
Pokemon Go isn't the solution to Nintendo's problems - JackPoach
http://www.wired.com/2016/07/pokemon-go-nintendo-stock/?mbid=synd_digg
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pwinnski
I'm not sure I understand the logic of "it can't be popular because the
servers are always down." It seems, of course, _because_ it's so popular that
the servers are often down. It also seems that periods of downtime are
extended, but sporadic:
[http://ispokemongodownornot.com/](http://ispokemongodownornot.com/)

Put yourself in Niantic's shoes, pre-release. Let's say that you start with,
"Let's pick our busiest day ever for Ingress, and double that." Then someone
else in the room says, "No, triple it." And something else says, "No,
quadruple it!" The problem is that none of those would be remotely enough.
This game is the most popular game in mobile history, and while it's easy to
say, "of course!" and point to the confluence of Pokémon and other trends to
explain it, nobody predicted that this morning in Addison, Texas, at 9:30am,
there would be 26 people ranging from young children to retirees playing the
game in a local park.

Perhaps the game is already on the way out, but for now it's bigger than any
mobile game has ever been, so difficulty scaling doesn't surprise me at all.

~~~
markmarrk
That park you speak of had close to 300-400 people catching Pokemon last night
in 90+ degree temps.

The game is popular across all segments.

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SurrealSoul
Buzzy article, contradictory in spots and doesn't leave a concise conclusion.
No idea what Chris is trying to get at. He suggests that the most popular app
to date isn't sustainable, yet mentions that it's producing tons and tons of
potential buyers for the new Pokemon releases.

Chris states "Pokemon Go‘s remarkable success surely awakened Nintendo’s
conservative management team to the potential of mobile gaming" but in the
previous paragraph says "The company is developing mobile versions of its
strategy RPG series Fire Emblem and its adorable anthropomorphic Sims-style
Animal Crossing, but their success is not guaranteed". Clearly their marketing
team has "awaken" before pokemon to develop these other IPs?

/rant

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nedsma
Even if Nintendo doesn't end up making much money out of the Pokemon Go game,
the value of the mostly positive press that the company has received will
certainly also affect positively product sales in the future.

~~~
gthtjtkt
> mostly positive press

I guess that's one perspective.

From a gamer's perspective, Pokemon Go has been a disaster so far. The app
itself is pretty clunky and prone to freezing. The servers have been down for
lengthy periods during prime hours. And, worst of all, they took a beloved
franchise and essentially gutted it, which is a huge disappointment to
everyone who's loved Pokemon since the '90s.

Casual gamers will be put off by the poor technical execution, and the core
gaming audience will be repelled by its shallow, gimmicky gameplay. It has all
the markings of a fad. Niantic better have some pretty massive updates up
their sleeve...

~~~
dasboth
"It has all the markings of a fad"

My thoughts as well. It already favours players who play obsessively. Casual
gamers can't really expect to ever challenge a gym in even a reasonably
populated area. I was excited by the idea and I lost interest after a few
days. No guarantee that everyone else will follow suit, but I have that sort
of gut feeling.

~~~
Navarr
Actually,

With how terrible the gym metagame is right now, casual players can absolutely
take on a gym.

I placed a pretty decent Jolteon in one and my lower-leveled Wife pretty much
beat the crap out of it with a Vaporeon.

Right now: Vaporeon rules the streets.

There's a great post about why this is right now on /r/TheSilphRoad:
[https://redd.it/4tylty](https://redd.it/4tylty)

But I do concur - it is looking like it will be a fad. They will have to pump
updates and new features into it in order to keep it alive, or it will die
quick. Already 2/6 (of my) office workers have dropped from playing it.

~~~
dasboth
Wow that is ridiculous, I had no idea. Thanks for the link. I guess "normal"
Pokemon rules don't apply, perhaps that's why I've been having trouble!

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paublyrne
I'm pretty sure that Nintendo's recent problems are largely due to them
releasing a console that didn't have a lot of great games.

They have a new console on the way, and if they avoid those mistakes this time
they'll do well. The new Zelda game looks wonderful.

~~~
samfisher83
Nintendo is highly dependent on its first party games. They can only crank so
many of them out at any time. Third party developers seem to prefer ps4 and
XB1.

~~~
fluxquanta
If I'm not mistaken, third party developers prefer the other platforms because
there are fewer restrictions, both in terms of hardware power (which Nintendo
consoles at least since the Wii have lacked in comparison with competitors),
and content (where Nintendo wanted to cultivate a more family friendly
reputation).

~~~
city41
It's relatively easy to write a game that will run on PC, Xbox and PS4. At a
high level, they're very similar platforms. The Wii U is a very odd duck. At
the very least, they have to address the touch screen at least minimally.

So I'm sure most developers decide the Wii U just isn't worth the effort.

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fixermark
Ecosystem changes are only deadly to a company if they don't adapt to them.

Before videogames, Nintendo made playing cards. The console-locked model has
been profitable for them for decades, but I wouldn't cash my chips out on them
failing to make the roll to mobile just yet.

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chasingtheflow
If Pokemon Go succeeded in one thing it was validating the value of Nintendo's
IP. People clearly want Nintendo products on iOS and Android and there's a
much larger market for Nintendo outside their first-party devices.

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jaz46
This is what the article thesis should have been:

Nintendo's used to be a hardware company that also created some amazingly
valuable software. Today, their biggest asset is their IP around some of the
most valuable gaming franchises in the world -- Pokemon, the Mario universe,
and Zelda are the big three IMO.

Unfortunately, Nintendo can't seem to figure out how to make insane amount of
money from this IP without losing tons of money on failed hardware projects.

The author claims that porting Pokemon gameboy games to mobile would only be a
bandaid, but even if that doesn't "save" Nintendo, I think it would actually
be a massive boon and sorely needed culture shift for the company. There are
great memes online around "Mario Kart Go", but wouldn't "Mario Kart with
Friends" (or random people online) be great?

The Zelda franchise, my one true love :), I'm not sure how to fix. I literally
bought a Wii only to play Skyward Sword and will buy whatever system is needed
for the next game, but i'm in the minority and that pattern is an indication
of a terribly unhealthy hardware business hanging by a thread from their
gaming IP.

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SCAQTony
I don't know! The company creates an alternate universe that needs a
"Tricorder" to react with... What can go wrong? I could see Nintendo making
phones now.

~~~
chongli
I guess you didn't read the article. Nintendo _didn 't create this alternate
universe_, a third party did.

~~~
Retric
And as a game it's terrible. What's compelling is how well it fits into the
Pokemon story.

~~~
ZenoArrow
> "And as a game it's terrible."

Niantic/Nintendo could easily update the game to make it more engaging at the
point interest starts to wane. For example, updating the game so you could
take control in gym battles.

~~~
gre
Easily? As an early Ingress player, experience shows that Niantic as a company
are extermely slow to add features.

The UI for dealing with gameplay have always been terrible. You had to drop
items one by one in Ingress for years until they finally made a capsule item.

There's no way to sort by pokemon type and no way to transfer all but a few of
your weakest pokemon. They just seem not to care.

Good luck making the game actually fun...

~~~
ZenoArrow
> "Easily? As an early Ingress player, experience shows that Niantic as a
> company are extermely slow to add features."

Yes, easily. It's not as if the mechanics haven't already been worked out,
they were there right from the Red/Green/Blue/Yellow era. All Niantic would be
doing would be adding some buttons to the combat interface and adding some
extra animations.

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systems
Nintendo just need to make a powerful system, powerful process lots or ram ..
and a developer friendly sdk If they want to remain in the console business

I don't why they don't see the obvious

If Nintendo NX is not as powerful as the next playstation and the next xbox,
this could only mean, Nintendo is getting out of the console system .. and
targeting a new market

~~~
intoverflow2
>Nintendo just need to make a powerful system, powerful process lots or ram ..
and a developer friendly sdk If they want to remain in the console business

>I don't why they don't see the obvious

Because both of their biggest console/handheld successes did the exact
opposite of that...

~~~
systems
the opposite of what, i don't get it

~~~
intoverflow2
>powerful system, powerful process lots or ram .. and a developer friendly sdk

The Wii is a souped up Gamecube, wasn't even full HD.

DS can only just barely manage 3D and it's about Nintendo 64 quality when it
does. Far weaker than the original PSP that predates it.

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lewisj489
no one cares

