The Pokemon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara announced a new Pokemon game with Pokemon Go, and stated that the late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata was heavily involved in the concept behind this mobile Pokemon game. Yes, this is not a game made specifically for the Wii U or 3DS, but a location based game that will be like no other. This is everything that is currently known about the Pokemon Go Release Date for iOS and Android.
For those not familiar with location-based games, one of the more famous ones is Ingress and AR (augmented reality) game that was developed within Google. Ingress involves players moving around on their mobile devices into real areas in order to tap into a source of mysterious energy, and it can be played in teams in real life locations all around the world.
According to Engadget, it will use Niantic's location-based technology to have players running about in real locations, catching, fighting, and trading the pocket monsters. For those Pokemon fans who truly "gotta catch 'em all", then this will be quite an active adventure. It definitely syncs with the franchise's concept of pocket monsters (where Pokemon gets its name from) hiding behind the corner, and then the possibility of taking the monster to be trained for fights.
In addition to the unique gameplay, players will have a unique accessory that they can use to play with the game. Nintendo wants to put out a Bluetooth device that looks like a Pokeball (a red and white spherical device that can capture and store the pocket monsters), but worn on the wrist. This Pokemon Go Plus device will alert players of notifications with vibration and an LED display. Like Ash from the Pokemon series, you can also toss the Pokeball Go Plus device by pressing on the LED.
Just to let you know, it is not required to use the accessory in order to play the Pokemon Go game. However, I'm certain that Pokemon fans, who have remained loyal for decades (the Pokemon franchise is celebrating its 20th anniversary), will want to buy this wearable tech up in droves.
It should be known that Google Maps put out a service for catching Pokemon for April Fools Day in 2014, and perhaps that experiment was a field test to see if Pokemon Go is something that could be made.
It is pretty clear that the possibilities are limitless with Pokemon Go being a location based game. The idea of younger players going out into real places in order to find virtual monsters will definitely get the kids out of the house. It is definitely a way to take mobile gaming into another level that hasn't been achieved since Ingress got started, and this game, with its association with the popular franchise, could take mobile gaming to the next level.
The Pokemon Go game will be coming exclusively for iOS and Android, but there isn't any more specific release date than "sometime in 2016".
