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看《Pokémon Go》如何征服全世界

发布时间:2016-07-14 15:10:55 Tags:,,,,

作者:Josh Bycer

如果你最近不怎么使用网络,你可能就会错过占领了美国的Pokémon(很快它们也将占领整个世界)。上周,《Pokémon Go》面向手机设备发行了,并且从那时起一切开始发生了改变。一下子Pokémon引起了全球范围的大轰动,并且这一轰动有可能维持更长时间。而手机平台对这一轰动具有很大的推动作用。

Pokemon-Go-Verge(from gamasutra)

Pokemon-Go-Verge(from gamasutra)

易用性:

手机技术已经成为带给非游戏玩家游戏易用性的主要元素。在过去玩家总是需要使用手持设备去推动游戏的运行。而随着智能手机的崛起,开发者可以越过这一需求,现在所有人也都可以使用手机去玩游戏了。如今下载应用变成了一件非常简单的事。并且玩家可以免费下载许多应用,即现在他们可以轻松地获取游戏和应用了。

《Pokémon》是一个适合作为起点的选择,《Pokémon Go》的问世更是删除了那些留存的障碍。

玩家需要做的只是四处走动,然后便能在自己的周边发现Pokémon。这款游戏利用了玩家身处的区域布局和主要的周边环境,让玩家能够更深入地去探索自己所生活的地方。

《Pokémon Go》进一步完善了抓Pokémon的游戏玩法,即比起战斗,现在的游戏更侧重捕抓Pokémon。实际上游戏也非常强调帮助行为。

继续使用AR并作为《Ingress》的续集也是很有效的。《Pokémon Go》不仅突出了同样的基本原则,同时还附加了Pokémon的品牌,所以这款游戏拥有更广的覆盖范围。

每日活动:

将一些非游戏玩家也带到游戏中的另一个主要原因便是基本的游戏时间。非游戏玩家是那些会在做其它事的同时玩这些游戏的人。他们想要的是去消磨时间,即在坐车的时候会玩游戏。如此《Pokémon Go》便再合适不过。

对于像我这样的传统游戏玩家来说这听起来可能很疯狂,但是你却会惊讶于人们对游戏奖励的热衷。从上周起《Pokémon Go》便让许多人走出了家门去探索周边的环境,遇见新朋友,并捕捉Pokémon。

这些游戏的魅力便在于你不需要刻意去专注于他们,但是你却总是会不自觉地这么去做。这与点击游戏具有相同的魅力:当你开始时你并不需要一直盯着,但是你却会不自觉地这么做。而手机游戏的设计便是会让你沉迷于其中,这也将把我们带向下一个要点。

手机游戏设计:

手机游戏拥有一些常规设计原理,即致力于让人们不断游戏并愿意为此而掏钱。玩家可以免费玩《Pokémon Go》,它也拥有和其它免费游戏一样的吸引力。玩家可以在游戏中赚取货币并用它去购买道具之类的东西,或者玩家也可以花真钱去获取一些付费奖励。

与任何免费游戏一样,玩家不一定要买什么东西,但是如果他们真的花钱了便能够提高自己的游戏玩法或带给自己其它游戏优势。

游戏突出了成就系统去奖励玩家并推动他们不断前行。游戏通过团队,竞争等方式去吸引玩家专注于其中。尽管随着玩家的不断深入游戏并不会发生多大改变,但是这种吸引力却足够强大能够保持玩家不断游戏。

除此之外社交元素也是必不可少的。玩家可以与Pokémon自拍并将其发在网上。

同时游戏也会推动玩家想办法去填补自己的口袋图鉴(pokedex)。除此之外还有一个更重要的内容必须在此提及。

未来的发展:

如今,长期游戏设计变得越来越受欢迎。创造一款游戏并花几个月,甚至几年时间去扩展它能够为开发者/发行商创造巨大的收益。在手机市场中,开发者拥有许多余地去不断推动一款受欢迎的游戏的发展。因为基本机制已经得到简化,所以开发者可以添加更多内容到游戏中并保持游戏玩法的不断发展。

而《Pokémon Go》便拥有许多保持发展的方法。就像游戏将一些重要的地标设为pokestops,玩家可以想象在遗迹中将找到一些特殊的Pokémon。开发者可以进一步添加一些较小的图像细节并呈现出不同Pokémon的不同特征。在世界上的不同国家都有基于不同主题的Pokémon;这也将进一步推动不同国家的玩家间的交易并且有可能激励玩家去世界各地旅行。这里的要点并不是其中所附着的游戏机制,而是这是一种与众不同的游戏机制。

我们可以进一步延伸这一游戏机制:想想如果你在乘坐某个航空公司的飞机并且能够使用飞机上的WI-FI,你是否就能够在这里捕捉到一只特殊的Pokémon。游戏同时也可以创造出以“超级杯”为主题的Pokémon,即每年只有那些参加超级杯的人才有可能获得这些Pokémon。我们甚至想过开发者可以在投票站设置特殊的Pokémon,或者在人们投票选择某个人时会获得特殊Pokémon。

你可能会觉得这些想法太过疯狂,但你却不能怀疑这对于人们的影响。市场营销者们已经做了许多的特殊推广,而《Pokémon Go》所获得的反馈足以推动它不断发展。

每一次只要有全新《Pokémon》游戏发行便意味着玩家能够收集到更多Pokémon并且《Pokémon Go》也将增添更多内容。

正如我们所了解的那样:

《Pokémon Go》拥有一层一层展开的瘾性。而Pokémon的内在吸引力与手机市场更是天造地设的一对。他们的目标不仅是吸引手机游戏玩家的注意,同时也希望引起那些从未玩过《Pokémon》的人的关注。虽然现在因为服务器的关系这款游戏还未能攻占全世界,但这一目标很快就能实现了。

本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转发,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

How Pokemon Go is Taking over the World

by Josh Bycer

If you’ve been living off the grid lately, you most likely missed the takeover of Pokémon in the US (and soon, the world). Last week, Pokémon Go was released on mobile devices and things have not been the same since. Pokémon already became a global hit once, and this time, things are looking to go even further. What makes this so interesting to examine is how the mobile platform is helping the takeover.

Accessibility

Mobile technology has been a major factor in raising accessibility of games to non-gamers. In the past, you needed the handheld and the game for everything to work. The rise of smartphones has allowed developers to bypass that need; everyone already has the phone to begin with. Today, it’s as easy as downloading the app and you’re done. Throw in the fact that it’s free to download and you have an easy means of getting your game/app into anyone’s hands.

Pokémon was already an accessible series to begin with, and Pokémon Go removes what little barriers remaining.

All you need to do is walk around and you’ll be alerted to Pokémon in your area. The game uses the layout of your area and major surroundings, so you’re actually exploring your town.

The gameplay of catching Pokémon has been streamlined, and it’s now more about the catch and the hunt than the battle. It’s the fact that the game is tied to something else that also helps matters.

The use of AR as a spiritual sequel to Ingress also helps. While Pokémon Go features the same basic principle, being attached to the Pokémon brand gives it far more reach and pull.

Daily Activity:

Another major factor in bringing non-gamers to games is essentially gamifying time. The non-gamers are the ones who play these games along the way to other activities. They’re time killers; things to do while on the train or going around town. This makes Pokémon Go perfect in that regard, as you’re tying exercise and traveling to something else.

This sounds crazy to traditional gamers like myself, but you’ll be surprised with how willing people are to do something when rewards are on the line. Pokémon Go in the last week has gotten people out of the house and exploring their neighborhood, meeting new people and of course: Hunting Pokémon.

The beauty of these games is the fact that you don’t have to pay attention to them, but you want to. This is part of the same allure as the clicker/idle games: You don’t have to watch them once you get going, but you do anyway. Mobile games also are designed to keep you playing and engaged, which takes us to the next point.

Mobile Design:

Mobile games have common design philosophies meant to keep someone playing and hopefully spend money. Pokémon Go can be played for free, but it has the same hooks that you see in other F2P mobile titles. You earn currency in-game that can be spent on items and such, or spend real cash for premium bonuses for special options.

As with any F2P game, you don’t need to buy anything, but they do help speed up the gameplay or give an advantage for playing.

The game features an achievement system to reward players and keep them going. There are teams, competitions, and ways to get players invested in the game. While the game doesn’t change as you get deeper in, the hook is so strong that people want to keep playing.

It also needs to be mentioned, but the social aspect is a factor too. You can take Pokémon selfies along with setting up gyms to attack and defend. My twitter feed was basically Pokémon pictures for the first few days of launch.

Pokémon was already very addicting with the act of filling your pokedex, now you tie in rewards and other mobile hooks, and you got addiction personified. But there’s still one more major point to talk about, and this one is the biggie.

Future Growth:

Long-term game design is becoming more and more popular these days. Taking a game and extending it for months or even years can mean big profits for the developer/publisher. In the mobile market, you have a lot of leeway in continuing to grow a popular game. Since the base mechanics are already simplified, it’s easier to add more content and keep the gameplay loop growing.

Pokémon Go has a scary number of ways to keep growing and going. They are already tying important landmarks in with the pokestops, but imagine if monuments had unique Pokémon attached to them. You could simply add a small graphical detail and make special variations of different Pokémon. There could be themed Pokémon for each country in the world; further making trading all the more important or the need to travel. The point isn’t that there is a game mechanic tied to it, but that it’s unique.

We can take this even further: Now picture if special Pokémon could be made available if you fly certain airlines and use their Wi-Fi, or visit specific stores. Hell, you could have special Super Bowl-themed Pokémon that only people who visit the Super Bowl can get once a year. I was having a conversation and we talked about if they had unique Pokémon at voting booths or if you vote for specific people.

You may think that sounds crazy and it is, but you cannot doubt the fact that this can influence people. Marketers have been doing this for years with special promotions, and Pokémon Go has the feedback loop to keep going and going.

And it goes without saying, but every new Pokémon game release means more Pokémon for the collection and more content for Pokémon Go.

The end as we know it:

Pokémon Go is just layer after layer of addiction. The combination of Pokémon’s inherent hooks with the mobile market is just a match made in Heaven. It’s not only managed to get mobile gamers interested, but people who never even played Pokémon to begin with. As of this moment, it hasn’t been rolled out worldwide yet due to server issues, but it will soon.

Considering how big the original Pokémon release was, my money is on this being the incident that takes us into Mad Max times. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go find a cave to get set up in for when we’re all driving modified cars in the desert.(source:gamasutra)

 


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