Pokemon Go Game Discussion - Opportunities?

[The-J]

You guys are so quick to judge... seriously, why do you guys have such a reaction?

I was skeptical as F*ck about it. I've played and enjoyed the original games, and the concept seemed too off.

Then I saw the people playing it. Everywhere.

Then I tried the game.

It's not really a game at all. It's just augmented reality.

It adds a new layer to what is actually out there, and for what it's worth, these Pokemon actually exist (in a sense). You catch them, and the goal is to catch as many as humanly possible. In order to do that, you need to walk outside and go to physical locations that you may have never been to before.

The fun exists only somewhat in the 'game world'. Most of the fun is in the 'real world'. Because of the massive amount of people playing, it's possible to interact, face to face, with other people playing the game. You see their faces, you talk to them.

I'm still not so interested in it, but the game is still on my phone.

So, what does this mean? Pokemon GO has turned outdoor exploration into a game with immediate, keepable rewards. It's not as much of a 'video game' as you old timers think

This was only possible because of how big Pokemon got in the late 90s and early 2000s. Because kids stayed inside, they're now adults who are going outside. Funny how that works.

Business applications:

- Local lead gen for restaurants, cafes, and stores. If your business is near a Pokestop or a gym, there's an immediate opportunity to capitalize on people playing the game. Have em sit inside and have a drink.
- Tour groups. Since Pokemon availability is partially determined by region, and the goal is to catch em all... there's renewed interest in short-distance travelling.
- Advertisement. Implications for marketing campaigns are endless.

You guys need to quit judging people for how they choose to spend their time. This is a hell of a lot healthier than sitting inside and playing World of Warcraft.

 

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[Charnell]

Except Pokémon Go involves running around like an idiot with your face glued to your phone

Damn those people getting exercise!

The way I see it is there are two groups of people right now: those who play it and like it and those that don't play it and need to project their superiority by bashing those that play it.

To both parties: no one cares. No one cares that you play too much. No one cares that you're not 10 and have shit to do.

 

[Vigilante]

 

[csalvato]

Any entrepreneur not playing this game even to get a taste of what makes something have instant mass appeal is sorely missing out on huge lessons, imho.

 

[RHL]

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Cereal Killer

Disclosure: I don't play the game. I gave up video games (thanks to FLF!) about two years ago and haven't played a minute since.

That said, most diversions and recreations seem pretty stupid to people who are not interested in them. I mean, walking around the park with your phone in your hand trying to catch imaginary animals seems pretty silly right?

I saw something sillier though. The other day successful grown men, men with wives and families and jobs and shit to do, paid money, actual honest-to-god cash money, to voluntarily walk around a park in 90 degree weather in stiff, uncomfortable shoes with 50 pound quivers of metal rods, madly swatting at little pieces of plastic like a pack of apes while they got skin cancer and accomplished nothing of any lasting value.

Except that form of stupidity is called "golf" and it's considered a respectable recreation for adults, who pay huge sums of money to play.

And you know what, if you put aside the understanding that everything in life has to be productive and profitable 100% of the time, it's actually fun. I love video games. I'm just an addict that knows his limits, which is why I don't play them anymore. Leisure is the reason why we work to free our income from our time. If there is no joy outside of work, no joy except earning money, than there is no reason to go fastlane rather than just getting an engineering degree and putting in 80 hours a week. That will net you $150,000-200,000 pretty easily. That would more than provide for everyone's basic needs and security. But then, where would the fun be?

I've seen more kids riding bikes and running (with their phones) in the last week than I have in the last year. At least, for the kids, this game is shaping up to be a really good thing.

 

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[The-J]

I was lowkey hating on the game for the past few days. But... @csalvato is right. I went out and decided to try the game for real.

Field report:

I played the game today, with a friend. (I work in a coworking space at my alma mater, so there's lots of college aged kids like me around.)

A few people we know were playing. So we decided to go around catching Pokemon together. So that made 6.

We went to an area with a lure (which means someone used an item to attract Pokemon). There are 10 people there already.

Suddenly, 2 more groups of 4 came out. After that, a rare Pokemon called Charmander spawned.

This is a big deal. About 5 more people came out to follow us. We figured out where the Charmander was.

There was a crowd of 23 people hovering around a single spot, all talking to each other. We barely knew each other. I introduced myself to like 10 people.

This is absolutely insane. It was raining, too, and we were out there for an hour.

Absolutely F*cking insane. College students, 23 of them, crowded around at 8:30pm in the muggy weather... just to catch a virtual animal.

And I was one of em.

Wanna know what people complained about? (aka business opportunities)

• Dead battery. I own a rechargeable battery pack for travelling. But many people don't. Solution: sell battery packs, or offer temporary access to em
• Hunger and thirst. Solution: sell water and snacks
• It was raining. Solution: sell umbrellas
• Some people didn't have data on their phone, so they couldn't catch Pokemon in the woods. Solution: data hotspots and portable tethering.

IF YOU WANT TO HUSTLE, here's what I recommend.

I recommend going out to the nearest populated park with a big cooler full of water, soda, and cold snacks like ice cream. Go to a place near a Pokespot and set up temporary shop. Hop between Pokespots and sell your stuff. Have some battery packs. Oh, and catch Pokemon while you're at it, because it's good to follow the crowds of money. (Bonus points for having a sign that says 'Ask me about Pokemon')

If you don't make any money doing this on Saturday afternoon, I don't know what to tell you.

Oh, by the way, there's rumors that Niantic (the company that hosts the game) is going to be selling Pokespots to the highest bidder. But you can emulate the effect for free. This is what you do.

There's an item in the game called incense (also called a 'lure'). It makes Pokemon appear in a certain spot.

Go to a pizza shop and tell them that you know how to make Pokemon appear. Put a lure down, and watch people just flow in.

Go to a mall, put a lure down.

People, of all ages, will flock to the spot.

I completely underestimated this with my last post.

 

[Invictus]

Half of my campus plays. Hell, I play a little bit too.

Most playing it, I've noticed it, are people 18-28 who grew up with Pokemon. It's a good blast of nostalgia for them, makes them relive fond memories, and it gets a lot of people interacting with other people, sharing stories and such. I always approve of some good-natured human interaction.

It's a time waster of course, but so are lots of things in life. I'm not gonna give hell to people who are enjoying themselves.

 

[biophase]

I downloaded it a few days ago. To date I've caught one Pokemon, which I'm sure shows up wherever you happen to start the game as a gimme monster.

Here's the reason I downloaded it. It's because it is a revolutionary game. It's changing the world and we as entrepreneurs should attempt to understand things like this. I wanted to see how it worked and where technology is these days. Knowing this information can help you. For those of you who can't come up with ideas, you need to explore everything.

The game is not for me. Especially since it's 100+ in Phoenix now and I don't have a dog. I can imagine that many people's dogs are getting more walks now! But this is a glimpse into the future of games.

 

[InnovateDesign]

I play this game. It is actually quite fun.

I went to a campus at about 1 am because I had nothing to do and it was pretty amazing how many people were there playing this game. Everybody was interacting with each other and talking about where a rare pokemon is located. Though to some older folks, this probably looks insane because they do not understand how closely related this game is to the actual games on game boy. It's nostalgic.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

The last time I bought something because "everyone was talking about it" I mistakenly read 50 Shades of Gray. I regret that decision to this day.

I've renamed the thread as this goes way beyond "slowaners" - it is disruptive in every way entrepreneurship can be disruptive.

 

[RHL]

Another overnight success story:

 

[Vigilante]

 

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[ilrein]

If you complain about this phenomenon you have the mentality of a slowlaner.

@The-J explains well. This app has what Peter Thiel calls a 10x improvement. It has serious game changing ramifications. People are tweeting about how they walk 8.5 km in a day. An app that encourages you to go outside and interact with the world. This model will serve for similar apps in the future.

Scavenger hunt at your wedding party?

Haunted monsters at the amusement park on Halloween?

Get all 12 golden markers at the stadium for a 50% discount on some Jordons?

Wake up haters.

 

[theag]

lel @ all the butthurt people here

epic meme @Vigilante, rep++++

Probably not long until darwin strikes and some idiots fall off cliffs or in front of trains/cars trying to catch a pokemon .

 

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[The-J]

I downloaded it.

Boring game, but a great way to meet women.

"Great way to meet women" is an understatement.

I promise you, there are men out there who haven't gotten laid in months or years who are finally meeting some women. There are already new documented relationships from this game, and it's only been out for a week.

Augmented reality games such as Pokemon Go allow you to create congregations of people, on a lark, in nearly any spot you choose.

A lure costs like $1.50 and stays for 30 minutes. For the cost of a cup of coffee, you could meet like 20 people.

20 hungry, thirsty, possibly lonely or horny people. 20 people with problems that they need solving.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I have a feeling that augmented reality is going to be the way it is for a little while. Virtual reality will remain at home, and augmented reality will change the way we interact with our environment.

 

[AllenCrawley]

I downloaded it a few days ago. To date I've caught one Pokemon, which I'm sure shows up wherever you happen to start the game as a gimme monster.

Here's the reason I downloaded it. It's because it is a revolutionary game. It's changing the world and we as entrepreneurs should attempt to understand things like this. I wanted to see how it worked and where technology is these days. Knowing this information can help you. For those of you who can't come up with ideas, you need to explore everything.

The game is not for me. Especially since it's 100+ in Phoenix now and I don't have a dog. I can imagine that many people's dogs are getting more walks now! But this is a glimpse into the future of games.

I get a text from @biophase around 11:15pm last night.

"Hey you awake? Wanna go look for some Pokemon?"

 

[ZCP]

Spent two hours downtown last night taking my kids and wife to 'Pokemon'. They had a blast. There were people everywhere. Restaurants and bars were packed in the area. Talked to people continuously that I would have never spoken to otherwise.

My son yelled out Pinkachu!! People dropped what they had in their hands, spilled drinks, cut conversations off mid sentence..... A herd of people descended on the area and starting running in circles trying to catch him, all trying to out sprint the other. Craziest thing I have ever seen.

This will be a massive change in our society!

On the business side: clusters of restaurants, cell phone companies, and youtube videos / trainers are about to clean up.

 

[AllenCrawley]

http://thedetroitbus.com/pokemon-go-bus-adventure/

"I just can’t stop playing Pokémon GO and I bet you can’t either. We’re going to go out on a bus and Catch ‘Em All.

This is a two hour adventure that hits all the major Pokéstops and Gyms around your area so you can level up fast. We’ll have a Pokémaster on the bus to help you with tips and tricks on how to be The Very Best.
Pick your location to see dates and times for that pickup spot."

 

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[Red]

I get a text from @biophase around 11:15pm last night.

"Hey you awake? Wanna go look for some Pokemon?"

This is why my phone is set to silent after 8pm.



Well, that & this:

Worth noting, this is also from Biophase.

 

[RHL]

and never thought it would be THIS popular.

Guess you weren't alive in the 90's. Betting against Pokemon=Epic fail. Game makes over a million bucks a day just on in-app purchases and it's only six days old. It's a billion dollar franchise. While it will die down after a while, almost every game in the series has been a mega hit.

 

[Fox]

Give it six months or less and we will have some link to an article of how a 18 year old made a few million $$$ of this game. There are lots of creative ways to tap in on this.

 

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[LeftBench]

A few things about the Pokemon app/game.

1. If you enjoy it, play it. Everything in moderation.

2. If you play it, PAY ATTENTION please! Don't walk into traffic and don't play while driving!

3. I'm a cop and the amount of problems we've had with morons playing this game is insane. People driving like they're drunk, people trespassing on others' properties, etc. The other day I had a call of a suspicious 51 year old male in the woods near a local business. I find him driving away and pull him over, he says to me "I was just hunting Pokemon!"

4. I wish I invested in Nintento a few days ago!

We live in a weird time, that's for sure... lmfao

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Some months ago:

 

[ApparentHorizon]

Here's a though

How about...

Those of you copying & pasting garbage from reddit, go to one of the popular stops, and sell water bottles and ice cones

 

[Andy Black]

Just read the whole thread.

Fascinating.

People using their devices to go out, get more exercise, meet people, interact?

Then the business opportunities?

Did someone say it's got as big as Snapchat already? I'll have to check that out.

It smacks of huge opportunities and chances to "land-grab".

I'll have a play to get my head round it. Maybe it will help us do more stuff with the kids outside - exploring places.

Like my foray into Facebook and Snapchat, I'll use it like a consumer for a bit while observing how businesses are using my attention.

Money goes where the attention is...

 

[Jake]

 

[Yoda]

What's funny is...

You guys are still talking about Pokemon Go.

It's only the first of its kind to get as big.

Wait until the first VRMMORPG.

I already have a business idea just waiting......

 

[vinylawesome]

I think this is a great opportunity for Brick and Mortar Businesses, especially restaurants to generate extra sales.

1. Host a Pokemon meetup

2. Put asses in seats

3. Put Dollars in the till

 

[Vigilante]

I find it kind of short sited that the #1 game on the App Store, making millions of $$$ a day in the FIRST WEEK of launch is being called slow lane

Not sure that it is the GAME that is being called slow lane. The GAME is BRILLIANT. Augmented reality is the future.

 

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[Dwight Schrute]

www.pokewalk.com

OUR VISION
Imagine a world where you had the flexibility to do what you wanted to do like watch tv, sit on a stationary bike, stand on a skateboard, and not have to move to collect Pokemon. We want the millions of Pokemon Go players to have the freedom to do what they want without the pressure of walking.

"Do what you want, without the pressure of walking"

Smh.

 

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