I truly hope the company starts taking these problems a little more seriously because Pokemon Go can be so much more. Two reasons stand out for me that make Pokemon Go unlike anything else before:
It’s Creating a Community
Despite all these problems, players have been flocking to Pokestops and gyms to spend time together as groups with a common interest. People of all ages, races and classes are sharing experiences, laughter and stories in a way I’ve never seen any game, hell any medium, do before. It takes something truly special to bring a group of strangers together in one place and actively engage one another; granted it’s not happening all the time, but when it works, it’s a beautiful thing.
People are also learning about their neighbourhoods and the hidden gems scattered around their cities. It’s literally teaching people about the cultural history of their city, and people are flocking to it. How’s that for educational motivation?
Now imagine how that community will respond when all those promised features from the trailer are available. Meeting and battling strangers on the street, helping each other out with legendary battles and trading amongst one another. This could be a conduit to stronger communities, not to mention healthier ones.
It’s Opening the Door for the AR/VR Revolution
If anything, Pokemon Go is proving that the world is ready for AR/VR style gaming. The delight on grown adults faces when they see a Pokemon sitting on their desk or standing in the field in front of them is incredible, it’s like their five years old again. This very basic introduction of AR gaming to players has proven the model, and hopefully offered developers the added confidence in producing more content in AR and VR style gaming. This has only opened the floodgates and the possibilities are endless. Even Niantic has an opportunity here to continue to build out what Pokemon Go can do in an AR environment, and with an established global fan base, they’d certain be capturing people’s attention.
At the end of the day, Niantic has captured lighting in a bottle. Millions of players are actively engaged with an app that is currently a frustrating and underwhelming experience. But man, if they can delivery everything that trailer promises, this could really be something special.