
Users spend more minutes per day in Pokémon Go than Facebook - D3_4dl1N3
https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/13/pokemon-go-tops-twitters-daily-users-sees-more-engagement-than-facebook/
======
goodplay
I would be very happy if Niantec releases an in-depth write up on the how the
backend was implemented and what measures they took to make it scale to handle
this kind of traffic.

I don't care much for the game, but details of why the servers weren't
(aren't?) able to handle the traffic interests me immensely.

~~~
throwawayReply
I look forward to what they can further do to improve things.

For instance they don't cache pokestop images, my phone keeps redownloading
the same images from pokestops and gyms, if it just cached the top 10 most
visited pokestops and gyms that would be a decent reduction in data use.

Also it would help if they offloaded some of the work of the GPS onto the
local phone steptracking/direction trackers it would help.

I can understand if they don't want to send coordinates of "nearby pokemon"
down to the clients because that would inevitably get hacked, but the phone
has to repeatedly poll.

If the phone tracked more locally it could not poll GPs until it detects
locally that it's moved enough, so if you weren't moving you wouldn't be
updating your position very often.

Also I read something that reckons that the game servers are currently all
hosted in the US, which would explain the laggy battle experience in Europe.
(Freezing at 1hp left, never being quite sure what's hit your character or
good times to attack).

~~~
hellweaver666
Offloading the GPS work to the step/direction trackers in the phone would also
be great for those of us that work in big old buildings that do a great job of
blocking my GPS position.

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tuna-piano
A few thoughts:

1\. I tried playing this game, but really don't enjoy it. It feels to me it's
not about strategy as much as it's "the one who puts in the most hours of
playing wins". Felt actually like work to me.

2\. I don't see this game being a long term super success, as it is now. I'd
imagine cohort analysis would show the first cohorts waning in usage in the
next several weeks. I imagine as more people begin playing, the overall
popularity of the game will continue to rise for a while, but that hides the
fact that the game has a limited shelf life with the masses.

~~~
danvoell
1.) Agreed. 2.) The way I see it, they really brought a new game category into
the mainstream. I foresee thousands of similar games coming shortly except
instead of games, they will teach us about neighborhoods, history,
architecture, health or figure out how to help us do more outdoor activities
without walking around like zombies looking at our phones.

~~~
ljk
not many other apps would have the crowdsource data like this game though

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obj-g
Seems obvious to me -- it's a game that takes time to play. Most people check
Facebook for, like, 30 seconds at a time. It's like saying people spend more
time playing Overwatch than checking their email? There's probably a better
analogy. A bunch of interesting data in the article though.

~~~
sliverstorm
The thing about Facebook is many people dwell on it, rather than checking it
for 30 seconds. The timeline becomes a time sink for many people.

~~~
obj-g
Some people, for sure. In my experience, I usually see people checking it for
30 seconds or so but _many_ times daily. Even if you're right, it still seems
like a no-brainer that the average Pokemon GO player would spend more time
playing than the average Facebook user is on Facebook.

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mcv
Considering how many people get serious exercise out of this, I think they're
wise to spend their time on Pokemon Go rather than Facebook. And then there's
stories like these: [http://www.thememo.com/2016/07/14/autism-advice-asd-
advice-p...](http://www.thememo.com/2016/07/14/autism-advice-asd-advice-
pokemon-go-mum-thanks-nintendo/)

Just watch where you're going, okay?

~~~
saiya-jin
as a non-player - by serious exercise you mean walking around or is there some
real exercise involved?

~~~
knowaveragejoe
One could argue that walking around - kilometers at a time, in the case of
getting an egg to hatch - is serious exercise compared to sitting in front of
a computer or on a couch.

~~~
z3t4
Not saying walking is not good for you, but walking is very energy efficient.
Your heart rate is probably higher reading HN, at least for me. Doing some
sprints and other movements, like playing football, or moving the lawn, will
give you a good workout though.

~~~
mcv
If you want to burn fat, walking is one of the best ways to do it. It you want
to build muscle, there are better options. But long walks are absolutely good
for certain kinds of exercise.

~~~
z3t4
you also burn fat while eating pizza, but you put in lots of more calories.
Walking doesnt use many calories. Its still healthy though, and better then
nothing at all.

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akerro
Which is great! People go out and start new relations with other people
instead breaking them on facebook!

~~~
sreyaNotfilc
Yeah, its almost like Pokemon is a truer social network than Facebook.

You're finding common interest (but in real life). You're connecting (but in
real life).

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mynewtb
Flappy Bird flaps more than the average paper plane!

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jessaustin
The success of Pokémon Go as the first breakout AR "belief circle" certainly
seems like a victory for the Scooch-a-mouti. I wonder how the Librarians
Militant will respond?

~~~
aerovistae
...what is Scooch-a-mouti ?

~~~
GFischer
I had to Google it too. It's something out of a Vernor Vinge novel, Rainbow's
End.

~~~
jessaustin
Actually the title is: _Rainbows End_. No apostrophe.

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ionwake
hmmm is anyone else essentially finding the game unplayable due to server
issues? Or is this perhaps a region specific issue?

~~~
davidiach
My own experience is that the game freezes after catching a Pokemon about 70%
of the time. It's really annoying.

I'm playing in Germany.

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synaesthesisx
Do people really spend an average of 22 minutes/day on Facebook? That's
astounding....I find it hard to believe unless that's including Messenger or
something (which not a lot of my colleagues even use since there are better,
more secure chat alternatives)

------
Illniyar
Yes! Another arbitrary metric that pokemon go passes an arbitrary company.

We get it, Pokemon Go is popular. Seesh.

~~~
Kiro
Why so snarky? Don't you think it's an interesting phenomena?

~~~
Retr0spectrum
Not really, it seems just like any other fad. The technology involved has been
around for a while, and nobody paid much attention to it before.

I'd be interested to see articles detailing technical difficulties that they
may have overcome, but I've seen way too many articles just saying "Pokemon GO
now has more X than Y".

~~~
pantalaimon
I'm curious about the social consequences of mass adoption.

I'm already seeing groups of random people gathering around gyms when they see
they are taken by their team/in the process of being taken away.

The meta-game that might develop is interesting, and only possible due to wide
adoption.

~~~
jvolkman
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/4stnx4/how_can_we_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/4stnx4/how_can_we_reduce_the_number_of_pokemon_go/)

------
baq
duh.

call me if that's still the case in 3 months.

~~~
curiousgal
I hope it's here to stay, maybe, since it uses a lot of battery power, phone
manufacturers will start prioritizing that.

~~~
thaumasiotes
"Start"? Battery power is one of the primary complaints people make about
their phones. It's been a priority for... ever.

~~~
joncrocks
While it's one of the primary complaints (after purchase), the market would
seem to suggest that people prefer smaller/thinner phones in terms of
purchasing decisions.

~~~
ckluis
I’d happily have a 1-2 inch thick well made premium phone with a battery that
lasted days.

~~~
kruczek
Sounds like Pentagram Monster series. The one I have with 4100mAh battery
lasts for over 20 days, if I'm not using it heavily. And while it is heavier
than typical smartphones, it's only about 1cm thick. As far as I know there's
also a newer model with 6000mAh battery.

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chriswwweb
I'm tired of those articles "Pokemon Go is bigger then X", they contain no
useful information besides the fact that Pokemon Go is really popular, yeah Ok
we got it, now please tell us something interesting that ain't obvious ;) ...
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy Pokemon Go is such a success because it's good
for Nintendo as it is their first mobile game (even though they haven't
developed it inhouse) and this success will help them to stay afloat

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sevenless
I don't have the game, but it sounds like GPS power drain is the big problem.
Is there not some way to improve that? Maybe only turn on GPS intermittently
and use accelerometers, wireless signals or the camera to track your position
from the last known point and any landmarks?

~~~
knowaveragejoe
Just from using the app you can tell there are optimizations to be made that
would dramatically save on battery life before even getting to the power draw
from location services. Pokestops for example don't appear to locally cache
their images and descriptions for long.

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ccozan
Well, I am honestly waiting for WarcraftGo.

I'd love to instance that local shopping mall :).

~~~
hellweaver666
I'm the opposite... I would love a Pokemon MMO (imagine WoW with Pokemon!)

~~~
ahoy
It's frankly stunning that Nintendo never attempted this in the mid 2000's
when MMO's were the hot thing. I've seen the idea floated so often of the past
decade.

~~~
xenihn
Remember this?

[http://www.gamespot.com/articles/iwata-customers-do-not-
want...](http://www.gamespot.com/articles/iwata-customers-do-not-want-online-
games/1100-6102100/)

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caub
technically 0>= 0

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johanneskanybal
Well yes ofcourse?

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realrocker
Let's give it a minute.

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rajeemcariazo
I wonder how much is the valuation of Nintendo now the Pokemon Go is out

~~~
hornbaker
Last I saw, Nintendo's market cap was up $9B since the launch of PG.

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z3t4
I always feel uneasy by viral marketing, like paying professionals to like it.
Compared to the user engagement of say Flappy Bird.

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adamors
Can we have a moratorium on Pokemon Go posts? It is getting really annoying,
especially since submissions regarding it have absolutely no value.

~~~
calsy
Why? Pokemon Go is the most talked about topic in tech at the moment.
Considering this a tech news site, it would seem more than appropriate to show
this content.

~~~
adamors
That's a stretch. This is like any other HN fad, like the 2048 variants,
javascript frameworks etc.

~~~
knowaveragejoe
You must be deluding yourself. It's the most popular mobile game that's ever
existed, and it's an ARG at that.

