, lots of people who I've never really talked to (it's a big floor) have suddenly been all around talking about the game which then breaks the ice and leads to further conversation and now we talk more. I'd be fascinated to know how many lasting friendships and relationships result from this game, which no matter which way you frame it is a good thing for humanity.

[Sigma]

I think this game is indicative of the natural state of social behavior for humans (we require social interaction with one another in a more physical capacity) - the reason I say that is because, anecdotally, I know I get more satisfaction from a game when I can enjoy it with someone else in the same room/area. It's why I miss the older consoles that required same-room play for multiplayer. This could just be the nostalgia in me coming out though.

[Jetsetlemming]

has anyone made a Pokemon: Global Offensive joke yet

 

if not, there you go. Good joke. 

 

Also if you like this game, but especially if you hate its stupid bad servers, install Ingress. It's the predecessor that Pokego is based on, except unlike most sequels instead of adding new features and polish they stripped out most of the game to replace with an IP. Ingress has more to do, way, way more player interaction, and a cool gameplay hook of connecting the various points across your neighborhood to form geometric fields of "mind control" over your town for points, and a decent story about an alien invasion behind its features. 

Edited July 20, 2016 by Jetsetlemming

[Thrik]

But does it have Psyducks.

[laminutederire]

On Wednesday, July 20, 2016 at 0:55 AM, Minos said:

Now imagine when they release Animal Crossing GO

Speaking of GO releases, I hope they won't release CS GO GO...

[Guest]

On 7/21/2016 at 0:33 PM, laminutederire said:

Speaking of GO releases, I hope they won't release CS GO GO...

Gotta catch all the skins. 

Edited November 21, 2016 by Wrakke

[Minos]

petermolydeux ‏@PeterMolydeux  4h4 hours ago

Imagine if Mario's mobile game placed AR holes of various sizes in the streets and rewarded you for physically running/jumping over them

[laminutederire]

6 hours ago, Wrakke said:

Gotta catch all the skins. 

There is a Factory New AWP GRAPHITE in your area!

You forgot the new doorknob dragon lore which is in your kitchen! Nice!

More seriously, Pokemon GO seem to be a weird game considering the demographics of it and the purpose of it from the point of view of some players. Some are damn serious, some just curious and some only play it "socially".

This doesn't seem right, since social effects are only ephemeral, and a chunk of the player base will eventually stop playing because of that :/

[Logic]

Crazy

Edited July 22, 2016 by Logic

[Thrik]

12 hours ago, laminutederire said:

social effects are only ephemeral, and a chunk of the player base will eventually stop playing because of that :/

Of course. It's the textbook definition of a fad, which I'd imagine Nintendo knows. Presumably they'll be getting as much revenue as they can out of it before it passes by.  

[laminutederire]

7 hours ago, Thrik said:

Of course. It's the textbook definition of a fad, which I'd imagine Nintendo knows. Presumably they'll be getting as much revenue as they can out of it before it passes by.  

Of course, however Russia will try to keep it cool as long as they can, since it's the only sport they'll be playing during the Olympics apparently !

If Nintendo knows it, it's a cheap move which is demeaning the video game industry in the eyes of the rest of the world :/

[Jetsetlemming]

I see this game is popular among the nazis this year, too

Edited July 22, 2016 by Jetsetlemming

[blackdog]

Pls just don't game dis.

[maarti]

I think this is something very cool in our lifetime as well as for nintendo/pokemon era. I mean they managed to get millions out of their house to go adventure around to catch pokemon like the trainers in the game do as well. I also think it is pretty cool that here in my hometown there have been PokemonGO gatherings in he park so everyone can get together and play and have fun.

[Thrik]

On 7/22/2016 at 5:52 PM, laminutederire said:

Of course, however Russia will try to keep it cool as long as they can, since it's the only sport they'll be playing during the Olympics apparently !

If Nintendo knows it, it's a cheap move which is demeaning the video game industry in the eyes of the rest of the world :/

I don't know, the mobile games industry can't really get any more shitty than it is right now — full of dirty freemium games that I basically never bother downloading because I know 99% of the time they're just a trap to get me to spend money.

Nintendo is only joining an already shitty sector of the industry, although to be fair Pokemon Go is pretty light touch with its money-making features (i.e. you can buy lures and such but it's completely optional). I have no doubt that some extra things will be implemented to increase revenue, however the costs of running the game must be very high due to all the servers required and the game has done great things, so they deserve it IMO.

It's worth noting that Pokemon as a fad isn't a new concept. Don't forget that Pokemon playing cards swept across the world in the 90s/2000s, one of the biggest things around and then it all went away again. It's just the nature of huge phenomena like this — it won't last, so enjoy it while it's hot. Go outside and connect with some like-minded Pokemon trainers.