Through exchange / trade. This is very good news for people from the other side of the earth who have their eyes on Pokémon that are characteristic of certain regions, such as Australia's Kangaskhan, for example. Niantic CEO John Hanke revealed at the annual San Diego, California Comic Con that the team is really working to add trade, new workout options, along with customizable Pokestops, and more Pokémon from the latest Nintendo generations. They are also thinking about adding a breeding function for Pokémon.
What's new in Pokemon Go?
The most interesting thing that will soon be presented to players is PokeStops with the ability to personalize. According to the description of Hanke himself, the idea is that gamers will be able to receive items that will act like (which, when activated, summons and keeps nearby Pokemon on the blue points of PokeStops), but will modify the PokeStops themselves. For example, it would be possible to turn a PokeStop into a treatment location, essentially making it a temporary PokeCenter. And it will also be possible to make the PokeStop attract a certain one, for example, like an all-electric Lure (a bait that electric Pokemon will "bite" at). And you can also choose which items will be available on PokéStops for trainers.
New Pokemon in Pokemon Go
Of course, everyone is eagerly awaiting the arrival of new Pokémon from the latest generations. And they will appear soon, confirmed Hanke. At the moment, 151 monsters from Red and Blue Pokémon are involved in the game. And CEO Niantic said the team is looking for interesting ways to integrate new characters into the Pokémon Go world. It all sounded like the company didn’t have a clear timeline for when this would happen and what it would look like, but it makes it clear that the emergence of new Pokémon will not be just a batch update with the addition of entire subsequent generations.
Trading in Pokemon Go
Hanke also noted that the (trade) function is currently in development. Trading has been an integral part of Pokemon since the first generation of games, and its introduction in Pokemon Go is also appropriate. Probably, each player has a monster with a cool skill level, but it would be cool on a walk with a friend just to exchange with him what you personally lack for further development.
Reproduction in Pokemon Go
Pokémon breeding is also one of the important elements of the series. This will be a smarter way to generate Eggs for players.
New workouts in Pokemmon Go
Improvements in training will be very welcome too. So far, the only way to upgrade Pokemon in Pokemon Go is to catch a Pokemon of the same species and exchange them for seeds, which are used to increase the CP power. Fighting in your own Pokémon team in your "Gym" is also a "training" in the game, but in essence it only gains experience and improves the performance of the "Gym" itself. An advanced training technique that provides alternative ways to improve your Pokémon's skill level will come in very handy.
Even if you have to wait months, if not years, until the developers launch new Pokémon or other new features, true fans of the game will not have time to get bored.
New game of millions. Why is the world going crazy with Pokémon Go
20 years later, Pokémon got a rebirth
Generation 90s well remember the massive fascination with Pokemon - pocket monsters of Japanese origin with unique superpowers. Then, in the wake of the popularity of the animated series of the same name, an entire industry developed: collectible cards, comics, toys. 20 years later, Pokémon are reborn with Pokémon Go, developed by Nintendo and Niantic Labs.
How it works
Pokémon Go is an online augmented reality geolocation game that launched on July 6th for iOS and Android. The game is currently only available in the American, New Zealand and Australian App Store.
After the game is downloaded and installed, the user launches it and turns on the camera. On the screen, he sees what is happening around him, and the application, meanwhile, inserts Pokemon there. Moreover, if two people stand in the same place, they will be shown the same Pokemon, but only one of them can catch it. You can play without turning on the camera, then a map with objects and a player's avatar will be displayed on the screen.
For capturing wild Pokémon, they give "stardust" or "candy" - a special game currency. Both of them increase the fighting strength of the Pokemon, and candies help to advance it up the evolutionary ladder. Pokémon of different users can then participate in training battles.
Where are Pokémon hunted
With the introduction of Pokémon Go, video games have taken to the next level. Now users need to go out and interact with other people, and gaming adventures entail real ones. For example, a teenage girl from Wyoming was looking for a water Pokemon in the river, and found a corpse, an American Marine caught her first Pokemon while serving in Iraq, and Jonathan Therio hunted for Pokemon in the ward of his wife, who was about to give birth.
American volunteer fighting ISIS with the Kurdish militias caught his first pokeman on the Mosul front line. #poke pic.twitter.com/PMbdYaIYqJ
The Big Pharaoh (@TheBigPharaoh) Jul 10, 2016 Free transfer
American cafes and shops used the game as a marketing ploy, inviting visitors to "catch Pokemon". In many of these places there were “gyms” or “pokéstops” - places for replenishing in-game resources.
But in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, monster hunters were not welcome.
"It's not allowed to play the game in a museum that is a memorial to the victims of Nazism," museum spokesman Andrew Hollinger told the Washington Post. "We're trying to figure out if the museum can be removed from the game."
Pokemon have been seen in a funeral home, in a cemetery, in a police station, in a strip club. “I don’t even know which is worse: the Pokemon in the funeral home or the fact that I see it there,” wrote a journalist from Boston magazine.
What does it threaten
The popularity of the new game was used by criminals: in Missouri, a gang of robbers placed a special game item on the “PokéStop” that lured Pokémon. As a result, 11 teenagers became victims.
Australian Sonny Truen lost his job in Singapore due to Pokémon Go. In a sneering Facebook post, he wrote that Singapore is not a desirable place to live because a new game is not available there.
Truen wrote that Singapore is full of "stupid people" and the national IQ will drop if he leaves the country. The man was fired after Singaporeans complained about the message to his employer, online real estate agency 99.co. There are also a lot of stories on the network about how people stood in the middle of the roadway, because there were Pokémon.
In Sydney, Australia, in pursuit of a rare Pokemon, a crowd of over a thousand people occupied a suburban area, preventing locals from sleeping, throwing garbage and drinking alcohol. In response, eggs and water bombs fell on them from the balconies.
Pokemon hunters in the suburbs of Sydney From open sources
“The park where everyone hangs out is a playground,” says one resident. “Between 300 and 400 people gather every night to play a game. This is a very small park and the crowd goes crazy. People shout at the top of their voices. smoke in the playground. "
Senator Al Franken of Minnesota wrote a letter to Niantic Labs, expressing concern about the safety of personal data of users of the game. He accused the company of collecting user data and potentially distributing it to third parties. He stressed that most users are children, and the default settings for the application are automatic data collection.
The Senator made seven requests for additional information, such as a list of "third party service providers" with which Niantic shares information and the reasons for this.
Records and prospects
After launching in the US on July 6, it took the game less than 24 hours to top the free and top-grossing App Store charts. Every 20th American with a smartphone running Google has already installed a game. In five days, the value of Nintendo has grown by $ 7.5 billion.
In the near future, the application with the game may overtake Twitter in daily audience. According to Google Trends, Pokémon Go has overtaken porn in search terms.
Business Insider
From open sources
On July 7, the game's servers collapsed for a while due to overload, and the interruptions continue again and again. Therefore, the worldwide launch of the hit toy has been postponed for now.
“For Niantic and the Pokémon Company, the question is whether they can sustain popularity for a long time. Some mobile games, like Candy Crush and Clash of Clans, have used viral startups to create viable long-term businesses, while others, including Flappy Bird and Draw Something became momentary outbreaks, "writes The Guardian.
Pokémon Go in Ukraine
Despite the fact that the toy has not yet been officially launched in Ukraine, our compatriots are actively using it. You can download it from here. On the social network "VKontakte" there are a lot of groups of Ukrainian Pokemon masters who are already getting to know each other and organize meetings in different cities.
Judging by the announcement, a gathering is planned in the capital this Sunday, fans of the game will meet at the "Independence Square" metro station at 13:00.
About nomination
The gaming industry is like the sea. Either the waves rise to the heavens, then calm reigns for several months, but life is always in full swing. This sea is also truly unpredictable. Experts expect a storm, but only get a couple of bursts, and vice versa. This is exactly what happened this year. We will tell you about the most important trends and trends in the industry, natural and unexpected, in this nomination.
3rd place. Achievements of Russian eSports
Russian big sports this year was surrounded by scandals related to the Rio Olympics. Once again, fans and stakeholders were able to make sure that serious international competition is tied to politics, undercover intrigue and machinations. Against this background, esports seems even more transparent and open. In addition, everything is very good with him this year.
Russian players have shown excellent results in tournaments around the world, but the achievements of the Albus Nox Luna team should be especially noted. The guys managed to reach unprecedented heights - by League of legends... Until 2016, not a single team from the CIS countries succeeded. Unfortunately, the British titans from H2k-Gaming, who ANX with a score of 3: 0, did not allow Russian players to rise higher in the standings. But throughout the championship, journalists noted that Albus Nox showed a really beautiful and professional game.
An equally important event was in Russia. Yes, not the first time. Cybersport already entered the All-Russian Register of Sports in 2001, but it was removed from there in 2006. Hopefully the re-inclusion will be final. Moreover, it is quite natural. Suffice it to recall how large-scale League of Legends was at the VTB Ice Palace in Moscow and how much attention it attracted from the press.
About virtual battles in detail write not only game, but also sports publications. If the International Sports Federation settles the issue of including the corresponding disciplines in the program of the Olympic Games, then it is possible that Russian teams will defend the honor of the country already at the Tokyo Olympics.
2nd place. VR
Its coming was predicted by science fiction writers, gamers all over the world dreamed of it, and now it has arrived - the era of virtual reality. VR helmets are no longer an unrealizable fantasy, prototypes shown to heads of corporations behind closed doors, and exhibits from exhibitions. Now these are very specific gadgets that anyone can buy in the store.
True, contrary to our expectations, the revolution as such did not happen. Of course, a new field has appeared for all sorts of experiments, which the leading developers are in a hurry to take advantage of. Most likely, in the coming years we will fully appreciate the potential of the current generation of helmets. But in 2016, virtual reality failed to turn the industry upside down.
To see this, just look at the sales forecasts. SuperData estimates that neither the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, nor PlayStation VR were able to reach the million-unit mark in 2016. It's not even close. Sony was the most successful with its PS VR, which the magazine Time included in the list of the main inventions of the year. 750 thousand PS4 owners wanted to purchase a new accessory for their console, since it costs almost half the price of Oculus and Vive, and besides, it does not require a powerful computer. But even that figure is not impressive compared to initial forecasts of two million helmets sold in the first three months after release.
Shot from the game Batman: Arkham VR.
Anyway, about VR. They admired, praised, scolded. This is not just a trend, but the beginning of a new stage in the gaming industry.
1st place. Pokemon go
It seems that the word "hype" was invented specifically to describe all the madness that was happening in the world in the first months after the release of the mobile game from the studio Niantic... Pokémon were literally everywhere. They were caught by your friends, acquaintances, colleagues at work, talked about them on the Internet, on TV, on entertainment and serious radio stations. It seems that even the grandmothers on the benches remembered Pikachu, which they had not heard of from children for fifteen years. The world is engulfed in pokemonomania.
$ 14 Million in a Week, $ 200 Million in a Month, Stock Growth Nintendo by 86%. became the most downloaded mobile game in the United States and one of the most successful games in history. It will be studied by marketing students, and developers - perhaps the same Niantic - will try in vain to repeat its phenomenal success.
However, the phenomenon is also a phenomenon that it is unique. It will not be possible to replay it by simple repetition. But the development of ideas is quite possible. Pokemon GO has rendered a huge service to the mobile and not only gaming industry: it has proven the viability and relevance of augmented reality as a format. Several new AR games are already under development. Who knows, maybe one of them will change the picture of the world even more.
Pokemon GO and AR development deservedly receive the title of the main trend of 2016.
It is almost impossible to predict what awaits us in 2017, because trends are unexpected things. Nobody knew that in 2016 the most discussed topic would be a mobile game about pocket monsters. And in the new year, the initiative can be intercepted by anything or anyone. For the next year, we will tirelessly discuss the Nintendo Switch, Hideo Kojima's new game, and the development of virtual reality. But which of this will become the main trend, we will find out at the end of the year.
