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Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

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Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#41

Post by b_tterc_p »

Benjamin_Dobell wrote: post #13
b_tterc_p wrote: post #9

I would bet on the Harry Potter game being a relative flop. The Japanese market will probably be dead and that accounted for a huge proportion of Pokémon Go’s revenue. I would also doubt that many “whales” would be immediately attracted to the premise. They will have a tough time not just being Pokémon go but with Harry Potter this time, and I bet that will hurt mainstream adoption.

Japan... not like Harry Potter? I'm guessing you've not been to Universal Studios in Japan! Of course, that's anecdotal evidence. Here's an article about Fantastic Beasts ticket sales: https://deadline.com/2016/11/fantastic-beasts-moana-doctor-s... For Fantastic Beasts 2: https://deadline.com/2018/11/venom-crosses-800-million-ralph... The latter article states: > it held the No. 1 position in 37 markets this session.…

I am surprised by this, but still skeptical. Pikachu almost certainly must be an order of magnitude more popular than Harry Potter, no?

Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#42

Post by AlwaysRock »

b_tterc_p wrote: post #9

I would bet on the Harry Potter game being a relative flop. The Japanese market will probably be dead and that accounted for a huge proportion of Pokémon Go’s revenue. I would also doubt that many “whales” would be immediately attracted to the premise. They will have a tough time not just being Pokémon go but with Harry Potter this time, and I bet that will hurt mainstream adoption.

HP is as big... if not bigger in a lot of countries than it is in the USA.

Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#43

Post by titusjohnson »

skocznymroczny wrote: post #39
swampthinker wrote: post #22

I firmly believe that had Niantic been allowed to mimic the traditional Pokemon PvP, it would have been an even greater success. The core gameplay of the Nintendo games wasn't terribly complex, but had tons of replayability.

I think a big flaw of Pokemon Go was how different the experience was for urban folks and the rural folks. While the former were running between Charizards and Blastoises, the latter were enjoying their very rare Pidgey and Rattata spawns.

As someone who grew up in an extremely rural area, I sympathize with those who didn't get to experience the full Pokemon Go launch, it was pretty amazing to partake in. Seeing hundreds of people out for night walks, hearing someone shout "There's one down here!" at the other end of the park, running in crowds with strangers to get in on a capture, it was a lot of fun while it the initial surge lasted. The magic burnt out pretty quick for me, but I do still see people playing the game at least a few times a week.

As someone who left that rural background and now lives in a smaller, but proper city, my response is a lot colder and less sympathetic. Living rurally is a trade off. Cheaper land and housing, more space, less culture, fewer people, and less socialization. The internet _helps_ but it doesn't _cure_ this issue. Until we have teleportation living rurally will always be more isolating.

It's not really surprising that a walking-based game with a social streak that seeks to have 10 to 30 interactions per user per hour (pokes to catch, teams to form, battles to fight, etc) wouldn't work well in areas of the world where there aren't even 10 to 30 _people_ per square mile.

Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#44

Post by erikpukinskis »

titusjohnson wrote: post #43
skocznymroczny wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a big flaw of Pokemon Go was how different the experience was for urban folks and the rural folks. While the former were running between Charizards and Blastoises, the latter were enjoying their very rare Pidgey and Rattata spawns.

As someone who grew up in an extremely rural area, I sympathize with those who didn't get to experience the full Pokemon Go launch, it was pretty amazing to partake in. Seeing hundreds of people out for night walks, hearing someone shout "There's one down here!" at the other end of the park, running in crowds with strangers to get in on a capture, it was a lot of fun while it the initial surge lasted. The magic burnt…

> Until we have teleportation living rurally will always be more isolating.

I am very curious how close VR with gaze and body language tracking will get us.

Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#45

Post by sandworm101 »

Noos wrote: post #31
jerf wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen at least 3 or 4 posts to the tune of "I'm 23, and I just can't get into this latest Pokemon game. It's so easy, not like they used to be! Am I a bad person?" If you value your karma score, on no account should you say anything like "It's OK, Pokemon is a game designed for children, and while that doesn't mean you must now make an angry face at it, growl, and loudly announce that you're too grown up for it n…

The Pokemon games are very complex for games designed for children, as are games like Yokai Watch. The first game is probably one of the most complex 8-bit console RPGS, I'd think. But they really aren't children's games in the usual sense of being designed specifically for them into well into the later lifespan. I think the later games make more concessions to them, but it feels more like it was just a normal rpg th…

Pokemon is inappropriate for children imho. The messages it sends, the capturing and fighting of animals, are not good. It is a modern incarnation of past hobbies (fighting insects) that today are totally unacceptable.

Many also criticize the potter franchise for similar reasons.

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