Why PokemonGo is such a success

Only a few weeks in after its release, PokemonGo has become a hit for gamers world wide. It even goes so far that people are paying less attention and getting themselves hurt and deputies making demands to regulate the game.
 
But what exactly made it such a success?

First off, the player base of Pokemon is huge. Pokemon has been around for decades and influenced generations of gamers and accumulated a vast following during that time. It's a game that can be played with your smartphone everywhere at anytime (that is if the servers aren't shitting the bed). Another side effect is, you also connect with people as they venture to the same Pokemon hotspots as you.

While the gameplay isn't much at the moment, it still taps into the desire of discovery and collecting all Pokemon - or collecting enough Pokemon candy to level up your favorites. What is genius about it is that it takes the act of catching them to real life - no doubt that for some gamers, dreams came true!


So in other words, you have:

• a high accessibility mobile game
• a giant following of fans of all ages
• bringing a well-selling gaming franchise to real life
• game mechanics that stimulate the urge to collect and discover (Pokemon and their spawning points, in this case)

They really got out the best of what they already had and struck a real hit on the mobile market.

I remember back a year or so Nintendo's decision to go mobile was generally met with skepticism. Now they have managed to create a hype that will not only change the game industry, but also society. Forever.

Well done, Nintendo. Well done.