不止是游戲：《口袋妖怪Go》商機無限

但凡你家里有一個八歲以上的孩子，這個星期你八成都已經聽說了《口袋妖怪Go》這個游戲了。許多兒童甚至連成年人都對這個游戲趨之若鶩，同時很多商家也轉變了他們的營銷策略，歡迎玩家進店來抓小怪獸，并將它當作吸引人流的法寶?？梢哉f，這款游戲正在以一種史無前例的方式占領整個美國。最近，我21歲的兒子教給了我玩法，這款游戲需要玩家的肉身親自出動，到處去抓“活”的卡通小怪獸。而這些小怪獸，正是我兒子童年時代樂此不疲地收集和交換的小卡片上的那些“神奇寶貝”。

雖然很多人擔心，玩家們盯著手機在大街上走路可能會遭遇交通事故，但不得不說，這款游戲還是有很多好處的?！?0后”玩家們可以重溫童年的回憶，同時還有了與陌生人互動的機會，并且鍛煉一下腿腳。但真正的贏家還是利用了《口袋妖怪Go》吸引人流的商家們。這款應用將虛擬與現實世界融為一體，加上極高的玩家參與度，很有可能徹底改變消費者與企業互動的模式。

這款應用有一個值得稱道之處，就是它鼓勵玩家探索他們的周邊環境，比如公園、街道、教堂、雕塑和其它社區地標。當然，還有各種商家。本周有網友在Twitter上稱：“我妹妹看到了這個牌子，非要去那兒抓小怪獸”，并附上了一張畢加索餐廳的照片，上面有一塊牌子寫著：“在我們的餐廳里有兩個妖怪出沒的地點，別說我沒提醒你哦！”這個貼子在一天時間里就收獲了50多萬個“贊”。我相信，這件事預示了針對這些小怪獸的競爭就快到來了，許多商家馬上就會心甘情愿地掏錢讓自己成為妖怪出沒點，因為它們會帶來潛在消費者。

另外，這款游戲還擁有很強的品牌效應，它勾起了很多“80后”的童年回憶。因為上述這些原因，《口袋妖怪Go》的東家任天堂公司的市值在短短6天里飆升了90億美元之多。它使用的現實增強（AR）技術其實已經誕生許多年了，但也是直到最近才火爆起來。AR通過手機攝像頭從真實世界中取景，然后再在其中加入數碼影像，從而手機上形成了現實世界與虛擬世界共存的奇妙場景。這種技術以前也并非沒有應用，比如通過某些APP，你只需用手機攝像頭對準一幢房子，就會顯示出它的價格；對準某些物體，就能顯示出它的歷史。而通過《口袋妖怪Go》，你會發現面前的街道不時出沒著一些可愛的小怪獸，你可以扔一個神奇寶貝球過去，將它們抓住。相信我，這款游戲相當好玩，否則它也不會引起這樣大的反響。

《口袋妖怪Go》的大熱還意味著什么？那就是它會讓人從工作中分心。昨天晚上，我看見有一個男人帶著兩個孩子邊散步邊玩這款游戲。他看我兒子也在玩，便告訴我們，他為一家國防承包商工作，這星期他發現有人在午休的時候也在玩這款游戲。不管是在企業里，還是在其他任何機構，過去幾天，有大量二三十歲的年輕人都在通過《口袋妖怪Go》重溫童年。它的大熱還會持續多久？誰知道呢，但如果員工們癡迷于一個游戲，的確會導致工作效率的下降（比如“三月瘋狂”——即全美大學籃球聯賽的冠軍賽季，或是《瘋狂橄欖球》等等。）

《口袋妖怪Go》的大熱，應該很快就會催生出不少跟風之作，或者一些熱門商業APP也會加入類似的游戲功能。昨天晚上，我和我老公從我兒子那兒學到了《口袋妖怪Go》的玩法之后，我開始思考還有哪些游戲可以采取類似的AR技術。比如你可以想象一下，在跑步的時候，你身邊總是有一個虛擬的競爭對手在跟你賽跑；或者是當你離家去親近大自然時，經過的每一種野花、飛過的每一只鳥，都能通過一個AR應用看到它的相關信息?？傊?，隨著科技的大量創新，隨著消費者們開始用雙腳去探索線上的世界，商業世界還將迎來無數的商機。 （財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

Anyone with a child aged 8 and olderup has probably heard of Pokemon Go this week. As children and adults explore this new phenomenon, we already have seen evidence of businesses shifting their marketing strategies to catch players’ attention as avidly as the app users try to catch Pokemon. This game that is taking over the nation in a way no other app in history has ever done before. As my 21-year-old son showed me, it requires players to physically walk around to search for and capture “live” cartoon versions of the imaginary animals that match those on the Pokemon cards he had collected and traded for years as a child.

While many fret over the safety of players who aimlessly wander through streets and sidewalks playing the game, there are many pluses. Millennial players have the opportunity to relive a part of their childhood while actively interacting with strangers and getting exercise. However, the real winners here are businesses who leverage the app’s phenomenon to drive customers to their stores. The app’s integration of the real life with active game play could completely shift how we as customers interact with businesses.

One of the plusses of the app is that it encourages players to explore their surroundings. It gets them to notice parks, streets, churches, statues, and other community landmarks. And, of course, businesses. A tweet posted this week noted that “My sister got to pick what the sign said” and showed Picasso’s Restaurant, with the sign “You can reach two Pokestops from our dining room, just sayin.” This tweet already had received more than 500,000 likes in one day. I believe this to be a harbinger of the competition that lies ahead, as businesses quickly learn to vie for these coveted Pokestops, for they will bring in potential customers.

The game has a brand whose impact is strong and dates back to the childhoods of many millennials. For these reasons, it has increased the market value of its parent company Nintendo by over $9 billion in just the last six days. The technology it uses —AR or augmented reality — has been around for a number of years, but has become much more popular lately. AR takes real-world camera views and enhances them with digital images and information to convey knowledge or simply make the view more interesting. This technology has been used to show the price of a house on the market or give the history of a building by simply looking at these objects through a camera. With Pokemon, you see the street in front of you superimposed with live creatures you can roll a Pokeball at and try to capture. Believe me, it’s fun. It wouldn’t be getting this reaction if it wasn’t.

What else does Pokemon Go’s popularity mean? Well, it’s one more distraction for workers. Last night, we saw a man out walking with his two kids, playing the game. He saw my son doing the same and told us that he worked for a defense contractor and he had seen people playing it during his lunch hour this week. At workplaces and other institutions everywhere, significant numbers of people in their 20s and 30s spent the last few days reliving a part of their childhood with Pokemon Go. How long will it continue? Who knows, but we do know that there are real productivity decreases when employees get wrapped up in a game (think March Madness, Fantasy Football, etc.)

It also should lead to the development of more similar games, or the addition of similar games to popular business apps. As my husband and I got our Pokemon Go lesson from my son last night, I started thinking of all types of games that could be developed using the same technology. Imagine running with a virtual competitor beside you, spurring you on. Or what about a nature walk where the app would bring up information about every type of wildflower or bird you come across. As with so many advances in technology, there will be countless opportunities coming to the business world, as consumers learn to navigate the online world outside and with their feet.