Pokemon Go

[Zanchief]

As I was going for a run yesterday I saw about 30 people playing this all over the place. All day I see people walk by my house looking for Pokemon.

I'm starting to get a vibe like...

[brinstar]

that's the second time i've seen that image this week, what does it mean?

[brinstar]

nevermind i just GIS'd it, apparently i missed that episode


...but back on topic - yea it's crazy. the park by my house has seen crowds of 100+ people as late as 2am, and yesterday they opened up the NU football stadium and over 3000 people came and went in the course of 2 hrs

madness

full disclosure: i have an acct too but as a) i never played/watched pokemans growing up and b) i'm still invested in ingress, i don't play very much and am only L7 thus far

[Zanchief]

It's from a classic episode of TNG where everyone on the ship gets addicted to a game.



Apparently Ashley Judd was in that episode.

[Reynaldo]

could be an awesome marketing tool if companies start paying to have rarer ones located in their places of business.

I think they're all in publicly accessible places now right?

[leah]

heeee, TNG. nerds.

[Drem]

[Drem]

two grown men walked off a cliff in San Diego playing this. lots of other crazy stories, coupled with some interesting progress i suppose for many agoraphobes/introverts/depressed people. can't wait to hear all the "YO WHERE U FROM CUZ" stories about little nerds walking into gang territory lookin for Snorlax

[Arlos]

I still think that Pokemon Go is actually a secret conspiracy from the National Institute of Health, in a fiendishly clever plot to get addicted gamers to actually get up, leave the house, and get some actual exercise by walking around...

[Jay]

I think it's one of the best things to ever happen to gamers.

[Arlos]

Honestly, I 'm more excited about the potential of the augmented reality tech behind the game. I think AR is going to revolutionize the way we interact the world potentially in as fundamental of ways as the internet has. At its simplest level, imagine being able to look at a restaurant you're walking by with your phone, and be able to browse through their menu and see pictures of the food. Other stores could let you pull up a catalog listing what they're selling and prices, or special offers if you come in because of the AR widget. The gaming possibilities are kind of endless as well. Imagine a MMO that combines Pokemon Go type actions with online play. I think conventional MMO's are basically dead as a genre going forward, because less and less people want to spend 5-6 hours a day on them, which is what being part of the high end raiding community requires. But if you can do a lot of elements of the game during your day as you're out and about via your phone, you'll get a lot more people playing.

So yeah, I may not play Pokemon Go, because I honestly couldn't give a flying fuck about Pokemon. (I was in my mid-late 20s when it first debuted, so I was well outside the target audience. As a result, I have no nostalgia or any connection to the franchise whatsoever, other than the residual "It's a kiddy show" vibe.) But I think AR is going to be everywhere, and become as fundamental a part of our lives as the internet. It's certainly going to be way more transformative and ubiquitous than VR, which only has a few very narrow applications (gaming, maybe porn, maybe some movies, but that's about it.) VR is also significantly more expensive to do right than a simple phone app that's either a basic AR viewer (which will become standard on phones, I am sure) or a game app similar to Pokemon Go.

[Zanchief]

I think it's one of the best things to ever happen to gamers.

Come on, Jay...by all accounts the game is terrible, and even people playing are wondering how they blundered it so much. Great, nerds are walking around outside. Hardly revolutionary.

I do agree with Arlos. I'm interested where AR is going, especially for it's none gaming capabilities. I really feel this is going to be the next big tech boom. Google might have been a decade too early with the Google Glasses. Also they should have called them Google Goggles.

[brinstar]

yeah but have you SEEN how many people are outside now? there are actually kids in parks again

honestly if they are gonna be staring at a screen either way i'd rather have them out and about seeing (at least some of) the world and getting some exercise instead of cloistered away in their basements slowly becoming a nation of gollums

[Zanchief]

The best thing to ever happen to gamers? Really?

[Jay]

The best thing to ever happen to gamers? Really?

More going outside, more social interactions, all ages fun and very communal. One of the best things ever imo. Not my cup of tea but anything that brings people together that centers around inclusion as well as competition is cool.

[brinstar]

The best thing to ever happen to gamers? Really?

hecc no i wouldn't go that far

and there are definitely some downsides to PG (idiots walking off cliffs, some black lady almost getting fragged by a deputy after cheering over catching something rare)

but overall i think it's positive

[Zanchief]

This isn't a revolution, it's a fad. Had the game been better maybe, but the game as presently constructed is a lazy cash grab.

Lets not pretend gamers haven't seen the light of day in years and they're suddenly walking out into the world for the first time.

[brinstar]

a "revolution"? no lmao

be crotchety all you want about it but i still say getting obese kids outside and moving is a win no matter how you slice it

as long as they stay off your lawn right?

[Zanchief]

Don't paint me as an angry old man. I'm an optimist. I'm just trying to temper Jay's claims of a digital revolution.

[Jay]

Don't paint me as an angry old man. I'm an optimist. I'm just trying to temper Jay's claims of a digital revolution.

Not really sure where you got that from but ok. I just think the game is changing some people positively and encouraging community interaction. Revolution though? Uhhh... Fad though? Probably right, but for now its a good thing.

One of the great NT mysteries for me is why you (Zan) hate mobile games so much. I mean, anytime someone has anything to say about ANY mobile game you immediately trash it. I can understand if it's not your cup of tea, but you have this odd disdain for them. What's the deal with that?

Personally, I can't really play mobile games. I might be able to do a couple of rounds of Angry Birds on the shitter, but its incredibly difficult for me to immerse myself in a game that requires me to stare at my phone. I've wanted to play the Castlevania games on DS so bad but I can't do it cuz handheld.

[Zanchief]

You said...

I think it's one of the best things to ever happen to gamers.

to ever happen...like all time...

I don't hate them all, but they are inherently inferior. I don't think this is the same criticism since I like the idea of AR, but no one is actually saying positive things about the game. Not the idea of the game, but the game itself.

You can play Hearthstone on the phone or tablet and even if it's inferior to the PC version, it still kicks ass. Plenty of great handheld games. Angry Birds aint one of them, and this isn't either.

Still...good for them for getting people out of the house and in the park. It's funny going for a run and spotting the Pokezombies.

[Jay]

You said...

I think it's one of the best things to ever happen to gamers.

to ever happen...like all time...

I don't hate them all, but they are inherently inferior. I don't think this is the same criticism since I like the idea of AR, but no one is actually saying positive things about the game. Not the idea of the game, but the game itself.

You can play Hearthstone on the phone or tablet and even if it's inferior to the PC version, it still kicks ass. Plenty of great handheld games. Angry Birds aint one of them, and this isn't either.

Still...good for them for getting people out of the house and in the park. It's funny going for a run and spotting the Pokezombies.

I still think it's one of the best things to ever happen to gamers. That doesn't make it a great game. It doesn't make it a bad one either. A game made a subsection of otherwise inactive people active. Gamers who don't exercise getting exercise. Anti social people being social. Kids and adults sharing a common interest. Friendly competition. You have kids setting up snack bars and lemonade stands at gyms and pokestops. It's great. I've never seen a game do these things, let alone a mobile game. I'm not sure why you see the need to be so cynical about it like "NUH UH ITS TOTALLY LIKE NOT THE BEST THING BRO QUIT BEING A PLEB". It's having a good effect on people and having played it for 10 minutes, it's not really on my top 10 list but that's ok. I'm happy for the folks who are enjoying this.

I never intended to say it was a revolution, however, it's the biggest mobile game in US history, passing Candy Crush. It's got more daily active users than Twitter. The game is valued in the 10s of billions. Maybe I should say revolution.

[brinstar]

Don't paint me as an angry old man. I'm an optimist. I'm just trying to temper Jay's claims of a digital revolution.

yeah so was i

not sure why you kept arguing with ME about what JAY said

have some metamucil and sit down in your favorite chair grandpa

[Zanchief]

Don't paint me as an angry old man. I'm an optimist. I'm just trying to temper Jay's claims of a digital revolution.

yeah so was i

not sure why you kept arguing with ME about what JAY said

have some metamucil and sit down in your favorite chair grandpa

...

[Zanchief]

You said...

I think it's one of the best things to ever happen to gamers.

to ever happen...like all time...

I don't hate them all, but they are inherently inferior. I don't think this is the same criticism since I like the idea of AR, but no one is actually saying positive things about the game. Not the idea of the game, but the game itself.

You can play Hearthstone on the phone or tablet and even if it's inferior to the PC version, it still kicks ass. Plenty of great handheld games. Angry Birds aint one of them, and this isn't either.

Still...good for them for getting people out of the house and in the park. It's funny going for a run and spotting the Pokezombies.

I still think it's one of the best things to ever happen to gamers. That doesn't make it a great game. It doesn't make it a bad one either. A game made a subsection of otherwise inactive people active. Gamers who don't exercise getting exercise. Anti social people being social. Kids and adults sharing a common interest. Friendly competition. You have kids setting up snack bars and lemonade stands at gyms and pokestops. It's great. I've never seen a game do these things, let alone a mobile game. I'm not sure why you see the need to be so cynical about it like "NUH UH ITS TOTALLY LIKE NOT THE BEST THING BRO QUIT BEING A PLEB". It's having a good effect on people and having played it for 10 minutes, it's not really on my top 10 list but that's ok. I'm happy for the folks who are enjoying this.

I never intended to say it was a revolution, however, it's the biggest mobile game in US history, passing Candy Crush. It's got more daily active users than Twitter. The game is valued in the 10s of billions. Maybe I should say revolution.

All I'm saying is, imagine if it was a good game.