Pokemon GO – not trying to recreate the main games, accessibility important, more
J.C. Smith, The Pokemon Company’s senior director of consumer marketing, says that the aim of Pokemon GO isn’t to recreate the experience that we’re used to seeing with the main games.
Speaking with Polygon, Smith said:
“We’re not trying to recreate the video game experience. What we wanted to do with the mobile game from both sides — from Niantic as well as Pokémon — was, we wanted to make a new experience that was native to mobile.”
Niantic CEO John Hanke also spoke about what the team is setting out to achieve with Pokemon GO. Hanke highlighted the importance of accessibility for both newcomers and Pokemon fans.
He said:
“We’re trying to make the game accessible to a person who doesn’t yet know how much they want to commit to the game, who just wants to explore. That includes not just the Pokémon newbie, but those on the opposite side — a diehard who’s played all of the RPGs but isn’t sure if an augmented reality game that requires them to get up off the couch is really their speed. At the same time, we think that there’s an opportunity to build depth. There’s an emergent complexity that doesn’t hit you over the head at first blush, [from] trying to power up your Pokémon and evolve and ultimately start competing for gyms.”
Smith also spoke a bit about Pokemon GO Plus:
“It could be that you’re out walking in the park with friends and meeting friends somewhere, and may not want to interrupt the conversation and break the social dynamic that’s going on [to check Pokémon Go]. With a few clicks of the button, you can harvest items and catch Pokémon and continue to build up progress in the game. In all of those scenarios, it would be really awesome to have a device not to completely replace interacting with the phone, but supplement it.”
Lastly, Hanke noted that users won’t need to collect all Pokemon, as that isn’t a primary goal. It’s still possible “to compete for gyms and progress.”
