Pokemon GO

[RocketMan]

I think 'augmented' reality is more going to be a case of pulling your phone out of your pocket from time to time to use it, than of everyone walking around with Oculuses or Google glasses all the time. In the same way that we don't have phone earpieces in all the time.

What a ridiculous adjective for it though - augmented.

Nintendo's stock price is up sharply. What is the bet? Will they sell more Pikachu T-shirts because of this? Or sell the data from Pokemon Go to interested parties venal and manipulative? Ha.

Rocketman - what Gibson novel was that? The image doesn't come up for me. I enjoyed some of his early books but bought Zero History not long ago and was really disappointed.

Pattern Recognition. The first William Gibson novel I was really let down by was his last, The Peripheral. Feels like he's reaching.

[82_28]

My brother (visiting) has it on his phone and he kinda keeps checking and he has "captured" some "rare" ones. So I kept asking him if there was one nearby. He was always yeah, nothing. And then all of a sudden last night he fired it up and there was one perched on top of my dad's head while he was watching Wheel of Fortune.

HE GOT IT THOUGH!!!!

I really don't fucking understand. But yeah. It was right on top of his head.

I also read the Singularity by Vinge, btw. Some people get shit right when the see the arc of where shit is heading.

[divideandconquer]

The popularity of Pokeman Go reveals how ultimately controlled and fully programmed we are by the programmers...controllers. How insane we really are.

PG type games will ensure that we constantly stay plugged into the perpetual immediacy of 21st century "living"...amusing ourselves to death, lost in a sea of unimportant busyness, as we try to take in and make sense of the slew of contradictory information and horrific/provocative/sexual/ imagery that bombards us, 24/7....driven most to the point where chasing cartoon rats in public is seen as perfectly normal.

[stefano]

So (obviously) there is a more immediate way of monetising this thing:

Because Pokémon Go is a free-to-play app, it allows players to spend real money on in-game coins. Developer Niantic Labs stresses this is not a way to pay your way to the top, but a method that allows players to buy consumable items they could normally find in the wild without too much effort.

In other words, the microtransactions in Pokémon Go are more for the lazy than they are the strategic. The game involves moving around the real world and using your smartphone as a gateway to a Pokémon universe in which you can catch creatures, find items at local hangouts, and battle and take control of gyms at notable landmarks. If you're out and about actually playing the game as it's designed, you'll regularly find items like Pokéballs for catching pokémon, incense for luring them, and eggs that hatch potentially hard-to-find pokémon. If you don't have that kind of time, you can buy in-game currency to purchase those items.

Whatever your position on microtransactions, Pokémon Go's seem relatively innocuous for now. It does let you spend up to $99.99 for 14,500 Pokécoins, an absurd amount that should result in an evaluation of life choices.

The wild!

I found out about Pokécoins via The Onion, which has a primer for me and Belligerent Savant:

What Is Pokémon Go?

Since its debut last Thursday, the augmented-reality smartphone app Pokémon Go has been downloaded millions of times and has grown publisher Nintendo’s stock by 25 percent. The Onion answers some common questions about the game and its unprecedented success.

Q: What is the object of Pokémon Go?
A: To collect as much personal data for Nintendo as possible

Q: Where can you play Pokémon Go?
A: In any society in which the problems of day-to-day survival have been adequately solved to allow the concept of unfocused activity, or “leisure,” to develop

Q: What are Pokémon?
A: This is not for you

Q: How do you catch a Pokémon?
A: Spend months building a personal connection before luring it away from its family

Q: What happens after I capture a Pokémon?
A: The Pokémon will emit a deep, mournful moan as it begins to experience an overwhelming longing for freedom

Q: Can you shoot the Pokémon?
A: No

Q: How do you beat the game?
A: The game is won when you have completed all in-app purchases

Q: Where can I catch Onix?
A: Onix can only be found in the Caspian Sea off the coast of Turkmenistan, at coordinates 39°32’48.7”N 51°49’04.1”E

Q: How many Pokémon are there?
A: 151, according to the most recent numbers out of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Q: Is it a better deal to buy 2,500 Pokécoins for $19.99 or 5,200 Pokécoins for $39.99?
A: The DSM-5 classifies internet gaming disorder as a compulsive use of video games that leads to significant issues functioning in society, damage to one’s personal life, and acute withdrawal when separated from the game in question.

Q: Who owns Pokémon Go?
A: Pokémon Go is jointly owned by Nintendo and the remaining descendants of Pikachu

Q: Should I worry about the amount of information that I will expose about myself by using the app?
A: It’s never stopped you before

Q: Is some part of this game’s popularity among adults deeply, indescribably sad?
A: Yes

[Luther Blissett]

I think 'augmented' reality is more going to be a case of pulling your phone out of your pocket from time to time to use it, than of everyone walking around with Oculuses or Google glasses all the time. In the same way that we don't have phone earpieces in all the time.

What a ridiculous adjective for it though - augmented.

Nintendo's stock price is up sharply. What is the bet? Will they sell more Pikachu T-shirts because of this? Or sell the data from Pokemon Go to interested parties venal and manipulative? Ha.
….

While it would be best if you are correct, Magic Leap currently has a $4.5billion valuation with no product yet launched. The richies have a bit invested in it and I fear it'll have to happen by hook or by crook. Like all that oil under the sand already on the books for the fossil fuel industry.

[Karmamatterz]

THIS is depressing. People using video games to help depression? OMG...how about go for a (without your phone) walk? A (without your phone) hike? Ride a (without your phone) bike? Go kayaking (without your phone). Go to the (without your phone) beach and swim. Go the (without your phone) gym? DO something (without your phone) to change your brain chemistry involving movement of the body will help your mind and body more than these soul sucking games.

Who has heard how this game accesses your phone's camera? Heard a radio DJ talking about how it was creepy the game could have so much access to your phone.

FWIW, not all doom n gloom here.

http://www.sciencealert.com/pokemon-go- ... depression

Pokémon Go is reportedly helping people with their depression
With more people now using the app than Tinder - and Twitter soon to be overtaken - it appears that Pokémon Go is motivating users to get up and out of the house - something that's often a struggle for people suffering from depression or anxiety.

Here are just a few of the hundreds of Tweets out there raving about the game:

#PokemonGo has already been a better treatment for my depression than anything my doctor prescribed or therapist recommended

— Jesseanne Pope (@gleefullyhello) July 11, 2016
#PokemonGO has changed me so much for the better in only a week. Dealing with BPD, depression& anxiety it has helped me get out of the house

— Lara (@38Violetqueen) July 11, 2016
Real talk - as someone with anxiety/depression, the fact that I've spent most of this weekend outside with friends is unreal. #PokemonGo

— HiRez David (@uglycatlady) July 10, 2016
With the app only out for a week, scientists haven't been able to study this link just yet, so we can't say for sure what effects the app is having.

But Grohol thinks that the benefit comes from encouraging people to get moving around - something that study after study has shown is beneficial for mental health.

[Nordic]

[82_28]

THIS is depressing. People using video games to help depression? OMG...how about go for a (without your phone) walk? A (without your phone) hike? Ride a (without your phone) bike? Go kayaking (without your phone). Go to the (without your phone) beach and swim. Go the (without your phone) gym? DO something (without your phone) to change your brain chemistry involving movement of the body will help your mind and body more than these soul sucking games.

Who has heard how this game accesses your phone's camera? Heard a radio DJ talking about how it was creepy the game could have so much access to your phone.

FWIW, not all doom n gloom here.

http://www.sciencealert.com/pokemon-go- ... depression

Pokémon Go is reportedly helping people with their depression
With more people now using the app than Tinder - and Twitter soon to be overtaken - it appears that Pokémon Go is motivating users to get up and out of the house - something that's often a struggle for people suffering from depression or anxiety.

Here are just a few of the hundreds of Tweets out there raving about the game:

#PokemonGo has already been a better treatment for my depression than anything my doctor prescribed or therapist recommended

— Jesseanne Pope (@gleefullyhello) July 11, 2016
#PokemonGO has changed me so much for the better in only a week. Dealing with BPD, depression& anxiety it has helped me get out of the house

— Lara (@38Violetqueen) July 11, 2016
Real talk - as someone with anxiety/depression, the fact that I've spent most of this weekend outside with friends is unreal. #PokemonGo

— HiRez David (@uglycatlady) July 10, 2016
With the app only out for a week, scientists haven't been able to study this link just yet, so we can't say for sure what effects the app is having.

But Grohol thinks that the benefit comes from encouraging people to get moving around - something that study after study has shown is beneficial for mental health.

I will say this, but it's kind of an apples and oranges thing but I was deeeeeeeply depressed several years ago and I used a video game to calm me down. The game was Oblivion. It's filled with vast forests and I found this spot where I wouldn't get attacked and all it was were birds singing and sounds of the wind rustling the trees and the soundtrack that when you weren't in danger the music was really low key medieval tones. Yeah I would go to sleep to that. Apples and oranges though because I wasn't playing though I did use a video game to do it.

[Nordic]

I played a lot of Tetris once when massively and horribly depressed.

Yeah that was long ago. In the 90s.

My first reaction to the above was also OMG no.

But now that I think about it, when you're so depressed you can't move and you're lying in bed staring at the wall ... Whatever gets you to get up and move and live again is a positive.

But does it have to be this? This could act as a drug.

[Luther Blissett]

At least the contents of the game itself are pure. I'm just glad it's not wargames.

[82_28]

I played a lot of Tetris once when massively and horribly depressed.

Yeah that was long ago. In the 90s.

My first reaction to the above was also OMG no.

But now that I think about it, when you're so depressed you can't move and you're lying in bed staring at the wall ... Whatever gets you to get up and move and live again is a positive.

But does it have to be this? This could act as a drug.

At least for my brain Tetris was awful. Sure I liked playing it when I did, but I couldn't get those damn shapes out of my head and it really bothered me -- it was some kind of hypnosis. Same with Super Mario. I'd always get these visions that I couldn't get over a pipe. I would just jump and jump to no avail.

Pokemon GO dreams coming soon to a brain near you!

I honestly think it might fizzle out.

[NeonLX]

There are times when I'm happy that I'm old. This is one of them.

[Nordic]

Back in the early 90s when the first Wolfenstein came out, a buddy with a nice fast computer came to stay with me and the GF for a while. He got us all hooked. Obsessed with that game.

My point is that I dreamed about it too. Wolfenstein dreams. I haven't played any first person shooter games since. Shit gets into your head.

Sadly I lost the battle regarding those with my son. I swore I would never buy those games, or a console. Didn't matter. When he was supposed to be doing his homework he was online, playing those damn things with your basic internet browser and a mouse! I didn't realize they had gone so ... Basic.

[Agent Orange Cooper]

THIS is depressing. People using video games to help depression? OMG...how about go for a (without your phone) walk? A (without your phone) hike? Ride a (without your phone) bike? Go kayaking (without your phone). Go to the (without your phone) beach and swim. Go the (without your phone) gym? DO something (without your phone) to change your brain chemistry involving movement of the body will help your mind and body more than these soul sucking games.

wah wah wah, kids these days.

[Karmamatterz]

AOC, I suggest the same thing to adults who don't get off their lazy butts and complain about XYZ ailment/syndrome/mental state etc etc....

Still curious, anybody who has played this game? Does it force you to activate your camera and or location services been turned on?