Pokemon: Go …fetch me a beer.
A trailer for a new Pokemon game for mobile was released yesterday by The Pokemon Company, a subsidiary of Nintendo, on their YouTube Channel (vid above). Former Google startup, Niantic (of Ingress fame) is developing the game and it’ll be released sometime 2016 for iPhones and Android devices. The release marks the dawning of a new age for Nintendo. It’ll be one of the first of many games Nintendo intends to release for the mobile market.
Up until a press release in March, Nintendo has remained a largely insular company with little sign of desire to enter the mobile market directly. The late Satoru Iwata said during the presser that, “Nintendo has decided to utilize smart devices aggressively.” And few franchises are more aggressive at cornering their market and selling through inventory than Pokemon.
In general Nintendo fashion, there will still be a proprietary device they’ll sell you to enhance your Pokemon: GO experience – a Pokemon Dongle, if you will – but it is not necessary to play the game.
The Poke-dongle will be worn on the wrist – like a Fitbit or Gear – and know precisely where you are in the world at all times and vibrate when it’s time to catch a Pokemon… in reality. I’d imagine it’ll have some sort of technology to tell when you haven’t mowed your lawn recently and bombard you appropriately. You’ll also be able to interact with other REAL LIFE Poke-trainers to trade your reality augmenting Pokemon. And according to the overly dramatic hype trailer you’ll be able to team up for boss battles in Time Square while fist pumping like you’re at a Metallica concert.
I’d imagine other games will follow. Continual Runner Mario. Koopa Troopa Flappy Bird. And I’m not as excited as others might be for shit like that – largely due to my general annoyance with the vapid, dime-a-dozen games that make up the bulk of the mobile market. Others will be genuinely excited for the opportunity to play a freemium game like Candy Crush but with fucking Yoshi eggs.
Pokemon: GO on the other hand does represent another step forward in our continual pursuit of VR so I’m ultimately for it. While not excited personally, I know plenty of folks that will be. It is exactly what man-children conscripted by Pokemon at a young age want. They really do want to wander around for real, catching all of the monsters. And what’s a smartphone if not a Pokedex? Think about it. A question comes up or you need to recall some trivia you whip it out and wiki things on the fly – like looking up Squirtle’s vulnerabilities and shit.
I understand that the cast of catch-able creatures will largely be existing Pokemon already within the continuity – probably with DLC to add more. My hope is that they go a step further (step, get it?) and add world and area specific Pokemon. Like Searstowerchu. Or Beer-in-my-fridge-a-mon. Then I can tell my son in a couple years, who’ll no doubt be conscripted by Pokemon, to fetch me a beer and he’ll have incentive via his Poke-dongle to do so.
“PBRizard! I choose you!”