Finally you can experience (almost) what it would be like to capture, train, and battle Pokémon in the real world! From the Pokémon Company, Niantic, and Nintendo, Pokémon GO is a newly released mobile video game device that utilizes your phone’s GPS along with augmented reality technology to bring you the closest thing yet to pocket monsters running around IRL.
No longer suppressed to just the digital world, Pokémon GO forces you to actually go outside in order to play. As a Pokémon Trainer, you’ll explore the vastness of the real world as you search local neighborhoods and popular hubs, trying to catch ‘em all!
John Hanke, founder and CEO of Niantic explained that, “Pokémon GO is a wonderful combination of Niantic’s real world gaming platform and one of the most beloved franchises in popular culture. 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.”
What a novel concept! Discover the world and people around them. What’s that like?
“Our challenge was to develop a great game for smartphone 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.”
And fans can’t be more excited. Pokémon GO absolutely seems like it captures the core values of Pokémon: a chance to let players live out their destiny by becoming the very best among Pokémon trainers, giving them a real test to catch them all, and a cause to train their Pokémon, etc..
Pokémon GO isn’t staying static, either. Nintendo will eventually be releasing an add-on called Pokémon GO Plus for smart phones that will greatly enhance player experience. Able to flash and vibrate, the Bluetooth device will notify you about events, like when you’re in range of a Pokémon center or a wild Pokémon appears, plus it will also allow you to perform simple in-game actions, like catching a Pokémon, with just the click of a button.
Now, even you can travel across the land, searching far and wide for vast numbers of Pokémon and other players to battle to discover the power that’s inside . . . of Pokémon GO!
