Pokémon Go has launched in a closed beta in Australia and New Zealand, and that means we are getting our first look at real gameplay.
YouTube user Game Previews uploaded an 8-minute clip of the augmented reality smartphone game Pokémon Go, and it shows how you can walk around in the real world and capture hidden pocket monsters. The Pokémon Company International is working with developer Niantic on this game that uses your phones GPS device to track you as you chase down monsters hiding in public places like a park or hiking trail. Unlike traditional Pokémon games, Go isn’t about battling. Instead, the key mechanics here are collecting and capturing creatures.
This is The Pokémon Company’s latest attempt to crack the $36.9 billion mobile gaming industry. The corporation, which Nintendo jointly owns with Pokémon developers GameFreak and Creatures, has previously released Pokémon: TCG Online (trading card game), Pokémon Shuffle, and more for iOS and Android. This is separate from Nintendo’s own move into mobile, which it kicked off recently with the debut of its Miitomo social network.
So far, Pokémon hasn’t had a huge hit on mobile, but Pokémon Go could change that. Check it out in action for yourself:
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While Pokémon Go represents a big release for its publisher, gamers are also hoping that it will deliver an exciting new way to interact with the franchise. Many people enjoy Niantic’s Ingress, which is the studio’s first game and one that features the same GPS-based gameplay that is in Go. Ingress has attracted more than 10 million downloads on iOS and Android, and the studio has likely learned a lot from that game that should help shape Pokémon Go into something exciting.
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