Pokémon Go陷入停滞，很可能是因为没什么可玩的了

本周初，研究机构Axiom Capital Management提供的数据显示，一度倍受热捧的手机游戏《口袋妖怪Go》在7月中旬陷入了原地踏步状态，而此时距这款游戏震撼上市才过了两个星期。此后，《口袋妖怪Go》的受欢迎程度更是稳步下滑。日均活跃用户数量和用户参与度均从最高点跌落了30%左右。

科技网站Ars Technica经过深入分析发现，这款游戏的初始用户留存率低于任何一款可比手游。分析师甚至对彭博社表示，《口袋妖怪Go》的下滑势头让人们对增强现实这种游戏类型的长期生存能力产生了质疑。

不过，这样下结论还过于草率。《口袋妖怪Go》最初引起巨大关注的部分原因显然是它一度调动了二十几岁的人的怀旧情绪，另一部分原因则是通过在真实世界里四处移动来玩数字游戏的新颖手法产生的吸引力。如果《口袋妖怪Go》未能利用这样的吸引力，原因并不是增强现实游戏没有生存能力。基于我在过去几周的游戏体验，这是因为Niantic和任天堂联手推出的基本上是一款半成品。

《口袋妖怪Go》有种种不足，从细节处理到统辖全盘的理念都是如此（我仅指游戏设计，而不是它的各种技术问题）。对新玩家来说，这款游戏并未介绍基本规则和操作方法。有人说，这实际上鼓励了玩家协作，看到过成群结队的大学生或者年轻夫妇拿着手机四处游走的人都能感觉到团队合作是这款游戏最初吸引玩家的关键。

但合作是为了什么呢？玩家参与程度不断下降凸显出《口袋妖怪Go》的一大问题，那就是虽然捕捉精灵的实际过程很有趣，但玩家捕获精灵后几乎无事可做。这款游戏的核心玩法在于占据道场，但要进行这样的尝试，玩家就得有和精灵差不多的等级。我碰到的大多数道场都由战斗力超过1000的精灵占据着，以我这样的休闲但相当连续的玩法而言，用一个多月时间也达不到这样的水平。

同时，由于没有其他任务和内容，只能通过捕捉精灵来升级。玩家甚至不能直接对战，这似乎漏掉了一个重大玩点。

就算找到了一个可以挑战的道场，这款游戏的对战机制也和其他元素一样“朴实”而且费解。玩家要通过左右滑动屏幕来躲闪攻击。另外，我觉得发起进攻的方法是点击对手。但我为数不多的几次尝试都迅速结束了，再加上操控非常的不清晰和不灵敏，我并不完全确定怎样攻击对方。

简而言之，《口袋妖怪Go》给人的感觉就像是Niantic团队布置下来的家庭作业，而他们更愿意做些更酷的东西。就技术而言，Niantic推出的游戏Ingress可谓《口袋妖怪Go》的前身，它能让人们深刻体会到这一点。借助黑色和霓虹灯光线以及网络科幻故事线，Ingress就像在地下室制作的母带，原始而充满力量；《口袋妖怪Go》则是大唱片公司折中处理过的处女专辑，毫无光彩可言。

但一款游戏的缺陷并不意味着增强现实本身的失败。如果说《口袋妖怪Go》有什么作用的话，那就是它让受众渴望看到开发水平更高的游戏，也就是把真实世界中的移动和社交互动融合在一起的游戏。请允许我借此机会以个人身份建议开发商去做增强现实的地下城探索或者侦探游戏。

但一定要保证那是一款真正的游戏。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

审校：詹妮

Earlier this week, data from Axiom Capital Management showed that the meteoric popularity of the Pokémon Go mobile game plateaued in mid-July—only two weeks after its earth-shattering debut—and has declined steadily since then. Daily active users and user engagement are both down by roughly 30% from their peak.

A deep analysis by Ars Technica found that the game’s initial retention was worse than that of comparable mobile games. Analysts went so far as to tell Bloomberg that downward trends cast doubt on the long-term viability of the entire augmented reality category.

But that’s jumping the gun. Huge initial interest in Pokémon Go was clearly motivated in part by a fleeting nostalgia among twentysomethings, but also by a fascination with the novelty of playing a digital game by moving around in the real world. If Pokémon Go has failed to capitalize on that fascination, it’s not because augmented reality isn’t viable. It’s because, based on what I’ve experienced in several weeks with the game, Niantic and Nintendo’s joint foray is fundamentally half-baked.

The flaws in Pokémon Go are multiple, and range from small details to all-encompassing philosophical shortcomings (and I’m just talking about design, not the game’s various technical problems). For new players, there’s no introduction to basic principles and gameplay. Some have argued that this has actually encouraged players to work together, and anyone who has seen crews of college students or young families gallivanting around with their phones out can attest that the sense of group effort was key to the game’s initial appeal.

But to what end? The big, glaring problem highlighted by Pokémon Go’s declining engagement is that, while the actual hunting of pocket monsters is fun, there’s very, very little to do with them. The gameplay proper centers on capturing gyms scattered around the world, but to even try their hand at that, players have to have leveled their monsters quite a bit—most gyms I’ve checked out are held by monsters of over 1,000 combat power, which I haven’t managed to build up over more than a month of casual but fairly consistent play.

And leveling can only be accomplished by collecting monsters, since there are no quests or other content. Players can’t even directly fight each other, which seems like a massive missed opportunity.

Even if you do find a gym you can contest, the game’s combat mechanics are as simultaneously basic and opaque as all of its other elements. You try to dodge attacks by sliding left and right, and I think you attack by tapping on your opponent. But my few tries were over so quickly, and the controls so unclear and unresponsive, that I’m not entirely sure.

In short, Pokémon Go feels like a game made as a homework assignment by a Niantic team who would rather have been doing something cooler. Taking a look at Niantic’s Ingress, the technical precursor to Pokémon Go, only drives this sense home—with its black and neon colors and cyber-punk storyline, it’s like the raw and energetic basement tape to Pokémon Go’s washed-out compromise of a major label debut album.

But the shortcomings of one game don’t mean that augmented reality itself is a flop—if anything, Pokémon Go has whetted audience hunger for a more developed take on gaming that integrates real-world movement and social interaction. Let me take this opportunity to personally lobby developers to make an AR dungeon crawler or detective game.

Just be sure to make it an actual game.