Nintendo is one of the most world-renowned gaming companies to date. Timeless classics like Super Mario Bros, Kirby and Pokémon have been childhood favourites for millions around the world. As years passed and technology progressed, mobile gaming became an enormous fad. Despite the popular trends, Nintendo decided to maintain emphasis on the conventional console gaming. As Nintendo introduced Pokémon Go—their first emergence into mobile gaming—the company’s once immobile stocks doubled in price. Jason Tse’s blog post highlights the epic rise of the app, discussing how Nintendo’s surfacing mobile gaming addition has initiated a new demographic to all their other existing segments. With all this being true, I dedicate this post to the unfortunate outcome that followed the launch of Pokémon Go.
It is undeniable that the app was an absolute phenomenon. Nonetheless, after several weeks of actively hunting Pokémon, app users soon grew tired of the game. Many began to criticize the developers—Niantic—as they failed to introduce different features to captivate and uphold user interests. The removal of the tracking system was a vital trigger to the wave of disinterest, which restricted the pursuing of rare Pokémon. These bugs were not treated by Niantic, who was essentially unresponsive to the issue. In addition, people began to “cheat” the game, thereby finding new ways to get around without physically getting up and about. Through these glitches, gamers lost immense incentive to play the Pokémon Go app.
With numerous users still active, the app has not entirely crashed and burned. Nevertheless, I strongly believe Nintendo lost crucial potential to improve Pokémon Go. If they were to act sooner to cater to their consumer wants and interests, they would have possibly kept many gamers intrigued, thus sufficing consumer wants.
As a Pokémon enthusiast myself, I hope to see several improvements in the upcoming “Generation 2 Pokémon Go” which is to be released in 2017. Nonetheless, Nintendo will not cease to disappoint as their presence in the mobile gaming world will only continue to develop and progress significantly.
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Citations:
Placido, Dani Di. “The End Of ‘Pokémon GO'” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 30 July 2016. Web. 16 Oct. 2016. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2016/07/30/the-end-of-pokemon-go/#408826a670d7>.
Tse, Jason. “The Comeback of Nintendo? | Po Hong (Jason) Tse.” Po Hong Jason Tse. N.p., 1 Oct. 2016. Web. 16 Oct. 2016. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/jaytse/2016/10/01/the-comeback-of-nintendo/>.