Nintendo Mobile Games (Android, iOS)

**Satsuki** · 16 Jul 2016, 02:59 PM

Servers got DDoSed. Working for me right now, but glitchy.

Okay, here's my hypothesis. So, I noticed while out last night, the types of people playing Pokemon had changed rapidly from last week. Last weekend was geeks, nerds, spergs, that whole deal. The technology first adopters, as it were. As the week wore on, I noticed a lot more "normal" people playing - bros and loud chicks, typical randos. They are the late to the party but still on the first wave of adoption of the game. By next week, I'm assuming it will be the stragglers, and by then, the initial newness will wear off, and we'll be able to see what the lasting impact of the game will be - how many will average out to actually playing the app every day, integrating it into their routine, and integrating it into culture as opposed to getting really into it for a week and then getting back to real life.

Now, in the past, say with Pokemon Red and Blue - people played that for MONTHS, if not a year or more. It took time to grind through the game, and it created a lasting impression on gamers, and kept them busy for awhile. Obviously, Pokemon Go is not so in depth as an actual finished game, in fact we have no idea if all 150 pokemon are even in the game right now, or if they are "gettable." Because of how fast culture moves, due to the accessibility of the internet, people get bored 3 times as fast as in the past. So, it seems to me there are a few key issues that are either going to launch this into a lasting cultural success or tank it after a few weeks.

1. Server Issues. I have no doubt that the people in charge of this are working around the clock to fix it, but as the game grows and people starting putting real money into microtransactions and are having issues accessing the game, this is going to create a lot of frustration and cause people to drop it. I've already talked to a lot of people who have more or less given up on the game, simply because it's often unplayable. If these issues aren't fixed pronto, people are going to start dropping off en masse - and thus it will possibly become another lame fad with no lasting impact.
2. Addition of new pokemon/flair in a timely way that keep people coming back. I've already noticed that the types of pokemon seem to have dropped off, obviously we have the Eeevee evolutions and Dragonites, but is there going to be something that keeps you coming back every week to catch 'em all? In the past, Nintendo has been slow about releasing updates to things, and that could easily make the game boring and stale only a few weeks in.
3. It seems like Niantic has started accepting location submissions for those in dead zones, but there is a large population of people in suburbs and rural areas, credit cards at the ready, waiting to have access to landmarks. By ignoring these groups (or not implementing landmarks fast enough,) they are possibly missing out on an enormous profit stream and those people will drop off rapidly if they can't actually, you know, play the game.

soooooo anyway, these were just thoughts I was banging around last night. I'm really curious what the lasting impact of the game will be. Will it have the impact of the original Pokemon games on a new generation? Or will it just fade out and be thrown on the pile of other pop culture apps, like the Kim Kardasian game and Tap Tap Revenge?