I think the fact that it is barely a game with a low entry barrier (compared to "turn based tactical video game" like most other pokemon games are) with a massive following who don't really play video games or have ever watched the anime but know who Pickachu or what a Jrigglypuff is (nerd-credit rating requirements, mention in BazingaBang or "hip" stuff like those) was an important factor too.
Indeed. I am just old enough that I more or less missed the pokemon craze growing up and to me it is a very noticeable generational signifier. For the millenial generation it's ubiquitous, to an insane degree. So it shouldn't be any surprise that a new game would generate huge adoption and enthusiasm, the only difference today is that the game is a different kind of game, and for various reasons is causing people outside the pokemon fanbase to take notice. But again, this shouldn't be surprising. The pokemon franchise has earned $46 billion. That's an average of $2.3 billion every single year for the last 20 years (which is how long it's been around). It's a more dominant media franchise than the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, or Harry Potter.
The fact that anyone is at all surprised by the success of Pokemon Go is a testament to their ignorance of cultural phenomena they simply care to ignore.
There is a little more to it, there are a lot of Pokemon games out there which have never made it. So you have to include these other points, aswell as many of the good comments that have come here!
I don't think this is giving any answer. Sure the brand is important, but the big thing is that you get the idea of the game really quick. Ingress on the other hand always seemed to complicated for a casual game to me. Pokemon Go is a hit because you can casually start playing it and have fun w/o devoting a ton of time to it. There is no complicated and dark story.
Also, if you look at Ingress, you always needed an invite to play, so when I finally got one everybody playing it was already so advanced that I could not see the fun in playing it.
I downloaded Ingress yesterday because apparently Pokemon Go pokemon spawn locations are based on data from the Ingress map that was collected over the years. Ingress is sooooooooo complicated it's a major turn off for everyone who wants to play casually.
> Ingress on the other hand always seemed to complicated for a casual game to me.
Pokemon has a clearly defined goal which even the most casual player will easily understand: Catch all the Pokemons.
But in Ingress there is no universal goal which you _have_ to reach. It is open ended and you can do whatever you want to do. You can try to make tons of small fields, you can try to make very large fields, you can specialize in missions, ...
In order to really understand Ingress and all its different gamestyles you have to invest some time or you need a good mentor who teaches you all the basics.
Also Pokemon Go in it's current form is just a single player game in a multi player world. In contrast, Ingress is a true multi player game because there is much more player interaction due to attacking and defending portals.
Ingress is also really bad if you're surrounded by higher-level players; there may be nothing for you to do in your area.
Pokemon Go is not actually all that tied to a specific location. You need a few Pokestops nearby, but as long as the Pokemon spawn frequently enough around you you can play.
Much appriciated with comments and I believe you are touching some important points. And yeah I could have concluded it much more, but it was a matter of time to experiment with this new article platform which im linking to. So its two things in one post actually.
It's more because of the fact that it's engaging, nostalgic, viral, social, and fun to play to boot, more so than any of the reasons disclosed in this post
There have been many engaging, nostalgic games. Viral is just another word for popular. Social games have been tried out before and never really hit off. Still some people feel awkward playing pokemon, I speak of experience when i walk around and point out pokemoners and say, "pokemon go! yeah!", they crinche as they were embarrased. But it might change at some point.
I tried to enjoy ingress, but didn't and I enjoy pokemon go.
Obviously the Pokémon brand is a draw, but ingress felt like a platform for a game that people had to construct. I got contacted by people who told me I needed to join these groups and talk in these IRC channels to have fun. I live in an area that's not so tech-savvy so there's few ingress points / Pokéstops but I can still walk over to the park and wander around some time through the few Pokéstops and gyms there are and have a lot of fun.
To me, ingress feels like an endless RPG quest where you have to retrieve items from various points. Sure, if you gather and co-ordinate efforts over the IRC channels and chat rooms I was invited to promising great depth you can create enough of a social element to make it pretty fun but I could be doing anything else.
With Pokémon Go, I feel confident to flip it out anywhere and gain a little bit of ingame development and fun that I can share with my friends, and I don't lose anything if I don't.
Yeah i totally agree, it was a while since I played ingress and forgot about some key points, but it was more about the totallity. But again good points you give here and valueble to other readers!
Culture played a big role in Pokemon Go's success. This culture is shared with adults and children across multiple countries. It also has a touch of nostalgia, which is pretty potent.
Yeah I agree, its kinda what I meant by brand name but didnt want to go into to much detail. It was suppose to be an easy read and spur up discussions as this. But I appreciate the feedback!
Define good however you want, go into a lot of detail on quality and the factors that make it good, but in the end, they got a lot of parts right and made something people like.
I don't know how much lasting appeal the game will have without major updates. Sure I can continue to grind my level and pokemon but the rewards quickly diminish.
I went back to my normal routine instead of playing on my commute this morning.
22 comments
[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 55.6 ms ] threadThe fact that anyone is at all surprised by the success of Pokemon Go is a testament to their ignorance of cultural phenomena they simply care to ignore.
Also, if you look at Ingress, you always needed an invite to play, so when I finally got one everybody playing it was already so advanced that I could not see the fun in playing it.
For me it boils down to a few points:
* Pokemon Go is super simple to get started with
* The rules are easy to grasp
* You can play it casually
* It is light-hearted
100% regarding Ingress, I tried so many times, and gave up.
Also the Field Trip app uses the same data if people want to find interesting things without Pokemon stuff.
Pokemon has a clearly defined goal which even the most casual player will easily understand: Catch all the Pokemons.
But in Ingress there is no universal goal which you _have_ to reach. It is open ended and you can do whatever you want to do. You can try to make tons of small fields, you can try to make very large fields, you can specialize in missions, ...
In order to really understand Ingress and all its different gamestyles you have to invest some time or you need a good mentor who teaches you all the basics.
Also Pokemon Go in it's current form is just a single player game in a multi player world. In contrast, Ingress is a true multi player game because there is much more player interaction due to attacking and defending portals.
Pokemon Go is not actually all that tied to a specific location. You need a few Pokestops nearby, but as long as the Pokemon spawn frequently enough around you you can play.
Obviously the Pokémon brand is a draw, but ingress felt like a platform for a game that people had to construct. I got contacted by people who told me I needed to join these groups and talk in these IRC channels to have fun. I live in an area that's not so tech-savvy so there's few ingress points / Pokéstops but I can still walk over to the park and wander around some time through the few Pokéstops and gyms there are and have a lot of fun.
To me, ingress feels like an endless RPG quest where you have to retrieve items from various points. Sure, if you gather and co-ordinate efforts over the IRC channels and chat rooms I was invited to promising great depth you can create enough of a social element to make it pretty fun but I could be doing anything else.
With Pokémon Go, I feel confident to flip it out anywhere and gain a little bit of ingame development and fun that I can share with my friends, and I don't lose anything if I don't.
Because it's good.
Define good however you want, go into a lot of detail on quality and the factors that make it good, but in the end, they got a lot of parts right and made something people like.
I went back to my normal routine instead of playing on my commute this morning.