In a press conference, a new multiplayer location-based Pokémon game, Pokémon GO, was announced. Pokémon GO will be released for iPhone and Android devices in 2016.
The game is a collaboration between The Pokémon Company, Nintendo and Niantic Labs. The developer, Niantic Labs, recently became independent from Google. Among other projects, Niantic is best known for Ingress, a popular augmented reality-based smartphone game. Junichi Masuda is involved in working on the setting, design and music for the game; in addition, he is also planning to link Pokémon GO with the main series Pokémon games.
Nintendo is also working on a Bluetooth wrist-device, called Pokémon GO Plus, which can be worn on the wrist or as a clip-on. Pokémon GO Plus will allow the players to interact with Pokémon GO
without needing to check the phone and notifies them about events in
the game by using an LED and vibration, including the appearance of a
Pokémon nearby. The players will also be able to catch wild Pokémon and carry out other actions by using the button on the respective device.Pokémon GO will be available for free with in-app purchases.
Discover Pokémon in the Real World with Pokémon GO!
Get ready for an all-new Pokémon experience! Pokémon GO opens a universe of Pokémon to find, catch, trade, and battle on your iPhone or Android device! With Pokémon GO, you’ll discover Pokémon in a whole new world—your own! Pokémon GO will use real location information to allow players to experience catching, trading, and battling Pokémon.
OH MY FUCKING GOD YES YES YES YES MY DREAM OF BEING A POKEMON TRAINER HAS COME TO FRUITION
In a way, Pokémon GO is the ultimate realization of Satoshi Tajiri’s vision for Pokémon. He wanted children to be able to experience the things he did as a child, to go explore and find creatures they had never seen before.
Pokémon GO brings this concept to life. You will literally be able to go out into the world and find Pokémon to catch, battle, and trade by going to unexpected places and walking off the beaten path. Honestly, the idea sounds pretty fun, and I look forward to trying to catch all my favorites in the game.
Granted, there are some issues that need to be addressed (compatibility with the main series RPGs is fairly simple to introduce via Pokémon Bank, they really need to make sure that the game is global in scope because there are some places where Pokémon is known-but-not-popular that could get overlooked, and if the game only contains the first 151 Pokémon, I will not be getting it as the lion’s share of my favorites are beyond the Kanto Region), but I’m sure most of them can be handled easily during development.
pokemon that guide blind trainers, working together to solve path puzzles in gyms
pokemon that alert deaf trainers to people calling out for a battle
pokemon that sit in trainers laps that have sensory processing disorders/autism or issues with derealization/depersonalization, helping to ground them
pokemon that help trainers with PTSD focus on the present moment
pokemon that help trainers remember when to take their medications
pokemon that help trainers with mobility problems get from place to place
pokemon in battle turning back to look at their trainers to see signed attack commands, or mirrors being placed
psychic pokemon with telekinetic abilities using these (plus figurines!) to help blind and DeafBlind trainers know the position and state of their pokemon during battles
pokemon making areas more accessible to trainers with mobility aids by moving things around and helping them up
pokemon trained to respond to seizures, to help trainers who have fallen down, to soothe trainers in pain or having panic/anxiety attacks, to respond to allergy attacks and asthma attacks
starter pokemon being trained specially for new trainers with disabilities, being matched up based on what type would be best suited to the trainer
pokemon being trained to help with multiple symptoms for trainers with multiple disabilties – DeafBlind trainers, autistic blind trainers, trainers with PTSD and wheelchairs, deaf trainers with epilepsy
really love imagining a bunch a kids and teens on their pokemon journeys staying the night on the couches and floors in the lobbies of pokemon centers, having long talks about their experiences and feelings sharing funny and scary stories and myths about legendaries and trading items and sharing TMs along with sugary snacks and pokedex chargers all while their pokemon are out of their pokeballs and all bundled up in blankets sleeping soundly next to their trainers while they stare up at the stars shining through the glass ceiling over their heads
May's Blog 