Saving money with Pokemon GO

[disneysteve]

Believe it or not, if you are playing Pokemon GO (or your kids are), you may be able to save some money on your entertainment or travel budget.

I've started to see tourist attractions giving discounts on admission for people who are playing the game. In Orlando, Madame Tussaud's wax museum and SeaLife Orlando aquarium are giving 25% off. Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, FL is giving a couple of dollars off and they are dropping dozens of lures on property on a designated day.

It's neat to see places embracing the game like this and using the fact that so many people are playing it to their advantage as a marketing tool.

[phantom]

It's nice to hear that there are ways the game can actually save money. I'll have to keep my eyes open for local promos.

I've been struggling a bit to find a balance between enjoying the game and keeping my data usage low enough that I don't end up paying more.

[rennigade]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/heres-all-the-data-pokemon-go-is-collecting-from-your-phone

How long before we see the first death from playing this game? Either someone will fall off the grand canyon or someone will get their head smashed in walking in front of traffic.

We already have enough dumb dumbs walking down the street looking at their phones...glad to see this game will only promote more of this. But its getting people off the couch and getting some cardio in, lol. Always a ying to the yang. Augment reality is the future...hopefully it just confines users to a single room instead of the real world.

[disneysteve]

Augment reality is the future...hopefully it just confines users to a single room instead of the real world.

I disagree. I think the fact that there is now a video game that actually makes people get off the sofa and go out into the world is a great advance. We walked through a local park the other day that we haven't been to since DD was a toddler (she's 20 now) and explored trails and parts of the park that we had never seen.

People are visiting historic sites and learning real life facts in the course of playing the game.

To hatch an egg, you need to walk at least 5km (3 miles). My daughter has done more exercise in the past week than she's probably done in the past 2 months. All thanks to a free video game.

I don't have a problem with that.

[rennigade]

I disagree. I think the fact that there is now a video game that actually makes people get off the sofa and go out into the world is a great advance. We walked through a local park the other day that we haven't been to since DD was a toddler (she's 20 now) and explored trails and parts of the park that we had never seen.

People are visiting historic sites and learning real life facts in the course of playing the game.

To hatch an egg, you need to walk at least 5km (3 miles). My daughter has done more exercise in the past week than she's probably done in the past 2 months. All thanks to a free video game.

I don't have a problem with that.

So it takes a virtual world to get people out in the real world so they can interact with the virtual world?

Do you really believe that people are going to get healthier by playing this game? Its going to be a flash in the pan. Its like the new workout that everyone jumps on for a couple weeks then stops...or a new diet plan that everyone tries then quits...it will be the same for this as well.

Its sad but also kind of funny that on the news here in DC a group of people got jacked for their phones from playing this game. People are focused on a 5" screen instead of the real world...completely unaware of their surroundings. From this game you are going to see a spike in phone thefts and you will see people get hurt/killed because of a game that promotes looking at a small screen while moving.

Also...you'll want a separation from the real world and augment/virtual reality. Its only going to be a couple years and it may be difficult to distinguish one from the other. This could get really slippery really fast.

[disneysteve]

Do you really believe that people are going to get healthier by playing this game? Its going to be a flash in the pan.

I think it will be short-lived for most people and more lasting for some. My daughter has been playing Pokemon video games since she got her first GameBoy. She really never lost interest in the franchise. So I can see her sticking with it for quite a while.

[creditcardfree]

We aren't playing it here, but I did hear of a local 50 year old woman walking around at the community college connecting with another player in the hunt. That other player was just a young 19 year old male. They walked around and connected for an hour and a half because of the game! Sounds like they had a great time.

[disneysteve]

We aren't playing it here, but I did hear of a local 50 year old woman walking around at the community college connecting with another player in the hunt. That other player was just a young 19 year old male. They walked around and connected for an hour and a half because of the game! Sounds like they had a great time.

There's definitely a big social aspect to the game. Groups of friends are going out playing together. Players are sharing info online. We've run into several other players just in the short time we were out on Sunday. Our local library is a Pokestop and when we got there on Sunday (when the library is closed), there were 4 other people there doing the same thing.

[scfr]

Are people really saving money if they end up spending money that wasn't originally in their spending plan just because a discount is being offered?
How is saving on an admission to an attraction that you had not planned to go to "saving" money any more than it is really "saving" when you buy a handbag at 50% off that you don't need?

Having said that, while I don't play the game and don't plan to, I can see the attraction for some. A friend whose children are now in college (just like disneysteve) has been having a blast playing with her now-adult children who are home on summer break. She explained that walking around with a little machine and searching for Pokemon was a plot point of the cartoon series (back when we didn't have smartphones), so now she and her offspring can feel like they are really living out the series that they used to watch together when the kids were young. I can see the appeal to that. There is definitely a nostalgia factor for people of a certain age.

[disneysteve]

How is saving on an admission to an attraction that you had not planned to go to "saving" money any more than it is really "saving" when you buy a handbag at 50% off that you don't need?

Obviously, you shouldn't pay to go somewhere just to play the game. That wasn't my point.

For example, however, we leave for Orlando on Friday. One of the things on our to do list was the SeaLife Orlando aquarium. They are currently giving 25% off admission for Pokemon GO players. We wouldn't go there just because of the discount but since we were planning to anyway, we can now take advantage of the discount.

[scfr]

Obviously, you shouldn't pay to go somewhere just to play the game. That wasn't my point.

But that's how "marketing tools" (your words) work. More power to the small business owners who are paying for aptly-named lures and getting people to part with money that they would not have otherwise spent!

[Singuy]

HOly crap, what a good idea to use lures to get more business!

And yes, there will be deaths playing this game..like how they are deaths by driving a car...so far death by motor vehicle crashes haven't stopped anyone from driving. This is why I shrug every time there's a mass shooting or a terrorist attack. Everyone freaks out..but the chances of you dying in one of those events is like 1/1000th compared to you dying while you drive.

[rennigade]

Video of people playing this game in central park. Count me out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H57rzPeoNms

[sv2007]

Can I just download the game while I'm at those attractions buying tickets and get the discount? If so, I don't see any need to install and play the game.

[disneysteve]

Can I just download the game while I'm at those attractions buying tickets and get the discount? If so, I don't see any need to install and play the game.

I imagine so. They probably just ask you to show that you have the app.