Pokémon is finally coming to smartphones, 20 years after the insanely popular videogame franchise first debuted. Pokémon Go is a collaboration between The Pokémon Company and Niantic, a former Google startup that has now gone independent, and it looks awesome. Here’s what we know so far.
Real-world exploration
Like Niantic’s first title, Ingress, what you’ll find in the virtual world of Pokémon Go changes depending on where you are in real life. For example, when you’re visiting an interesting location like a museum or monument, you might find a virtual Pokéstop that lets you buy supplies, like Pokéballs for capturing new monsters.
As you walk around, your phone will buzz let you know when you’ve found a Pokémon. If you’re walking near the sea, you’re more likely to find Water Pokémon like Magikarp, while forests might be home to Bug or Grass types like Caterpie and Oddish. Your phone will show an augmented reality view of your surroundings, including the Pokémon it alerted you too, and you’ll have to throw a Pokéball at it with some accuracy to ensure a catch.
As you capture more Pokémon, you’ll have access to better items and rarer Pokémon. Also, the more times you capture a Pokémon, the more chance that it’ll evolve, meaning that encountering a Weedle for the fifteenth time might be less frustrating than usual.
Walking, trading & battling
Like the Pokéwalker accessory that was bundled with HeartGold and SoulSilver in 2010, you’ll be encouraged to stay active. You might find an egg that only hatches after you take a certain number of steps, for example. You’ll also want to meet up with other Pokémaniacs in the real world, and trade Pokémon to expand your collections (and force evolutions). And of course, you’ll be tempted to go further afield to check into Pokéstops and find rarer Pokémon of different types.
Battling is the one area that we don’t know much about yet. It seems unlikely that the traditional battle system will be ported over wholesale, but there’ll definitely be a competitive aspect. You’ll be able to join one of three teams — one of which had better be Team Rocket! — and assign one of your Pokémon to a gym. You’ll capture empty gyms for your team, or battle against Pokémon in occupied gyms to regain control of them.
Accessories and release date
As well as using your smartphone, you’ll also be able to pick up a Pokémon Go Plus. This wearable vibrates when a Pokémon is found, letting you capture it without looking at your phone. It should also be capable of more, but not much information has been released about it yet.
Pokémon Go is scheduled to be released later this year, although a precise release date hasn’t been announced. Leaked footage at SXSW showed a fairly polished-looking game, so we can only hope that it’s not too far off.
UPDATE: Pokémon Go is set to be released July 2016
Wrap-up
Are you excited for Pokémon Go? I know I am — playing old Pokémon games in emulators might be fun, but playing a modern title with 3D graphics and a unique smartphone-focused bent sounds brilliant.
Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Source: Pokémon.com | Via: Engadget