Why we're writing so much about Pokémon Go

[Russell Holly]

 

[Ara Wagoner]

I've had enough of Pidgeys, who do I have to beg to for some water types?! CURSE YOU, TEXAS SUMMER!!!

 

[Ry]

Yassssss

Posted via the Android Central App on the Moto X Pure Edition

 

[ctk4949]

This perhaps should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. There are a LOT of people playing Pokémon Go right now. And as such, we're writing a LOT about it on the blog.

It'd be silly not to, of course. If we're not writing about things that are relevant, then what's the point? And whether you play Pokémon Go or not, it's extremely relevant right now. Ridiculously so.

That doesn't mean we're not writing about other things. That doesn't mean we've sold our souls to the almighty Pikachu. (OK, a few of us might have.)

What it means is there will be a lot of Pokémon stories. You all have my permission to, ya know, not read them if you want want to. Skip on ahead to all the Nexus and Chromebook and rumors and Moto and whatever else you want to read. There's something for everyone. But saying "You're writing too much about Pokémon" is a nonstarter for us at this point.

Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I just saw a Pidgey wander past.

Pokémon Go for Android | Android Central

I dont remember seeing 100 posts about Angry Birds or Candy Crush when they came out??

 

[atlas9171]

6 stories in 4 or 5 hours seems a little ridiculous for any app. But the internet is vast and plenty of other stuff can be read.

 

[Talderon]

I dont remember seeing 100 posts about Angry Birds or Candy Crush when they came out??

Maybe because those game I.P.'s don't have millions and millions of followers that span multiple generations??

Pokemon is huge, Pokemon is a part of life and my entire household is playing (myself, wife, 3 kids (ranging from 8 to 24 years old) and even extended family) and we're having an absolute blast with it! Even the neighbors are getting in on it and we're all going around hunting these things all over our town and even heading into other towns and cities hunting.

Angry Birds, Candy Crush and almost every other games out there are only wishing they had something that was this global.

Oh, yeah, it's hella fun and anyone that plays any JP games (especially Japanese RPG's or MMORPG's knows), they LOVE to release games and updates and not tell anyone too much about them. Half the fun is to figure it out yourself and spreading the knowledge. Why write a huge manual when your user base will do it for you.

 

[danhund]

This is more than a game. It is an event.

I've spent the past four days with my kids hiking through parks and strolling downtown (without pulling teeth to get them to go along). Seeing 30-40 other people (teens, young adults, parents, etc.) doing the same things almost everywhere we go. Not sitting on the couch, or at a bar, or wherever. But outside, walking around, hanging out, talking, laughing, meeting strangers. All being polite, respectful, having a good time.

It won't last forever. But it sure is fun to be out there and be a part of it right now.

 

[DenverRalphy]

I dont remember seeing 100 posts about Angry Birds or Candy Crush when they came out??

Candy Crush not so much. But when Angry Birds first released, news about it was wallpapered everywhere. Somewhat mitigated on AC (but still a lot) because by the time Angry Birds came to Android, it was already old news from the iOS release much earlier.

 

[Phil Nickinson]

We also do things differently now than when Angry birds came out. Hell, Android itself is far different than it was then.

 

[Don Serrot]

I said it on the post, but I'll say it again here. I'm fine with all the Pokemon Go posts. My town kinda sucks so no Wi-Fi at most of the old Ingress portals and the one that does have Wi-Fi apparently doesn't care enough to have the Wi-Fi actually functional half the time so I've been left with catching anything that wanders into my yard until my new sim card comes. Thankfully I was fairly active when Ingress was young so I should have plenty of Pokestops and hopefully a gym or two nearby. I'm enjoying seeing how excited people are for the game and hearing all the stories they have to tell about their adventures.

 

[Ry]

It's nice to see the people who looked at me funny for playing Ingress now joining everyone on Pokemon Go.

 

[Don Serrot]

When Ingress was in beta my dad would drive me around to all the portals when we'd go visit the next city over. I'm actually really glad there was a semi-active Ingress community in my area back in the day so my area, despite being a small town, actually has a bunch of portals that should be Pokestops and gyms.

 

[LeoRex]

This perhaps should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. There are a LOT of people playing Pokémon Go right now. And as such, we're writing a LOT about it on the blog.

This can not be stated enough. Last night the wife and I went up to the NH coast, and grabbed a bite to eat at Hampton Beach... which is one of the the largest coastal resort destination here in New England. And, no lie, I'd guess 2/3rds of the people walking around were playing, or had at least one person in their group playing. Kids, families, adults... Everywhere you looked you saw people playing.

I've never quite seen anything like it to be honest.

 

[tnt4]

This perhaps should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. There are a LOT of people playing Pokémon Go right now. And as such, we're writing a LOT about it on the blog.

It'd be silly not to, of course. If we're not writing about things that are relevant, then what's the point? And whether you play Pokémon Go or not, it's extremely relevant right now. Ridiculously so.

Relevance isn't the issue here, but that's a nice spin on the real issue. PoGo is a mobile game, so seeing information about it on AC makes sense. It is relevant on an Android site.

That said, seeing close to 20 different mini "articles" in a 24 hour period is the problem - it's clutter, at best. I actually did want to read about PoGo today. But I went to other sites to do so to avoid having to click on 10 different articles to figure out what I wanted to know.

And I've said it before - I have no problem with general SEO and AC making money. There are quality writers here, and quality content (though it's becoming more and more buried). That's why I come back and that's why I complain.

The bottom line is this - you're taking something that is a public hot topic and somewhat relevant to Android and using that as an excuse to shove it down your readers' throats in bits and pieces (clicks, clicks, clicks!) so you can cash in on the major search tidal wave that is PoGo. If you truly think this is the best way to communicate relevant information to your readers, then my complaints are futile and you won't hear any of this anyway.

 

[kifbunk]

...and AC is part of a real company now with real net revenues and clicks matter. Hey, whattaya say, how about five more articles before EOD!
Russell can do it!!

 

[Ry]

Is ARHeads registered yet?

Posted via the Android Central App on the Moto X Pure Edition

 

[zhris]

Number of posts in the 'News' category about Pokemon Go in the last 24 hours:

• Android Police: 2
• Phandroid: 2
• Android Authority: 7
• Android Central: 21 (so far)

BONUS ENTRY: Windows Central: 5
...those second-class citizens can't even play the game! WTF, MoNa?

(I kid, I love my Lumia 640. But that's the only part I'm kidding about)

 

[Phil Nickinson]

Let's look at things another way. If I didn't KNOW that people were reading this stuff, why would we be writing so much about it? That'd be pretty dumb, right? As in, why would we waste time on something people don't want to read? Maybe not as dumb as not writing about it. But it'd still be pretty dumb.

 

[tnt4]

Let's look at things another way. If I didn't KNOW that people were reading this stuff, why would we be writing so much about it? That'd be pretty dumb, right? As in, why would we waste time on something people don't want to read? Maybe not as dumb as not writing about it. But it'd still be pretty dumb.

That still has nothing to do with the problem here. Of course people are reading it, and I would be surprised if AC didn't cover it. Again, relevance isn't the issue.

 

[LeoRex]

That still has nothing to do with the problem here. Of course people are reading it, and I would be surprised if AC didn't cover it. Again, relevance isn't the issue.

Then what is? This game has quickly become a massive phenomenon, Android, iOS, meaningless... I don't think I've ever seen anything drop with this kind of explosive growth... A week ago it didn't exist, now it's reaching user levels not seen outside of Twitter, etc.

I see nothing wrong with the scope of coverage for something dominating the platform in a way we have never seen.