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The Tragedy of Pokémon Go: What it takes for good ideas to attract money

theatlantic.com

51–57 of 57 posts

Re: The Tragedy of Pokémon Go: What it takes for good ideas to attract money

#51

The real tragedy of Pokemon Go is that it's essentially a glorified Cow Clicker. The core gameplay (battling and leveling to strengthen your team, then using them to collect ever-stronger Pokemon) has been replaced with mindless swiping. Toss Pokeballs until one works, then move to a new spot and repeat ad infinitum. This "game" had so much potential, but they removed all the gameplay!

Isn't the core game walking around? It's great, I did it before it was part of a game just to feel good.

Re: The Tragedy of Pokémon Go: What it takes for good ideas to attract money

#52

The saddest part to me is that the AR experience is still sub-optimal, which given the state of monocular SLAM isn't necessary. Niantic, with the funding they have and google connections, could have given the AR function 6DOF had they tried a little harder. Our little team have been able to do monocular SLAM 6DOF with 1/50th of the funding, so it's confusing why they didn't go that route. Even still, it appears that…

>> Our little team have been able to do monocular SLAM 6DOF with 1/50th of the funding, so it's confusing why they didn't go that route.

Cause they don't have the experience?

I usually turn off the AR so i don't have to wave my phone around like an idiot.

Re: The Tragedy of Pokémon Go: What it takes for good ideas to attract money

#53

Looks like this is the core argument for why Pokemon Go is a tragedy: """Even Google couldn’t make Ingress work without reskinning it as Pokémon. And while Pokémon is popular and basically harmless, the alternating reality it offers is still that of a branded, licensed, kiddie cock-fighting fantasy.""" I think the real tragedy is that the author of this thing can't lighten up and enjoy something that is making all ki…

Personally I have no problem with stuff being corporate branded and/or juvenile but I am surprised that the cock-fighting element isn't mentioned more often in relation to Pokemon. Maybe it is because I have seen a little real life cock-fighting (and its horrifying) but I find that aspect quite repellent.

Fair. But if I thought too hard about a list of every video game element with some vaguely unsettling real-world proxy, I wouldn't be able to play a single video game. When viewed from this lens, even something as innocuous as Super Mario Bros. is subversive. ("Solve problems by eating psychedelic mushrooms and stomping people's heads.")

Fortunately, most people are able to separate the fantasy/gameplay elements from their (real or perceived) violent equivalents IRL. This is the first time I've encountered the Pokemon/cockfighting analogy. While I find it novel, and while it made me stop and think for a second, a second is all I needed.

Re: The Tragedy of Pokémon Go: What it takes for good ideas to attract money

#54

I'm not sure this a fair analysis. Yes, Pokémon certainly added a nice built in fanbase, but I don't think that alone would have made it the social phenomenon it currently is. As the article mentions, the gameplay is significantly easier than Ingress. Also, the theme is much more family friendly and less paranoid. It's got cute pocket monsters you can collect throughout the day. Additionally, the camera aspect makes…

Agreed. Ingress had gameplay that was not only niche, but it was abstract and difficult to explain -- and THEN explain why it was fun. Pokemon is, not only a completely different game with different rules and objectives, but the gameplay is super accessible. I enjoyed Ingress, but I completely disagree that it's a "tragedy" that it (or other, often similarly convoluted games) didn't take off with a broader community like Pokemon has.

While I appreciate that the article exists, and think that its message (the apparent necessity of corporate branding to drive VR) is a good one to consider, their logic may have some holes. Pokemon is not just re-skinned Ingress.

Re: The Tragedy of Pokémon Go: What it takes for good ideas to attract money

#55

The saddest part to me is that the AR experience is still sub-optimal, which given the state of monocular SLAM isn't necessary. Niantic, with the funding they have and google connections, could have given the AR function 6DOF had they tried a little harder. Our little team have been able to do monocular SLAM 6DOF with 1/50th of the funding, so it's confusing why they didn't go that route. Even still, it appears that…

>> Our little team have been able to do monocular SLAM 6DOF with 1/50th of the funding, so it's confusing why they didn't go that route. Cause they don't have the experience? I usually turn off the AR so i don't have to wave my phone around like an idiot.

Cause they don't have the experience?

I'd be surprised if this was true - being a part of Google and all for quite some time.

I'd be really interested to know what percentage of users have AR turned off.

Re: The Tragedy of Pokémon Go: What it takes for good ideas to attract money

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't be condescending, I wouldn't have ranted or cared if I didn't have a clue. Others are commenting on game mechanics, lack of features or use of AR, but I'm not a game dev so I don't care. This app crashes so much, it must be some really obvious exception they're not catching. I don't expect it to be bug free, but constantly crashing ? Since you're obviously such a pro, let me ask you: Would you release software…

>Don't be condescending Where was I condescending? I gave good answers to all your points. >This app crashes so much, it must be some really obvious exception they're not catching. Who's condescending now? "Since it breaks so much, sheesh, it should be really obvious how to fix it." Nothing is really obvious how to fix, if they knew how to fix it they already wood have >I don't expect it to be bug free, but constantl…

Hey, look! An App Store update today! Who could have predicted it??

Re: The Tragedy of Pokémon Go: What it takes for good ideas to attract money

#57
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally I can deal with the other stuff but I can't stand looking at that silly looking character walking over a featureless flat blue map of every parkbench around my building. As far as I can tell there are no "friends", "clans", or even any way to battle your pokemon. I think I've clicked through everything and after restarting the game 50 some times looking for the core features associated with pokemon and now…

GO has teams (Red, Blue, Yellow). You need to get to level 5 to join a team. Once you join a team you can battle at and take over gyms.

I'm at level five (almost six), but no option for team or anything has popped up?
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