Pokemon Go Game Discussion - Opportunities?

[Late Start]

On the contrary - I know two pretty successful entrepreneurs and friends who are playing it a lot. Their local downtown during the evenings has become a social hub to the point that the young son of one of them opened up a "Poketreats" stand outside his dad's building downtown. You can sell a lot of water bottles and cool treats to millennials spending hours walking in the heat hunting for Pokemon...

 

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[Scot]

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

 

[Late Start]

The aforementioned friend with the enterprising son just posted another thing I had to share:

"Okay, time for someone to bring out PokePotties."

I guess public facilities get pretty crowded when everyone is out hunting. Anybody here got coin-operated portapotties? It sounds like there's opportunity out there if you do.

 

[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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[The-J]

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

Idiots were idiots before Pokemon Go.

Although I do worry when I hear stories of people driving around trying to catch Pokemon... common sense eludes some people I guess

 

[becks22]

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

I think the people who play the game are slowlaners (or at least most of them) but the people are able to monetize off of this craze before slowing down could be fastlaners.

 

[jazb]

I downloaded it today to see what the fuss was about. Truly brilliant concept. It's great how nintendo is giving back to society by making those basement dwellers actually go outside

 

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[eekern]

It's breaking the Internet - it's happening.

Well better than Kim kadahsians a$$ I guess

In a world filled with terror and shit this app getting people together and out in the nature, the idea is really fastlane and when you affect so many millions they can really justy write their own checks, just look at the Nintendo stock, up you go

 

[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.

 

[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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[nichiseven]

My younger brother grew up with Pokemon. As an older sister, I wanted to encourage his hobbies so I got into playing it and watching the show with him. I even learned the Poke-raps (lol). I knew how popular the games were but didn't keep up with the franchise in general since it's not my thing. As soon as Go launched I knew it was going to be huge. I've played it a little bit (5 hours) and read up on it even though I'm not interested in it because I wanted to understand it. This might die down in a while, but it won't immediately go away and AR games/apps will get more and more popular as the market develops.

A young friend of mine (he's about 22) started setting up lures outside his family's cafe. They were already one of the most popular in their city and now even more so. They're getting a lot of extra custom from Go players.

Another friend of mine is working the waterfront in my city which is a big Go activity area selling drinks and battery packs. It'd be a great place to sell snacks and even have a little charging station in the late afternoon/evenings when player's battery life is getting low.

I've noticed a lot more families (parents and children especially) out and about playing Go. I really like that it's bringing out some of the shut-ins, getting people involved with their kids and even encouraging people to exercise. I have a guy friend who has been morbidly obese for around a decade now. He'd barely walk 10 minutes to anywhere unless he absolutely had to. Now he's averaging 8k/5m per day.

On the flip side stranger danger is a thing and adults need to be on the ball in making sure our kids really understand the do's and dont's while they're out collecting.

It's interesting and while I won't be investing any more time in it I'm really glad that I played it, read up on it and learned about it. I feel like I gained a lot from it.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Well that sounds terrible. Am I not allowed to play Paintball? Or read fun books? Watch the things I want to watch?

Isn't one of the points of the Fastlane Lifestyle the freedom to do what you want?

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.

I never said you couldn't have fun or joy. I base everything in my life on the average of five. You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. If you want to play golf or paintball. Do it with your current employees, local entrepreneurs, or potential new client. I only watch documentary movies. I only read biographies & autobiographies.

 

[The-J]

If you want to play golf or paintball. Do it with your current employees, local entrepreneurs, or potential new client.

F*ck that LOL

 

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[Captain Jack]

I downloaded it.

Boring game, but a great way to meet women.

 

[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.

 

[splok]

Speaking of the implications for Nintendo stock, this is interesting because they've intentionally avoided the mobile market until now. They didn't want their key titles to be on 3rd party platforms because it would devalue their own. When people buy your multi-hundred dollar consoles with $60 games (The average LTV for a Nintendo customer is probably in the thousands), the switch to mobile is a big one. I assume that they're experimenting with this because it's an experience that you can't get with a console, but it'll be interesting to see the long term results.

 

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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.

 

[icon8]

I think it's the natural progression of this technology. First we had TV, we realised how hugely effective it was. Eventually we moved from TV to Video Games, and now VR/AR.

Ingress was the first example, Pokemon Go is just the next step.

Eventually the masses will spend their whole lives viewing reality through a filter.

They will see the world through an 'augmented reality' lens, pre-occupied, distracted and blind to reality. A consumer for life.

 

[Kelly C]

I like this game. I mean I don't actually play it - my 8 year old does. We went for a two hour walk yesterday playing this. 2 HOURS. Because there was an interesting distraction - I got a lovely relaxing walk with my family without my son moaning. He loves going for walks but 2 hours is a lot of walking for him...he'd much prefer playing or doing something else physical than walking. So instead of doing our usual half an hour walk yesterday we did an extended one much to my delight. I envision the same thing happening again today.

I mean my son is pretty physically fit for his age - he does some running with me, does gymnastics, swimming etc...

But what I think is great about it mostly is that if this is encouraging unfit children to get out and get more physical activity its amazing just for that.

 

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[juan917]

I bought Nintendo stock at the beginning of this week. Already sitting on a nice gain. They haven't even launched in Japan yet

 

[luniac]

Honestly I am a bit surprised that there isn’t a post on this already. If you don’t know what it is here’s the Wikipedia article:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokémon_Go

I look at like it’s like a high-tech version of the Pet Rock, a fad that millions are suddenly obsessed with. Just like Candy Crush was during late 2014-2015. Except Pokémon Go involves running around like an idiot with your face glued to your phone; apparently you can buy headsets to help you with your quest. Within the first few weeks, it has 21 million players and is only in 4 countries. It seems to be taking the world by storm now and it is all over the news and social media. My opinion is the people that are actually playing the game are Slowlaners or Sidewalkers even but as Fastlaners I think we can appreciate the scale and magnitude of the game. If you look at the download numbers, it also seems to have a large demand. It also seems to have leverage because once the game was created and people downloaded, it just snow-balled from there. Of course the man Satoru Iwata who actually created the idea of the game is dead now which is sad especially considering that he doesn’t get to reap any of the benefits and see the success.

It will be interesting to watch Nintendo’s stock for the next few months because I wonder how long this craze will last. I suspect at least for the summer but I wonder what will happen when kids go back to school in about 8 weeks. It is a fad after all so eventually it will crumble but I think it will be interesting to watch and see how it goes.

Anyone else watching this to see how it pans out? Anyone actually playing or knows that their kids are playing?

Also I hope that was an ok place to post this. I wasn't sure exactly which sub-forum it should go in.. Thanks

NO WHYY DID U BRING IT TO THIS FORUM AS WELL!.... goddamn it...

swear to god everyone is on this now, im thinking of creating parody pokemon go short story animation on youtube.
In fact i will!!! and it might suck horribly!!!

 

[Dwight Schrute]

I don't really care about the game....but I absolutely LOVE the concept.

When I first heard about it on radio, the first thing that came to my mind
was Uncle Vig's thread "The Licensing Game"

Lots of opportunities there.

P.S. I would travel the world to find all seven Dragonballs. Just sayan'

 

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[ddzc]

"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.

Man, you actually opened my eyes to this game with all of your posts. You're absolutely right and dead on. If I had a brick and mortar business, I would be buying lures every day and dropping them at my front door LOL. I would then upsell like crazy, sell crappy pokemon tshirts, sunglasses, etc. I had no idea how this game worked. I was just laughing at the idiots smashing their cars in to trees, stabbing each other and jumping off cliffs to catch imaginary objects.

The opportunities are definitely endless for the hustlers out there.

 

[The-J]

I would then upsell like crazy, sell crappy pokemon tshirts, sunglasses, etc. I had no idea how this game worked.

Funny you say T-shirts.

There are 3 teams in the game that you can join: Blue, Red, and Yellow. Each has a logo.

You could sell these shirts at a Gym location (a location where people battle Pokemon) for a cheap price. Bonus points if you do it legally.

Lures and existing Gyms can draw attention to local businesses. In fact, looking at my Pokemon map, there's 2 lures set up in the location of what seems to be a bubble tea shop and an ice cream shop. Business owners are already taking advantage.

Lures last for 30 minutes. 24 of them (12 hours worth) will cost about $28.

Your business, for $28, can draw hundreds of extra people into your establishment. That's ridiculous.

Bonus points if you put up a lure at peak times.

Gyms and Pokespots are set in stone. You can't change their location. I live by 3 of them (each one taken by a different team).

 

[KLaw]

I know a guy that has a shaved ice truck (snow cones). Am i reading these posts right? Could he buy a lure where his truck is parked? Meaning, can he create a "gym" (I think that's what it's called) where people will come to his location to snatch up a Pokemon? Thanks.

 

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[Invictus]

I know a guy that has a shaved ice truck (snow cones). Am i reading these posts right? Could he buy a lure where his truck is parked? Meaning, can he create a "gym" (I think that's what it's called) where people will come to his location to snatch up a Pokemon? Thanks.

So, since there are a few people mentioning lures and stuff. A bit of an explanation.

The game has 'Pokestops' and 'Gyms'. Pokestops give the players items, Gyms lets them fight for their team. Both are already set in the game and you cannot set up your own Pokestop or gym.

You can only use a lure at a Pokestop.

If you have a storefront you can move, I'd suggest trying to set up shop in a park (if possible). Friends and I went to get beignets last night. Sooooooo many people there. The store that's already in there (it's basically a historical area at this point) is doing great business.

Also, make sure you're not mentioning how stupid you think the game is in front of your customers. Might turn them off.

I would be buying lures every day and dropping them at my front door LOL. I would then upsell like crazy, sell crappy pokemon tshirts, sunglasses, etc.

Why would people buy crappy Pokemon tshirts when they can buy better stuff online? The players are in Facebook groups, subreddits, etc that are sharing fan made merch.

 

[KLaw]

So, since there are a few people mentioning lures and stuff. A bit of an explanation.

The game has 'Pokestops' and 'Gyms'. Pokestops give the players items, Gyms lets them fight for their team. Both are already set in the game and you cannot set up your own Pokestop or gym.

You can only use a lure at a Pokestop.

If you have a storefront you can move, I'd suggest trying to set up shop in a park (if possible). Friends and I went to get beignets last night. Sooooooo many people there. The store that's already in there (it's basically a historical area at this point) is doing great business.

Also, make sure you're not mentioning how stupid you think the game is in front of your customers. Might turn them off.




Why would people buy crappy Pokemon tshirts when they can buy better stuff online? The players are in Facebook groups, subreddits, etc that are sharing fan made merch.

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[ddzc]

So, since there are a few people mentioning lures and stuff. A bit of an explanation.

Why would people buy crappy Pokemon tshirts when they can buy better stuff online? The players are in Facebook groups, subreddits, etc that are sharing fan made merch.

Because people buy unnecessary garbage every day.

 

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[mrarcher]

How to sell to millennials -
1.Find something for children - pokemon, coloring books etc,
2. market it for "adults",
3. laugh your way to the bank.

 

[Mr.Chaos]

How to sell to millennials -
1.Find something for children - pokemon, coloring books etc,
2. market it for "adults",
3. laugh your way to the bank.

Its sad because we are millennials