Pokemon Go
Publisher: The Pokémon Company
Developer: Niantic
Platforms: Android, iOS
Genre: Augmented Reality
Release Date: 2016
Pokemon Go is an augmented reality game that is being created by Pokemon Publishing that is going to be coming to Android and iOS devices sometime in 2016. The game includes a free downloadable application that will allow users to actually go hunt Pokemon using their smartphones. It also comes with a kind of digital storage locker in the shape of the Pokemon balls that will play a part in the game itself. The game can be played without this attachment but will be a more complete experience with the accessory. The development team pointed out that in the past, the Pokémon video game series has used real world locations like the Hokkaido and Kanto regions of Japan, as well as New York and Paris, as inspiration for its fantasy settings. In Pokémon Go, players will be able to catch, trade, and battle in the real world by utilizing location information.
Development
The game, Pokemon Go was officially announced in September of 2015 thanks to a press conference that showed off some of the features of the game, as well as the accessory. The idea for the game was conceived in 2013 by Satoru Iwata of Nintendo and Tsunekazu Ishihara of The Pokémon Company. In 2015, Ishihara dedicated his speech at the game’s announcement on September 10 to Iwata, who died two months earlier. The decision to create the Go Plus rather than create a smart watch app was to increase uptake among players for whom a smart watch is prohibitively expensive.
Junichi Masuda, game director of the Pokémon video game series was announced as contributing to the project. The development team has said his involvement will ensure that the fun of Pokémon makes its way into Pokémon Go, while developing new types of gameplay and thinking of ways to connect this project with the main series of Pokémon video games.
The developers launched a free beta in January of 2016 that allowed people to get a look at the application and the game as a whole.
Story
Because this is a game where players are looking to find different Pokemon in different parts of the world, there doesn’t appear to be a big laid out story mode like in some other video games. The story will be created by the people who go on these adventures in order to find the creatures. Because the development team is looking for ways to incorporate Pokemon Go with the other already existing Pokemon games, it appears there will eventually be some stories. Just what those stories and what the stories that are included in the actual game are going to be has not been talked about at great length yet by the development team.
Gameplay
Pokémon Go’s gameplay experience goes beyond what appears on screen as players explore their neighborhoods, communities and the world they live in to discover Pokémon alongside friends and other players.
The game will be released alongside the Pokémon Go Plus, a small wearable device developed by Nintendo, which uses a Bluetooth connection to notify users when a Pokémon is nearby with a LED and a light rumble. The game will allow players to capture, battle, train and trade virtual Pokémon who appear throughout the real world. The game will be free-to-play although it will support in-app purchases. By pressing a button on Pokémon Go Plus, simple in-game actions like catching a Pokémon can be performed.
Different Pokemon will live in different areas of the world – for example, water type Pokemon will live near water. There will be events held where players can trade Pokemon to build up their collection. A wristband device called the “Pokémon Go Plus” will ship with the game, to allow a more “heads-up” gaming experience than Ingress, where the player can be alerted to a nearby Pokemon by the Go Plus vibrating, press the button in a coded sequence to capture it and check the app later to find out what they’ve captured.
The developers have also said players of the game will be able to play it just like the original Pokemon in the games and television shows. This means that players will be able to actually trade the Pokemon they have “trapped” on the accessory. The developers have also said that trading will actually be encouraged, because no one player will be able to trap all the Pokemon creatures in the game “unless they take a year off to travel the world.” This seems to indicate that trading with your close friends isn’t going to allow you to collect all the Pokemon creatures. There are likely going to be online trading houses where players will be able to trade their creatures.
The developers have said that Pokémon Go will be very similar to Ingress in play-style, and, while the developers aim to ensure that a player can walk out of their house and encounter a wild Pokémon within 5 minutes, it may not be the rarest Pokémon in the world. Developers have also confirmed that Pokémon Go world will include gyms, the popular boss battle destinations featured in almost every Pokémon game. Gyms will be rare, but provide players with an opportunity to battle and level up the Pokémon that they have collected. There will also apparently be awards, meaning the Pokemon should be able to level up and fight against other people’s Pokemon.
Characters
Pokemon that have been featured in other Pokemon games, movies and television shows will appear. There haven’t been many Pokemon who were actually confirmed to be in the game. The company did announce three “starters” – Charmander, Bulbosaur and Squirtle – that will apparently be fairly easy to catch or will come loaded in the application when you start Pokemon Go. As in other games, these particular Pokemon come equipped with their own special powers. Other characters will pop up in the world and will be traded for using the application.
Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game
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