Back in 1989 a game came out that involved reading quite a lot and occasionally rolling some dice, its name was Shadowrun and I loved it for its in depth background history and amazing sci-fi/magic melding.
For the last few years I have been noticing many elements of the games history actually becoming reality… Due to Nintendo’s latest news one in particular springs to mind; Augmented Reality.
Enter, The Pokemon GO.
In the past, the Pokemon Video game series has used real life locations such as the Hokkaido and Kanto regions of Japan, New York, and Paris as inspiration for the settings in which the games take place.
Pokemon GO, for iPhone and Android devices will encourage the player to go out into the real world looking for Pokemon. Real location information will be used to do this.
A small device called a Pokemon GO Plus will allow Pokemon GO players to continue enjoying to play the game even when they are not looking at their smartphone. The device will connect to the smart phone through Bluetooth and will notify the player of eventsin the game such as a contender or Pokemon appearing nearby (using LED and vibration).
Pokemon GO is being developed by Niantic, Inc. Niantic is known for the creation of Ingress; the Augmented Reality mobile game that uses GPS tech to fuel a sci-fi story that spans the entire world. The device has a button on it as well that will allow the players to catch the Pokemon or perform other simple actions.
Pokémon GO will be available for download at no charge on the App Store and Google Play. In-app purchases will be available.
I look forward to hearing more information about this device in the build up to its launch in 2016!
‘The Matrix of the 2070s is thus not only a virtual reality, but an augmented or mixed reality.’