The trailer is somewhat intense, but we can confirm that somehow Nintendo is bringing an augmented reality Pokemon title to smartphones that basically overlays your favorite digital monsters over real life using your phone’s camera – and yes, you can battle, trade, catch and do just about every other thing we’ve come to expect from the franchise so far.
It isn’t just an app – the premium Pokemon Go Plus experience comes with a gym badge sized wearable clip that alerts the user when other trainers and wild Pokemon are in the vicinity. In a recent press event the app and watch were demoed and the general concept was explained and expanded beyond the fantastical nature of the trailer.
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“Our challenge was to develop a great game for smart phone devices that expressed the core values of Pokémon,” said Tsunekazu Ishihara, president and CEO of The Pokémon Company. “Pokémon Go is the answer to that challenge.”
Pokémon Go is being developed by Niantic, Inc. Originally founded by Google Earth co-creator John Hanke as a start-up within Google. “Pokémon Go is a wonderful combination of Niantic’s real world gaming platform and one of the most beloved franchises in popular culture,” said Hanke, “Our partnership with The Pokémon Company and Nintendo is an exciting step forward in real-world gaming and using technology to help players discover the world and people around them.”
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The project is a huge collaborative effort between not only Nintendo and Niantic, but also Game Freak, the creators of the Pokemon games, and The Pokemon Company itself. In other words, everybody who ever worked on Pokemon games previously, as well as the newcomers Niantic who have extensive experience with location data and GPS.
Pokemon Go is still currently in the works, but fans will be pleased to know that the app will be available for download at no charge on the App Store and Google Play next year in 2016, with the wearable Pokemon Go Plus available sold separately. No pricing details for the wearable have yet been released, but apparently the app should be ‘free to start’ according to the creators.
Via: The Verge
Via: Kotaku