why aren't there more augmented reality games?

Jakdstripper

i've never played Pokemon Go (just wasn't my thing growing up), but i did play Ingress a few years ago and i have to say it was quite fun an addicting. the whole idea of going about town and taking over portals, and expanding my "virtual" empire was awesome. 

the only reason i stopped playing is because it was hard on my mobile data. with Ingress especially loading portal pictures just killed my data. i really wish there was a way to play without loading those stupid pictures. 


lately i was browsing a few other augmented reality games but selection is pretty horrendous. so why aren't there more of them? are they expensive to make? do they take a long time to make? is it a liability issue (entering private property while searching for that mythical dragon)? or am i just one of the weird few people that likes to stroll about town while secretly playing a game of conquer and conquest?

i personally would absolutely love a game like Eve Online but in augmented reality...... mind you meeting a Goons squad of 50 dudes while i'm solo mining Plagioclase at 11pm  in the 7/11 parking lot could be ...awkward af.  

Aeander

Now that the novelty has worn off, I think the answer is pretty simple. There aren't that many IPs capable of mass success with AR. Pokemon Go was the smash success it was because it was Pokemon, not because it was AR.

FlyByKnight

Augmented Reality is being used much more in the marketing space than gaming right now.

IMO there's still a lot more hurdles to get over before it becomes a viable thing for gaming.

I could see it being more of an addition/feature to a game (for instance HUD via glasses) rather than being a game unto itself.

AAAMEOW

It is quite hard to map the entire globe.  So only large company with budget are able to do it.

Small company are only able to map their country.

Also pokemon go probably grab too much of the pie for other similar game to grow.  I saw companies trying to clone pokemon go instead of developing different AR games.

elveone

IMO cause the two components of an AR game currently are going to a place and playing a mobile game and honestly - it is pretty easy to do one without the other. There's the argument that you might want a reason to go somewhere but there are plenty of alternatives to AR games for that as well like visiting places of historical significance, buildings with interesting architecture, natural wonders, memorials, museums or geocaching.

Albatroes

Honestly, its just an easier thing to avoid given how sensitive the world is today. Too many politicians are looking for too many things to score them easy points with the masses, Cyberpunk is the more recent thing right now as an example. Before that, it was loot box talk all over the place. In theory, you'd think that talking about banning loot boxes would be a good thing, but honestly its too easy to flip into other things, like violence in video games, or sexual themes etc. It wouldn't surprise me that in a decade, games are just reduced to ponies shooting each other with leafguns with hearts as bullets.

JeffSpicoli

Augmented reality requires you to interact with the real world. Lets be honest here,  Gaming for the most part is a shut-in's hobby. Majority of gamers (myself included) want to sit on their fat ass in a air conditioned room and let their brain go on auto-pilot while they pick virtual flowers and slay pixelated dragons.  

Pokemon go was a success because it allowed you to play the game on your own terms. I could catch pokemon from my couch or the toilet at work and hop in and out of game at leisure. OP's fantasy of 50 EVE online lardo's meeting up in a walmart parking lot at 11 pm sounds like a bad idea. Eve Online ?!!!  Someone would get assaulted, i guarantee it.

Jakobmiller

FlyByKnight said:

Augmented Reality is being used much more in the marketing space than gaming right now.

IMO there's still a lot more hurdles to get over before it becomes a viable thing for gaming.

I could see it being more of an addition/feature to a game (for instance HUD via glasses) rather than being a game unto itself.

That's probably the thing as with most things. If you don't have money or want to risk much, you do Business to Business stuff. Then the consumers will take part of it later.

Kyleran

AndrewDiceClay said:

Augmented reality requires you to interact with the real world. Lets be honest here,  Gaming for the most part is a shut-in's hobby. Majority of gamers (myself included) want to sit on their fat ass in a air conditioned room and let their brain go on auto-pilot while they pick virtual flowers and slay pixelated dragons.  

Pokemon go was a success because it allowed you to play the game on your own terms. I could catch pokemon from my couch or the toilet at work and hop in and out of game at leisure. OP's fantasy of 50 EVE online lardo's meeting up in a walmart parking lot at 11 pm sounds like a bad idea. Eve Online ?!!!  Someone would get assaulted, i guarantee it.

Trying to gank my ore mining fleet eh CODE?

Not if my friend here from Smith and Wesson has any say about it.



Yeah, it would not turn out well, terrible idea.

jimmywolf

Albatroes said:

Honestly, its just an easier thing to avoid given how sensitive the world is today. Too many politicians are looking for too many things to score them easy points with the masses, Cyberpunk is the more recent thing right now as an example. Before that, it was loot box talk all over the place. In theory, you'd think that talking about banning loot boxes would be a good thing, but honestly its too easy to flip into other things, like violence in video games, or sexual themes etc. It wouldn't surprise me that in a decade, games are just reduced to ponies shooting each other with leafguns with hearts as bullets.

am as much of a cynic as the next guy but you got a odd point view, banning loot boxes is good no need to debate it.


now about the sensitive world, that just children that grew up not liking that they did not get everything they wanted so they thought " am going do it right with my kid. " so now we have a spoiled generation assuming that life. then that led to another generation following it up by pushing how they were going treat their kids even more special and now we have even more SJW running around looking for their 5 mins of fame.



i 100% agree censorship is bad trust me i face it a lot for lot things i wish were allowed in games ( nudity,sex, etc ) but those that disprove such things, praise the censorship for keeping filth out of the games they enjoy. the irony been  i can read about it, watch it in shows, talk about it, even do some of them pending on what it is but the moment i try and put any of it in a game, am a sick fuck going to hell... guess i'll have to stick to the murder,drinking,stealing am allowed to do in games.

AAAMEOW

There are new ones coming out soon...

Wizard unite  (release in a few days from Niantic)
Minecraft earth
Dragon quest walk (release soon in japan from square enix.  Unknown if going to be release world wide)

If it get popular, more will be released.  If it ain't popular, the market decide no point in making more AR games.

There are actually many pokemon go clones.  For example Jurassic park go.  It is not popular...

China I think have their own version of AR game similar to pokemon go.  As pokemon go isn't released in china.

iixviiiix

You want those toxic idiot PK other in real life ? Did you forget first lesson of don't leching your info when playing online game ?

Kyleran

iixviiiix said:

You want those toxic idiot PK other in real life ? Did you forget first lesson of don't leching your info when playing online game ?

Hmm, could be sort of an AR Hunger games eh? Only the player who gets to the right spot first captures the prize, and they are free to use whatever measures in real life as necessary to ensure success.

Awesome,  that should cull the gene pool a bit.

I know, how about an AR version of "The Purge?"  

Gutlard

I'm waiting for VR and haptics to advance, and then I'll have to remember to turn off the crotch sensors just in case....ouch.

Gut out!

maskedweasel

I'm a big proponent for AR, been so for a long time.  Recently I was able to try Hololens, and it was amazing. Seeing and interacting with virtual items in a real world space is breathtaking and Mobile apps truly don't do it justice. 

Even Pokemon Go's AR (and I play pokemon go a lot) is more gimmick than anything else. The largest swath of AR usage today?  Photofilters.  Yup, they are huge, and they are somewhat indicative of the power that AR can provide by detecting things like faces, expressions and surfaces. 

Plenty of companies are working on AR glasses. In one of the demos I was looking at the entire galaxy, standing in the middle, and as I walked around, moved closer to on or another, I could actually look closer at certain pieces of the galaxy by walking to where it was located.  I was inside the galaxy, and my wife, who was also wearing a set, could see it too. We were both able to see eachother and experience it together, so yes, in the event there was an EVE situation, it could be an awesome sight to behold, but right now, we're a ways off from that being possible. 


That doesn't mean that we won't see more AR and more AR games soon. The TYPES of AR games are what will change. The experiences we have with them will change once the technology is more affordable for the consumer.  Perhaps by 2022 we may have some price-competitive sets that could set an AR gaming revolution in motion.  Currently, we're looking at 1K - 3K even for older sets. It's not prudent to develop AR for item with such a high buy in. 

Amathe

I remember back in the early Dungeons and Dragons days (the pen and paper one), some people took the game outside and before you know it panic ensued. You can read about it here: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26328105

That's going to happen with AR. Some cop will think a phone is a gun and shoot someone. Someone will get run over by a car while staring at their phone. You name it. 

That's my prediction anyway. From a crabby old dude.

Theocritus

How about an augmented version of The Walking Dead where real people appear to be zombies and you can shoot them?

maskedweasel

Amathe said:

I remember back in the early Dungeons and Dragons days (the pen and paper one), some people took the game outside and before you know it panic ensued. You can read about it here: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26328105

That's going to happen with AR. Some cop will think a phone is a gun and shoot someone. Someone will get run over by a car while staring at their phone. You name it. 

That's my prediction anyway. From a crabby old dude.

This is already the case in many areas. People stare at their phones while walking, and in cities like NYC  there have been ideas to ban texting while walking, primarily when crossing streets. 

AR sets could exasperate this issue, or they could fix it entirely.

The best part about AR headsets is that you don't have to drop your eyeline at all. You can look straight ahead and see everything in your view.. but... you also can see whatever virtual items are in your eyeline too, which, even when it's translucent could still distract you enough to get hurt, or hurt someone else.

Still.. I'm excited to finally get my hands on a consumer set. 

AAAMEOW

Theocritus said:

How about an augmented version of The Walking Dead where real people appear to be zombies and you can shoot them?

I don't think it is easy to do.  Not to mention if you are shooting at real people who aren't player... you are kind of bothering them.  And there isn't an easy way to distinguish between participant and non participant of the game simply by location.  There is actually an walking dead AR games.  You can try to play walking dead our world.  

I think the obvious answer to the OP's question is AR games aren't popular(beside pokemon go).  Jurrasic Alive, walking dead our world didn't have many players.  The first AR game, ingress also don't have a large following.  If there are more AR games making to the top of mobile chart, we will see more.  But there aren't.

Akulas

There is no reason why say even a game of cards couldn't be played in AR currently. Or you could go around chopping AR trees or digging AR treasure.

mgilbrtsn

I don't know where they are, but I am looking forward to Minecraft.

maskedweasel

mgilbrtsn said:

I don't know where they are, but I am looking forward to Minecraft.

Minecraft AR on the hololens is freaking amazing.  It's largely "complete" but they are utilizing a phone AR version which isn't anywhere as cool as the Hololens version.

iixviiiix

How about ghost buster AR game where you go around , hunting digital ghost by shoot them using your phone while playing 80s ghost buster theme ?

Kyleran

I've tried to play AR games, but it's a bit too challenging to lug around the eight pound gaming laptop while "capturing them all."

AAAMEOW

iixviiiix said:

How about ghost buster AR game where you go around , hunting digital ghost by shoot them using your phone while playing 80s ghost buster theme ?

The games are out there.  Ghost buster world.  There is also walking dead our world.  

People aren't playing them.  I presume almost everyone is playing pokemon go.  So not likely other "similar" AR games will get popular.  

I think minecraft AR might be popular since it could be very different from pokemon go.

Theocritus

Pokemon just has a very wierd following. almost fanatical like Star Wars....I have seen grown men dressed up in Pikachu cotumes.