Massive online activity - all is not as it appears - More

[Update: another thorough review and insider's view of same on LinkedIn Pulse
Update2: and a follow-on Pulse post also, prompted by a comment on yet another]

This is one more follow-on to the Pokémon Go series, which suggested we cool our jets. In my previous post, I compared Pokémon Go to sandbox video game MineCraft, online game Foldit that helped crowd-source the resolution of complex protein structure and Sim City the granddad of virtual worlds. Here are juxtaposed in Google Trends their search hits as a measure of interest in these.

Time Series


As I said earlier, opinions are free but facts are sacred after Simon Rogers when he was at Guardian Data: time will tell, but Google Trends support my impression that the much touted interest in Pokémon Go may wane sooner rather than later.

Does Pokémon Go not look more like a passing comet than a new sun?

Forbes has an excellent review of the game, by way of Sony's interest, pointing out it's a game-changer ( I read it more as 'game' than 'changer') waning of late and built upon decades of classic Pokémon culture. Note, however, that MineCraft built a solid following that is maintained to this day, in marked contrast to Pokémon Go:


Let me close with a comparison of the geographic interest in these games that is quite interesting too.

Pokémon Go geo


Minecraft geo


Foldit geo


SimCity geo