Personally, I was looking forward to playing Pokemon Go but it turns out my phone doesn't have a gyroscope so the AR doesn't work for me. The remaining gameplay that I could see isn't enough to keep my interest. I was hoping to play with my kids and that they'd get a kick out of seeing these critters in familiar places. But without the AR, there's nothing special about it for them.

What's "better" is subjective to the whims, mood, and tastes of the player at the time that they're inclined to play something. So, any game can do well or fail on its own merits.

(edit)
I think one of things that does appeal to me about the game though is the notion that it's a bit of a treasure hunt. Phone upgrade notwithstanding, maybe it'd be interesting to try some kind of AR - Geocaching hybrid sort of thing.

Fair enough. Maybe better wasn't the right word. More actual gameplay is what I meant. Hmm yeah that could be a good idea, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the input.

Oh wow. Interesting stuff. Some very good points. I agree with you that a similar game wouldn't fare too well, but what about a game that has better gameplay and a solid amount of non-gps content? Maybe some AR usage too?

A game I have played for a while is Zombies Run:
https://zombiesrungame.com

This game encourages exercise in the real word to collect money and resources to build up your base. SixToStart the guys who develop it have a number of other exercise games that encourage you to get out and about. I'm not entirely sure if all there games actually use the GPS or are just using your devices as a pedometer but, they are still different in that you are encouraged to get off your arse to go and play them.

http://www.sixtostart.com

Oh wow, Zombie Run looks awesome! Using the pedometer gives me a lot of ideas (and lots of problems :lol: ). Thanks!

It's possible that Pokemon Go has "broken the ice" for these kinds of games. As noted, many such games, several with much more interesting gameplay then Pokemon Go has been attempted over the last 15 years or so.

But GPS games main selling point is also its main disadvantage.
You need a critical mass for it to be interesting, and anything that also has a location requirement (as opposed to a fully virtual online game) will be harder to reach a critical mass with.
Also, people in user tests have been highly sceptical to wave around their phones in public places, being afraid of social stigma.

It seems the Pokémon brand was strong enough to overcome these problems.

Who knows, maybe with pokemon go, it will now be more acceptable.
We certainly will see a sharp increase in attempts to launch other GPS based games.

So if you have a good idea, get to work on it, before you're drowned out in the flood :)
...And don't forget a big marketing budget.

Well, you're also assuming I'm going to have the same gameplay as Pokemon Go. I don't think the critical mass will be as important for me, as I'm going to start with single player features then expand into multiplayer. The waving around phones is a good point, so ideally the game would be more discreet?
Alright, will do, thanks! About that marketing budget tho... :lol: Any ideas for cheap marketing?

I've actually had to explain to an entire board of directors, no more than a week ago, why a Pokemon Go clone wouldn't work without a major brand to back it up.
Even more, just having a good brand may not even fit, Pokemon, much like Yokai Watch, actually have a theme of 'catching them all' or 'revealing what is hidden in plain sight', and these are the only 2 brands that I know of which could've pulled this up (and Pokemon went there first).

If the Canadian launch is any indicator though, server infrastructure and bandwidth are likely to be the one reason why most people can't pull this off. Though they actually managed to release in the USA (a larger market by more than a factor of 10), they somehow had 3 almost full days of server mayhem as they were troubleshooting what must've been CCU issues for login and scan. I can only imagine the fee for hosting such a big server-dependent experience!

Fair enough, but what about a completely original game? Obviously I can tailor it to fit, and I'm hoping that a game with more to do can overcome the no-brand hurdle (Pokemon GO doesn't really have much to do). You're right about the server issues, but I'm thinking of starting with single player and then going multiplayer gradually, so ideally this won't be an issue for me. Thanks for the feedback tho!

Guess I'm missing what the concept would be here. Servers aren't an issue because of multiplayer, they are because of geolocation and spawns, which occur at the single player level.

Do you guys think anyone would be interested in a game similar to pokemon go but with without the pokemon brand? I feel like these GPS based games are quite interesting, but I'm not sure whether it would be better to improve on the monster catching formula or make a totally different game.

What do you guys think? An improved pokemon go or another type of game? (maybe an rpg, or something like monster hunter)

I recently got the impression that a Stalker-franchise inspired GPS based game mixed with some sweet urban exploration sites could be interesting.

I've actually had to explain to an entire board of directors, no more than a week ago, why a Pokemon Go clone wouldn't work without a major brand to back it up.

Even more, just having a good brand may not even fit, Pokemon, much like Yokai Watch, actually have a theme of 'catching them all' or 'revealing what is hidden in plain sight', and these are the only 2 brands that I know of which could've pulled this up (and Pokemon went there first).

But GPS games main selling point is also its main disadvantage.

You need a critical mass for it to be interesting, and anything that also has a location requirement (as opposed to a fully virtual online game) will be harder to reach a critical mass with.

You both point out two interesting aspects of GPS based games:

1. GPS based games are fundamentally local in their player-world interactions.

2. They require a 'critical mass' to foster player-player interactions, since they are also modelled as local.

So what if we include some mechanics which foster player-player interactions without them having to be fundamentally local in their nature? E.g. players could use the GPS based game component to gather ressources or build factories near their actual location, but use a non-local / non-GPS based game component to trade or compete with other players. This way we can significantly lower the 'critical mass' needed to create a fully functional game.

I shared an idea for an augmented reality game with a paranormal investigation theme a few years ago: http://www.gamedev.net/topic/620562-mobile-augmented-reality-game-idea-paranormal-investigation/

I still think it could be a good theme for that sort of game. I think the Pokemon branding is largely responsible for the success of Pokemon Go, but it's likely to be a genre that will advance and improve in gameplay over the next few years.

Haha I like the idea. I'm not totally sold on the ghost idea, but this gives me a lot of ideas for camera/gps/accelerometer usage. Thanks a bunch!

@Orymus: Well, geolocation can be done using mapping services + creating spawns/points client side, so no server needed.

@Dr. Penguin: So, using Pokemon as an example: Go hunt for pokemon that are generated locally, then PvP, etc online (without GPS)? I like the idea, this seems like the approach I'm going to use. Thanks!

Do you guys think anyone would be interested in a game similar to pokemon go but with without the pokemon brand? I feel like these GPS based games are quite interesting, but I'm not sure whether it would be better to improve on the monster catching formula or make a totally different game.

What do you guys think? An improved pokemon go or another type of game? (maybe an rpg, or something like monster hunter)

I recently got the impression that a Stalker-franchise inspired GPS based game mixed with some sweet urban exploration sites could be interesting.

I've actually had to explain to an entire board of directors, no more than a week ago, why a Pokemon Go clone wouldn't work without a major brand to back it up.

Even more, just having a good brand may not even fit, Pokemon, much like Yokai Watch, actually have a theme of 'catching them all' or 'revealing what is hidden in plain sight', and these are the only 2 brands that I know of which could've pulled this up (and Pokemon went there first).

But GPS games main selling point is also its main disadvantage.

You need a critical mass for it to be interesting, and anything that also has a location requirement (as opposed to a fully virtual online game) will be harder to reach a critical mass with.

You both point out two interesting aspects of GPS based games:

1. GPS based games are fundamentally local in their player-world interactions.

2. They require a 'critical mass' to foster player-player interactions, since they are also modelled as local.

So what if we include some mechanics which foster player-player interactions without them having to be fundamentally local in their nature? E.g. players could use the GPS based game component to gather ressources or build factories near their actual location, but use a non-local / non-GPS based game component to trade or compete with other players. This way we can significantly lower the 'critical mass' needed to create a fully functional game.

I imagine you'd end up with something that struggles to hold together as a theme, but if you can circumvent that, MAYBE.

@Orymus: Well, geolocation can be done using mapping services + creating spawns/points client side, so no server needed.

Would you also handle the crontask for each individual spawn client-side? How would you prevent abuse (aka users hacking the client to get more resources, etc.)

Also, I anticipate the amount of data required (pack all of the maps in the entire world in the actual app??) would likely exceed the 100mb threshold for mobile stores and would unnecessarily burden the app so that it needs an installer, therefore reducing the amount of downloads and ultimately playing against the player base you need to make this type of game run properly.

:lol: No way, I'm using Mapzen right now. Packing it all would make it a 50TB app :P Good point tho.

The cheating is my main concern, and tbh right now I'm not too sure how to approach this. Any ideas?

As i seen a gang of kids today zoom past on there Bmx bikes looking for pokemon.

it hit me that this type of game needs a lot of thought.

its timing of release is spot on! the summer holidays are perfect for pokemon hunting.

it made me think about other games following its pattern! the more games like it the better!

Every one reading this should make a reward based game for getting of your arse and doing it.

instead of enduring a lame ass ad to get rewards that know body pays any attention to. get people moving

out of there pit and getting what they want. believe me

they will remember it more.

As i seen a gang of kids today zoom past on there Bmx bikes looking for pokemon.

it hit me that this type of game needs a lot of thought.

its timing of release is spot on! the summer holidays are perfect for pokemon hunting.

it made me think about other games following its pattern! the more games like it the better!

Every one reading this should make a reward based game for getting of your arse and doing it.

instead of enduring a lame ass ad to get rewards that know body pays any attention to. get people moving

out of there pit and getting what they want. believe me

they will remember it more.

Seeing Pokemon GO take off and realizing the potential for AR & GPS games is pretty exciting. However, I think, at some point people are going to start to recognize the grind and they're going to go back to sitting on their butts.