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Here’s how the new Pokemon GO mobile game will look on your smartphone

3 Comments
By Casey Baseel, RocketNews24

It’s just about time for the initial field test of Pokemon GO, the first smartphone game in the franchise that allows players to catch Pocket Monsters through its augmented reality system. The fact that the game’s development has reached that stage means that its play mechanics are starting to take form, and the Pokemon Company and collaborative partner Niantic have revealed a new batch of details about what gamers can expect in the finished title.

As they make their way through the real world, players can check the game’s map on their smartphone. If there’s a wild Pokemon in the area, it’ll appear on the screen.

The zoomed-in view suggests that players will also choose an avatar for themselves, like they do in recent Pokemon video game installments. Once you’re close enough, the view switches to an encounter screen, in which the target Pokemon is overlaid on top of the image from your phone’s camera.

Line up your shot, tap the Poke Ball icon at the bottom of the screen, and you’ll toss one of the high-tech orbs at creature in an attempt to capture it. As your roster of adorable fighting beasts grow, so too will your level as a Pokemon Trainer, which improves your ability to catch more powerful species. Catching enough of the same species will also allow it to progress to its evolved form.

But experience isn’t the only way to put the odds in your favor. Players will also be able to make use of PokeStops, locations where they can collect additional Poke Ball and other items. It’s not clear whether upgraded gear will require additional payments, but the developers have said that PokeStops will be located at real-world points of interest such as museums, public art installations, and historical monuments. Whether this decision will encourage players to also appreciate their non-Pokemon-related surroundings, or simply make other visitors irritated at all the people staring at their phones instead of paying attention to the paintings and sculptures around them is yet to be seen.

PokeStops are also where players can get Pokemon eggs, and just like their counterparts in previous games in the series, they only hatch after you’ve walked a certain number of steps. So yes, Pokemon GO lets you multi-task playing video games and getting some light exercise.

Finally, once players make enough progress in the game, they’ll be presented a choice between three teams to join. Teams can lay claim to vacant gyms, which like PokeStops also share GPS coordinates with real-world places of interest, by placing their captured Pokemon inside. Once a team has control of a gym, only other trainers with the same affiliation can freely lodge their Pocket Monsters there, but other teams have the option to battle against its inhabitants, with the winner taking over ownership.

Sadly, even with all these features, Pokemon GO still doesn’t have a firm release date.

Source: The Pokemon Company, Niantic via Anime News Network

Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Real life Pokémon gym set to open in Japan next month -- Pokémon is getting another smartphone game this spring, and it’s “figure”-based -- Volunteers being sought for field test of Pokémon Go mobile game

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3 Comments
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Man, this looks great! I applied to test the Beta version but I didn't come up on the winning end of that lottery. The Pokémon Company has been making some pretty big moves for its' 20th anniversary with the Virtual Console releases, Sun and Moon, and Pokémon Go. With the upcoming Nintendo NX, it's almost like a revival for Nintendo.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Ummm... no, thanks. People who want to play it, all the power to them. But no such game will grace my phone, and so it will not look any way on my phone at all.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

pokemon is still a thing?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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