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My connection with this is just that I was in Google Maps, and I knew some of the people who worked on Ingress. At the time, a "location-based game" seemed like

My connection with this is just that I was in Google Maps, and I knew some of the people who worked on Ingress. At the time, a "location-based game" seemed like a brilliant idea. I guess the novelty wore off. The Angry Birds analogy is spot on. A game is just a fad, unless you manage to turn it into a franchise. The best financial model, if you have a successful fad, is "take the money and run." You just won the lottery, which tells us nothing about your innate ability to win lotteries.

Tepix 4y ago
I think Niantic is struggling because they go the franchise route. They have few new ideas for their games, it's just mostly a new skin. But i haven't really tried the Harry Potter game and Pikmin Bloom so maybe i am wrong.
- kongolongo 4y ago
  The Harry Potter game was a little bit more complicated, I think PoGo was probably the simplest, at least at launch, I'm not sure what its like now, and other than being a super well-known IP is partially why it was successful IMO. I guess you could probably point to that also being one reason why the HP game wasn't as successful despite also being a popular IP. I haven't tried Pikmin Bloom.
yomkippur 4y ago
Great pitch for VCs with some McKinsey research bubble charts with TAM in the billions with location based ups-LET ME WRITE A CHEC
- AlbertCory 4y ago
  No, McKinsey would figure out that you really, really want to keep winning the lottery, and come up with some slides that show you how. And then send you a big bill.
malkuth23 4y ago
The novelty of location based games never wore off for me, but the gameplay created by Niantic lost it's charm very quickly. I hope Naiantic's failure will not doom location based gaming. I suffered through the meaningless grind of Pokemon GO for longer than I expected because I loved the human and exploring elements so much. Niantic stumbled on a brilliant idea and completely failed to make an engaging game. It is hard for me to exaggerate how good I think locations based games are and how bad Niantic is at making games. There are so many possibilities in this space. I encourage any game maker interested to continue developing it. Maybe something that tells a story or solve a puzzle rather than just collect crap.
- EnKopVand 4y ago
  I think the biggest issue for location based apps is that no one except niantic have access to Google’s map data. If that data was easily available, I imagine you’d see a lot of great location apps. It’s not hard to imagine the normal Pokémon games in the location setting, where you actually move around instead of moving an avatar around and “fight” Pokémon in different areas to “win” them, or go to “gyms” and battle with friends and what not. You’d probably need to design the stranger meeting stranger part around having that sort of thing only happen in secure locations like in the DND/Warhammer shop, and everything on non secure locations be based on friend systems, but still, it’s not hard to imagine a good location based Pokémon game. It’s just that niantic won’t make it. Maybe open street map can supply the data, but you’re never going to have access to Google’s real world live monitoring of the movement of everyone with a smartphone.
  - mavhc 4y ago
    Niantic use Open Street Maps for their maps now
whywhywhywhy 4y ago
That’s the thing. You can’t turn Pokémon Go into a franchise because you don’t own Pokémon. Trying to build your startup on an IP you don’t own is a trap.

Tepix 4y ago

I think Niantic is struggling because they go the franchise route. They have few new ideas for their games, it's just mostly a new skin. But i haven't really tried the Harry Potter game and Pikmin Bloom so maybe i am wrong.

kongolongo 4y ago
The Harry Potter game was a little bit more complicated, I think PoGo was probably the simplest, at least at launch, I'm not sure what its like now, and other than being a super well-known IP is partially why it was successful IMO. I guess you could probably point to that also being one reason why the HP game wasn't as successful despite also being a popular IP. I haven't tried Pikmin Bloom.

yomkippur 4y ago

Great pitch for VCs with some McKinsey research bubble charts with TAM in the billions with location based ups-LET ME WRITE A CHEC

AlbertCory 4y ago
No, McKinsey would figure out that you really, really want to keep winning the lottery, and come up with some slides that show you how. And then send you a big bill.

malkuth23 4y ago

The novelty of location based games never wore off for me, but the gameplay created by Niantic lost it's charm very quickly. I hope Naiantic's failure will not doom location based gaming. I suffered through the meaningless grind of Pokemon GO for longer than I expected because I loved the human and exploring elements so much. Niantic stumbled on a brilliant idea and completely failed to make an engaging game. It is hard for me to exaggerate how good I think locations based games are and how bad Niantic is at making games. There are so many possibilities in this space. I encourage any game maker interested to continue developing it. Maybe something that tells a story or solve a puzzle rather than just collect crap.

EnKopVand 4y ago
I think the biggest issue for location based apps is that no one except niantic have access to Google’s map data. If that data was easily available, I imagine you’d see a lot of great location apps. It’s not hard to imagine the normal Pokémon games in the location setting, where you actually move around instead of moving an avatar around and “fight” Pokémon in different areas to “win” them, or go to “gyms” and battle with friends and what not. You’d probably need to design the stranger meeting stranger part around having that sort of thing only happen in secure locations like in the DND/Warhammer shop, and everything on non secure locations be based on friend systems, but still, it’s not hard to imagine a good location based Pokémon game. It’s just that niantic won’t make it. Maybe open street map can supply the data, but you’re never going to have access to Google’s real world live monitoring of the movement of everyone with a smartphone.
- mavhc 4y ago
  Niantic use Open Street Maps for their maps now

whywhywhywhy 4y ago

That’s the thing. You can’t turn Pokémon Go into a franchise because you don’t own Pokémon. Trying to build your startup on an IP you don’t own is a trap.