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Pokemon Go for iOS and Android (pokemon.com)
80 points by wgx on Dec 9, 2015 | hide | past | favorite | 64 comments


Kind of crazy to think how different Pokemon Red/Blue would have been if they were developed in the current age. Buy a rare candy for $1. Pay 10 cents to heal the PokeCenter. You're only allowed 20 battles in a day unless you invite friends on facebook.

Would have made so much money.


Their fundamental motto is "Don't make the mother an enemy". They are unlikely to pursue a play to win model even today.

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/COLUMN/20121009/244635/...


That is such a smart long-term strategy given their target audience that I'm amazed I haven't heard it before.


"Don't make the mother an enemy"

What does that even mean?


I suppose it could be referencing the fact that the mother buys the games and allows her kids to play them. Making an enemy of her means no game time?


Yup that's what it means.


That's pretty clever.


My brother and I talked about this when Go was first announced. If we were kids and this stuff was released, we'd be playing it non-stop probably. It brings the imaginative stuff even more to life than before.


I feel not as many people would of played still. Sure they would of made a ton of money, but I don't see it being as big. Many games that follow today's tactics may make millions but Pokemon is a legacy all of it's own that other games could only dream of matching. Everything from movies, a tv show, toys, tournaments, etc I would argue Pokemon may of not have made half as much as it has the way it was made... I could be wrong though, but it's easier to get hooked on a game you can buy for cheap and play however many times you want...


would have

I know you probably don't think much of it, but it really makes your message much harder to read than it should be. Especially for non native english speaker, where we have the split second where we have to think "Okay, why is there a 'of' here ? Is it a new construct, or simply a mistake?"


Say these out loud to understand where "would of" comes from:

Would have

Would've

Would of

Thank you for pointing out that people who speak English as a foreign language are sometimes tripped up by things like this.


I'm not sure what to respond to a response about my post not being non-native English speaker friendly... When I'm a non-native English speaker myself...


This is scary, but probably accurate. And EA would have ended up owning it and ruining it.


I wonder if the franchise would still be that popular if they were sold under that model


All we ever wanted was a Pokemon (like the gameboy games) but in 3D and for a home console.

We hoped they'd do it for the Nintendo 64 (Pokemon Snap was FANTASTIC, Pokemon Stadium fun, but no full-fledged Pokemon adventure game).

Then we hoped they'd do it for the Gamecube.

Then we hoped they'd do it for the Wii.

Then I crawled under a rock and stopped caring about video games.

Also, since about halfway through the lifecycle of the Wii I really wished Nintendo would start being a software-only company and move away from hardware so they could focus on amazing content. I'm still rooting for them even though I don't keep up to date with what's current in gaming.


Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness is in 3D and is available on Gamecube. It's pretty cool.

Here's a video of a battle in it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG5AfTYYz8w


I have fond memories of Pokemon XD. Wish they'd make another one like it for the Wii U or whatever the NX turns out to be.


I don't know about you but what I've always imagined as an awesome pokemon game would be a 3D MMORPG, with a huge world in which I can catch will pokemons by fighting them or start a fight with another player. I'm pretty sure that I'm not the first one thinking about this idea but Nintendo has never made something like this for whatever reason they have.


I don't know about you but in my generation everyone who got into pokemon played them on an emulator and at 2-6x speed. I tried playing it on a 3DS and I would probably go mental if I played that game and watched all those slow animations - the fun from that game is about optimizing "builds" and exploring - but normal game speed has soo much slow walk animations.


Yes, I got a PSP when it first came out and it pretty quickly became exclusively a Nintendo emulator for me. Pokemon on the PSP at faster speeds was remarkable. It mad going back to the Gameboy painful.


Can they really make up for the lower margins from publishing on a 3rd party platform through higher volume?


3D as in Pokemon X & Y?


> .. for a home console

Seems like he wanted it for an actual connected-to-tv console.


I think Pokémon makes a whole lot more of sense as a handheld game.


Ni no kuni is quite close. You should try it.


While I'm sure it'll be enjoyable on a phone (Ingress still has quite the cult following) the video just screams augmented reality. I can't wait until augmented reality tech is broadly out there because I could see this appealing to many. The phone version like Ingress? Well not me at least but I won't knock it. It's an interesting concept.


From what I've gathered, this is something the fans have been asking for for years. The Half-Life 3 of Pokemon, so to speak.


That "Half Life 3" of Pokemon has always been a 3D Pokemon MMO. Not a Augmented Reality game: an actual MMO.

That still won't ever happen.


> 3D Pokemon MMO

This is massive multiplayer IRL

Which I think is much more interesting. Imagine kids coming back from vacation and trading all the pokemon they captured in foreign countries.


Or a 3D console Pokemon. Or Pokemon Snap 2.

I would be more interested in Pokemon Snap 2 than either an MMO or straight 3D title.


I am desperately awaiting someone to make Pokemon Snap 2 in a way that is compatible with an Oculus Rift or other VR headset.

I would pay an absolutely unreasonable amount of money for that game and I'm not a massive Pokemon fan. Red was good, Snap was great. Let me take a virtual tour through Pokemon land now, please.


I love that people liked Snap - I thought it was brilliant, although at the time it didn't get great reviews.


They tried a 3D Pokemon in the Gamecube era (Coliseum/XD).

The new games on the 3D5 are very light on the "3D" too.


It wasn't pokemon proper, though. Like mystery dungeon isn't pokemon. They have never tried a main series 3D pokemon, or even anything close to it.

There's also PokePark on Wii, looks great graphically and is proper 3D on a console, but mechanically, it's not a pokemon game--you play as a pokemon, it's not you playing pokemon as a trainer in the tradition of the main series games. Like Doom RPG isn't Doom.


This really does sound awesome, I think I've played nearly every Pokemon title released for the gameboy, gbc, gba and nds. (after that I grew up a bit).

And I always missed a pokemon like title on my Android phone, if this game is the least bit like pokemon red it really could be awesome. I don't know if I'll be driving around town with the Pokemon Go Plus but I'm certain I'll find myself checking my phone more often while walking around and nearly having my pokemon on the desired level..


I don`t know. I played ingress and it was very headache and vertigo inducing. Any game that you need to look down at your phone for an extended time and walk around. Feels like a bad idea. Or just too early, because it would need a heads up display like Google Glass to be sucessful.


Now if only Pokemon and other Nintendo properties were available for Android and iOS. But I guess they have determined that this is not in their best interests... :/


Pokemon Shuffle is available on iOS/Android: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pokemon-shuffle-mobile/id101...

Before his passing, Iwata announced plans for more mobile games (and Nintendo stock had spiked because of it). However, the collaboration with DeNA for a custom branded Puzzle and Dragons (http://www.mariowiki.com/Puzzle_%26_Dragons:_Super_Mario_Bro... ) I hear did not sell well. So we'll see.


Very much not in their best interests; pokemon games are responsible for a large percentage of the sales of the handhelds they appear on.


Ok this is a silly "uncool dad" question but my gaming chops stopped with Gauntlet.

Should my pokemon obsessed six year old receive a Nintendo 3Ds for Xmas, or an iPad mini with Pokemon Go on it ?

My intuition is to go for the iPad as a more general platform and more understandable - but the main use case here is Pokemon

So, embarrassing question but don't want Santa to make the wrong delivery


Definitely a 3DS, Go might just be another terrible cash grab pay-to-win game. It might also be amazing, but the 3DS is the safer choice.


I don't think an iPad will be able to compare as a Pokémon delivery device to a 3DS. It looks like this game is still a ways off, and may only function using smartphone (not tablet) functionality like data connection in our life places and GPS. However a 3DS can play probably a dozen different Pokémon titles and doesn't rely on any data connection when out and about. Since you say that Pokémon is the main use case, seems pretty cut and dry to me.


On mobile can't edit: data connection in outside and public places


Looks like the consensus is the 3DS, I'd go with that too. You might consider the New 3DS XL (it has a second analog control nub) but be sure to pick up the separate AC charger since for whatever reasons it's not bundled with it. The 3DS is a good choice since you have the newest generation (Pokemon X/Y), but also all the game gens from the older DS plus the DS remakes of the game boy color and game boy advance generations. Way more Pokemon than may be healthy. ;)


I bought one a couple of days ago and got caught out by this.

Are they assuming that most people who buy a 3DS have previously owned a DS console, so don't need a charger?

I can't think of any other electronic device that doesn't use USB charging that doesn't come with a way to charge it - and even the USB ones tend to come with a cable.


I'm sure you're already aware, but it's worth noting that Nintendo produce a 3DS aimed at children called the 2DS. There are two key features of the 2DS.

1. No 3D screen. Nintendo warns about the effects of a 3D screen on a child's eyesight.

2. No hinge! Less chance of being broken by folding it back too far etc. Children tend to wear the hinges out on these things.


The part about 3D affecting children seems to have been made up by the legal team, since there's no actual evidence of problems.


Pokemon Go will not be a replacement for a real pokemon game like you can get on 3DS, but a tablet can run an emulator and play the old gameboy games.


Pokemon Go won't be out for Christmas 2015. The release date just seems to be "2016" at this point.


Thank you "wisdom of the crowds"


I would go with the iPad mini too! Hopefully the Pokemon Go will come soon, meanwhile the Pokemon shuffle will last him/her for awhile!


Pokémon Shuffle does not compare to a fully featured story game. Growing up I played Pokémon games on my Gameboy Color while out with the parents (of course, this long predates WiFi) . Shuffle requires being online to function, vastly reducing the places it can function.

I agree with other commenters. The poster should purchase a 3DS.


Shuffle is closer to a flash game really, so I doubt it would hold their attention that long.


6y old? 3DS.


Seems like the perfect thing to develop a Pebble (or others) app for instead of an extra BT device. If they include that from day one I would have a hard time not dropping full console price on this game.


I wonder if Ingress will be actively developed once Pokemon Go is released...


Well, Ingress is getting long in the tooth.


Anyone know if Niantic is still part of Alphabet or if it's spun off completely ?


13th of August this year I got the following email

>We're excited to share with you that Niantic Labs - the creator of Ingress and Field Trip - is becoming an independent company. You can read more about the announcement here. We’re looking forward to taking our unique blend of exploration and fun to even bigger audiences. More details coming soon.

To prevent any disruption in your gameplay, Google will transfer to Niantic Labs certain data that you agreed to share with Google for the Ingress app under the Google Privacy Policy, specifically gameplay information and your email address.

Accordingly, we are providing you this notice that this information will transfer to Niantic Labs thirty days from August 12th, 2015. If you do not wish to have this personal information transferred to Niantic Labs, please follow the steps at www.ingress.com/optout.

Please note that if you select “No” all your Ingress app data, including Achievement History, Game Progression and other Account information, will be deleted on or before September 11, 2015 and cannot be restored.

The name and contact information for the new company are as follows: Niantic, Inc. Email: transfer@nianticlabs.com


I got the same email, and it does not answer my question. Different Alphabet companies could handle data separately.



Thanks.


pokedaily pride worldwide?


[dead]


Do we consider Porygon as Generics?




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