'Pokémon Go' to Feature Retailer-Sponsored Locations

[Nicky G]

Was obvious to me the moment I started playing that this was in the cards, and always was part of the revenue plan. Kudos to them, it's genius! Shoot, haven't caught too much today...
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This pokemon thing.... it's more of a millennial thing, right?

I dont know anyone - besides millennials - that like this thing.... perhaps because of all the cartoons, video games and merchandising they were bombarded with, as the first generation to be born in a computers' world...

In any case.... addicting games and devices... it's kind of lame, I guess.

+++

EDIT... btw, MACRUMORS... if one opens this thread on safari, coming from the front page, it makes Safari crash... I think it might be related to one of the images in the story.

I saw a lot of people in late 20s and even 30s playing in NYC last few days. I'm 38 and I am, and I never even had a Pokemon phase.

 

[CarlJ]

Just noticed it's a freemium/pay-to-win app with in-game currency, so I guess that's not enough monetisation. ...

It's great if there's an app that excites and gives people happiness in addition to getting them out and about. I just personally don't understand the attraction of games where you never truly win and can be beaten by players who pay to rank up...

I wouldn't call it pay-to-win. The things you can buy are pretty minor in their effect (the things you really need are potions, stardust, candies, and Pokémons themselves, and none of those are for sale). Nothing is stopping someone from playing completely free and advancing up the ranks pretty quickly. And can any game ever be said to be ultimately won? There's always the next round. (Take for instance football - one would figure that once the Super Bowl - or World Cup, if that's your flavor - had been won, well, now we know who the best football team is, and all the teams can disband and go off to other pursuits. But it never works out that way.)

 

[d00d]

This pokemon thing.... it's more of a millennial thing, right?

Not really, but people that don't get it love to try to find a way to link this to "maturity".

 

[B4U]

Let me get this straight, this is just like Flappy Bird's incident where we are getting bombed by these irrelevant "Mac" Rumors?

 

[diazj3]

Not really, but people that don't get it love to try to find a way to link this to "maturity".

Wait... Did I say that???

No.... read my post carefully: I'm asking / linking it to "a generation". And while, yes, all generational issues sooner or later are hit by "maturity" issues... my guess is that, as the first generation to be fully taken over computers in their communications, gaming, etc, millennials are more prone by this phenomena.

Plus... with such high numbers of unemployed and underemployed millennials, spoiled all their lives, now back living with their parents after college, hypnotized by their phone screens all the time.... makes sense!!!!

btw, that last one is a joke, ok?

cheers!

 

[Zaqfalcon]

You don't say.

 

[d00d]

Wait... Did I say that???

Not directly, but it is implied. I'm gen X, with a full time job and a young baby, yet I love this game. I shouldn't even use the word yet because all my friends that are also generation X are also playing it. They don't have children yet, so they've been able to visit parks and other populated areas to play. The general consensus is that they've never seen the public parks in our area so busy (full parking lots).

Let's leave generation out of this. Many people dig it. Some don't. There's nothing wrong with not being into it. Likewise, there's nothing wrong with being into it. It's hard to deny that it's become a sensation regardless.

 

[Haxley]

When did MacRumors become PokeRumors? There is truly no outlet free from Pokemon right now.

 

[Juicy Box]

I don't know why are people still complaining about Pokemon GO articles. It's like the most popular app in the app store ever, and everyone is talking about it, but if you don't like just don't open the article, jeez! Tired of comments like "Is this pokerumors?" or "Enough with the Pokemon GO news". GO AWAY! xD

Complaints about the complainers. Ironic.

 

[modent]

Yea, nothing too good can stay that way.

 

[diazj3]

Not directly, but it is implied. I'm gen X, with a full time job and a young baby, yet I love this game. I shouldn't even use the word yet because all my friends that are also generation X are also playing it. They don't have children yet, so they've been able to visit parks and other populated areas to play. The general consensus is that they've never seen the public parks in our area so busy (full parking lots).

Let's leave generation out of this. Many people dig it. Some don't. There's nothing wrong with not being into it. Likewise, there's nothing wrong with being into it. It's hard to deny that it's become a sensation regardless.

I agree... the maturity issue is implied... by you!

Let's NOT leave generation out of it - that's the point. Not in a maturity sense, but as a cultural one. Perhaps you and your friends share that aspect of that culture...?

I also agree that it's a clever way to make people move around a little... too bad soon it'll mostly be monetized by business ads as the article points out.

Oh well... these developers won't be the first - or the last - to take advantage of a generational cultural trait to make money out of them by deceiving and selling them more crap.

cheers!

 

[C DM]

Complaints about the complainers. Ironic.

Complaints about the complaints about the complainers?

 

[freepomme]

Pokemon Go is like a dream come true.

 

[xero9]

Can someone explain to someone who downloaded the game but I just don't get it. I have heard of Pokémon but I know nothing about it period. So far I just walk around and throw a ball at something and level up? I must be missing something because there has to be more to it..

 

[lordofthereef]

I don't think this will require the purchase of anything, so I see nothing really wrong with it.

Great game that can only get better, IMO.

Looking forward to trades and single battles as well.
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Can someone explain to someone who downloaded the game but I just don't get it. I have heard of Pokémon but I know nothing about it period. So far I just walk around and throw a ball at something and level up? I must be missing something because there has to be more to it..

That's basically all there is, yes.

I think most (but not all) players played the original games and it's very nostalgic. But anyway, I'll explain a few things.

Pokestops give you items. Mostly balls but other stuff life revived and fruits and stuff to use in battle. When close enough to a stop, the cube that represents it on a map because what looks like a poke all coin. Tap the stop, spin the coin, and you get 2-4 items.

Gyms allow you to control them if you are able to defeat all monsters sitting there. You need to be level five or higher to get to battle. You can also do a test battle but only if your faction holds the gym. (You pick said faction at level five; most popular now seems to be blue)

You can evolve monsters when you have enough candy. You get candy every time you catch that specific monster (three candies per) and every time you release that specific monster (one candy per). Different monsters require different amount of candy to evolve. I found most are 20-50, but Magikarp is a whopping 400! You add combat point in a similar fashion, though in general you're better off just catching stuff early on and not wasting points on CP

The game really is that simple with the real goal being "catching them all" as well as discovering parts of a city you never knew existed. My advice is not to treat this as a game you need to defeat. Just enjoy walking around the city and discovering new things, perhaps meeting new people, etc.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

I'd rather just buy the app.

 

[Col4bin]

Some kid stole your gym, didn't they?

Nope. Just stating facts.

 

[sudo1996]

I tried the game just now, and it was fun for about 30 minutes. That is, it was fun until I realized it's pretty much the same everywhere I go. Deleted the app.
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Millennials...Bunch of soft, self-centered, whiny crybabies.

Hey, we're cleaning up your mess!

 

[wolfaaron]

MacRumors is trolling us with all these articles

Niantic did get sponsored by companies in the past in this same way. I wouldn't be surprised if they do it with Pokemon but I do wonder why they would do that when they already have a good model without involving sponsors.

 

[Juicy Box]

Complaints about the complaints about the complainers?

I wasn't complaining, but just stating what I saw.

But, I liked what you did there.

 

[Asianpork]

I must be living in some weird anomaly because I haven't seen anybody in my neighborhood, office, or area near my office playing this game. No one walking around with their face in their phone. No Pokemon Go related status updates on my FB feed. My Girlfriend is the only person who has tried the game and got tired of it after getting nothing but Ratattas to catch.

I live in NYC and honestly haven't observed anyone playing this game or anyone I know even talking about it. I'm a smoker so I just stand and observe people when I pump life choking gasses into my lung...yet, I've noticed nothing. So odd.

 

[MistrSynistr]

This has got to stop.

Macrumors MUST be getting a kickback from posting this pokemon stuff.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Wow. The in-game view from my couch includes 27 PokéStops and 3 Gyms (with several more Gyms and dozens more PokéStops just beyond "visual" range). And 3 of the PokéStops are sporting lure modules right now. The joys of living in a somewhat urban area.

Not a single thing visible from my couch. I went downtown for the first time last night and was amazed at the proliferation of pokestops, the # of lures attached, and the hundreds of people wandering around looking for Pokemon. This is a relatively small city (Colorado Springs). I realized this was big but you don't realize just how big until you see it first hand.
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I must be living in some weird anomaly because I haven't seen anybody in my neighborhood, office, or area near my office playing this game. No one walking around with their face in their phone. No Pokemon Go related status updates on my FB feed. My Girlfriend is the only person who has tried the game and got tired of it after getting nothing but Ratattas to catch.

I live in NYC and honestly haven't observed anyone playing this game or anyone I know even talking about it. I'm a smoker so I just stand and observe people when I pump life choking gasses into my lung...yet, I've noticed nothing. So odd.

Very odd. Note my experience above in a much (MUCH) smaller city (about 500,000).

 

[Three141]

It was only a matter of time... How long did that take? Two weeks? Walmart Pokémons here we come!

Agree, you could see this coming a mile off especially as it's 'free'.

 

[CarlJ]

This has got to stop.

Macrumors MUST be getting a kickback from posting this pokemon stuff.

Nope, they are reporting on a cultural phenomenon that runs on iPhones (and Android phones). Totally reasonable for them to report on it. To most normal people it came out of nowhere and now there's over 20 million people playing. In time, the reporting will die down, but just because you don't like it doesn't mean everyone else should stop talking about it.

Frankly, I saw the same reaction when the US Supreme Court made gay marriage legal everywhere - tons of happy people rejoicing, media coverage everywhere, and a handful of people complaining, like you, that it should all go away because they were sick and tired of hearing about it. Let other people be happy, even if it doesn't appeal to you. I don't care much for football, but I don't spend the entire football season complaining about it.