Niantic CEO John Hanke talks Pokemon GO at GamesBeat 2016 conference
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Mobile, Videos | 2 Comments
At the GamesBeat 2016 conference, Niantic CEO John Hanke stopped by for a thirty minute chat. Hanke talked about Pokemon GO and more during the event. Here’s the full recording:
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Latest Pokemon GO partnership turning cinema chain into PokeStops in Japan
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 3 Comments
Pokemon GO has its second notable partnership. In Japan, the TOHO cinema chain will have most of its movie theaters become PokeStops. It’ll only be outside however, as to not disturb folks watching films.
The Pokemon GO and TOHO partnership will kick off later this year.
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Niantic test shows that Pokemon GO is getting major tracking improvements
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 5 Comments
Pokemon GO received its latest update yesterday. For a select group of players fortunate enough, they now have access to some features Niantic is testing. There are big improvements across the board when it comes to tracking.
First, you’ll see that the Nearby section has changed to a greater extent than we knew of previously. Players can now see the closest PokeStop if a Pokemon is near there. Also, when touching a Pokemon and select “view”, it zooms out and takes you to an overview map – the Pokemon appears to be in the pink circle. Choosing the Pokemon to track puts a marker on the live map, and when one flees, you’ll be notified with a message.
Here’s a look at what’s to come for tracking in Pokemon GO:
As Niantic is still in the testing phase with new tracking features, things may change a bit before the system is rolled out to all players. Still, what we’ve seen so far is a noticeable improvement compared to what’s in Pokemon GO at the moment.
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A look at Pokemon GO’s new driving warning
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 5 Comments
When you’re driving, you shouldn’t be playing Pokemon GO. Niantic wants to make that clear with a new warning that can now be issued following today’s new update.
If you’re going too fast, you may see the notice appear. It’s a basic warning which asks users not to play and drive. You’ll need to tap “I’m a passenger” in order to continue playing. That seems pretty fair!
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Pokemon GO’s new update replaces “Nearby” feature with “Sightings”
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 6 Comments
Update: Now that we have slightly more extensive patch notes, here’s what Niantic has to say about Sightings officially:
“We’re currently testing a variation of the ‘Nearby Pokemon’ feature with a subset of users. During this period you may see some variation in the nearby Pokemon UI.”
There’s another aspect of today’s Pokemon GO update not included in Niantic’s official patch notes (version 0.33.0). After applying the update, you should see that the “Nearby” feature has been replaced as “Sightings”. Nearby was removed entirely with version 1.1.0 / 0.31.0.
How Sighting actually works is unclear. Some players have been messing around with it for a bit though, and their reports may offer up some clues as to how it functions.
Pokemon GO seems to scan the area around you roughly every 15 seconds. If a new Pokemon spawns, it’ll be added to the Sighting lists. If it goes away, it’ll be removed. Those who move too far away from a Pokemon will see it disappear. Apparently the distance is roughly 700 feet.
Keep in mind that this information is entirely unofficial at the moment.
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New Pokemon GO update live (version 1.3.0 / 0.33.0) – driving warning, XP fix, battery saver back on iOS
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 0 comments
Update: We now have slightly more extensive patch notes – see below.
Pokemon GO’s latest update (version 1.3.0 / 0.33.0) is starting to go live. It’s a bit more involved than the last one, as Niantic has addressed a bug with XP bonuses and the battery saver mode has returned on iOS. Additionally, there’s now a driver warning as well as the ability to change your nickname once.
Currently, the update is available on Android. The same patch should be up for iOS users very shortly.
Head past the break for the official patch notes.
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Pokemon GO surpasses $200 million in worldwide revenue
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 5 Comments
Based on its estimations, Sensor Tower reports that Pokemon GO has generated over $200 million net revenue worldwide. The app managed to do so during its first month of availability across iOS and Android.
Pokemon GO has performed better than Supercell’s Clash Royale and King’s Candy Crush Soda Saga, two huge mobile downloads. The chart above shows that Niantic’s game earned more revenue through the first month. We’re also able to see how Pokemon GO took off even further once it arrived in Japan.
Sensor Tower also notes in its report that Pokemon GO players are still using it for about 26 minutes each day.
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Pokemon GO launches in 15 new countries and regions across Asia and Oceania
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 22 Comments
Pokemon GO has rolled out to 15 more countries and regions. The lineup includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau.
Here’s the message from the official Pokemon GO Facebook page:
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Niantic now starting to act on PokeStop removal requests in Pokemon GO
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 1 Comment
Various businesses have reaped the benefits of Pokemon GO, bringing them extra customers and attention. However, there are some institutions and private areas that haven’t been happy about being a PokeStop. Niantic is fortunately now starting to act on removal requests.
The Provo City Library is one such place that asked Niantic to take down its status as a PokeStop. They were told on August 2 that their request had been approved, and PokeStops were actually removed more quickly than they anticipated. Similar stories should begin popping up more frequently very soon.
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Pokemon GO message from Niantic’s CEO – maintaining service, blocking third-parties, working on Nearby feature
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 6 Comments
Niantic CEO John Hanke has penned a new message about Pokemon GO on the company’s official website.
The main point of the letter was to highlight the importance of maintaining service. Niantic said it was delayed in bringing out the game across Latin America “due to aggressive efforts by third parties to access our servers outside of the Pokemon GO game client and our terms of service”. Third-parties were blocked to free up resources, transition to new features, and avoid cheating.
Hanke also said that Niantic has “heard feedback about the Nearby feature in the game and are actively working on it.”
The full message reads:
Things have been pretty crazy here at Niantic over the last few weeks but despite all of the ups and downs we get up every day inspired by the original goals of Niantic – to create an experience that encourages healthy outdoor exploration and social gameplay. Every positive story we hear (like this one from the UK) motivates us to keep working to support the game and continue the roll-out. Running a product like Pokémon GO at scale is challenging. Those challenges have been amplified by third parties attempting to access our servers in various ways outside of the game itself.
