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Pokemon GO

Update: Pokemon GO is now live on iOS in Australia here. APK for Android users is located here (via).


Pokemon GO is finally here. Following the game’s announcement last September, it’s now starting to live.

Currently, Pokemon GO is up on the Google Store for Android devices here. Note that it’s not yet live on iOS. Additionally, we’re hearing that the app has not yet been made available in all territories like the United States, but we’ll keep you updated as the situation develops.

J.C. Smith, The Pokemon Company’s senior director of consumer marketing, says that the aim of Pokemon GO isn’t to recreate the experience that we’re used to seeing with the main games.

Speaking with Polygon, Smith said:

“We’re not trying to recreate the video game experience. What we wanted to do with the mobile game from both sides — from Niantic as well as Pokémon — was, we wanted to make a new experience that was native to mobile.”

Niantic CEO John Hanke also spoke about what the team is setting out to achieve with Pokemon GO. Hanke highlighted the importance of accessibility for both newcomers and Pokemon fans.

He said:

“We’re trying to make the game accessible to a person who doesn’t yet know how much they want to commit to the game, who just wants to explore. That includes not just the Pokémon newbie, but those on the opposite side — a diehard who’s played all of the RPGs but isn’t sure if an augmented reality game that requires them to get up off the couch is really their speed. At the same time, we think that there’s an opportunity to build depth. There’s an emergent complexity that doesn’t hit you over the head at first blush, [from] trying to power up your Pokémon and evolve and ultimately start competing for gyms.”

As more and more people get their hands on the Pokemon GO beta, new footage continues to surface. Get a look at another 16 minutes of footage below.

Thanks to Jake for the tip.

The Pokemon GO field test will be coming to a close next week. Today, Niantic announced that service will end on June 30 in the United States and Japan (probably Australia as well). The app will no longer function after this date.

For those that are interested, Niantic also shared the top five captured Pokemon. The lineup is: Rattata, Pidgey, Meowth, Gastly, and Abra.

Update (6/20): Bumped to the top. Now up for pre-order on GameStop.


Update 4: Sold out again.


Update 3 (6/16): Back up on Amazon again.


Update 2: Sold out.


Update: Bumped to the top. This sold out for a period on Amazon, but is now back up.


Original (6/15): Amazon is now taking pre-orders for the Pokemon GO Plus accessory for Pokemon GO. Place an order here.

Nintendo UK is now taking pre-orders for the Pokemon GO Plus device. You can reserve it right here. We also have a look at the packaging, posted above.

For those that missed it, Pokemon GO Plus can be pre-ordered on Amazon US here. It’s on Amazon Canada here.

Thanks to Jason Burrows for the tip.

This information comes from Niantic’s blog…

Our team has been making the most of the sunny California weather by walking long distances and enthusiastically testing all of the refinement and new features in Pokémon GO. Many of these refinements have been inspired by feedback received from our field testers in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and United States. Thank you for testing the app and for giving us such great feedback.

We have a few exciting updates to share. We’ve added a new Camera feature that enables Trainers to take photographs of their wild Pokémon encounters. Now you can take a photo of Squirtle next to that scenic lake or Ivysaur hanging out by the park. The photos will be saved to your phone’s camera roll to share with whomever you’d like. We can’t wait to see the varied environments in which trainers will find wild Pokémon.

We’re also thrilled to announce that Pokémon GO’s all-new music track is composed by GAME FREAK’s Junichi Masuda. We’ve been working closely with Masuda-san on several of the core game design elements of Pokémon GO and feel very fortunate to also have drawn from his decades of experience composing original music for the Pokémon games.

We enjoyed participating in Nintendo’s Treehouse Live Pokémon GO developer Q&A session at E3 today. With each day, we’re getting closer to launch and we can’t wait to share this game with everyone. Stay tuned for more details.

Source

As revealed by Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda during today’s Treehouse stream, there are plans for Pokemon GO to connect with the main Pokemon games in the future. This won’t be at launch though, as the developers want players to focus on catching Pokemon in real life. The same stream also reconfirmed that trading will be coming to Pokemon GO at some point.

During today’s Nintendo Treehouse stream hosted at E3, it was announced that the Pokemon GO Plus device for Pokemon GO is planned for release at the end of July. It will be priced at $34.99.


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