Pokémon Go to Feature Gyms, Trading Events, and Teams
John Hanke, the CEO of Niantic, sat down with VentureBeat to talk about Pokémon Go, and revealed a few new facts that'll get you excited for the game his team is developing with The Pokémon Company.
For starters, Hanke promises the game will be fun even if you don't live in a big city: "If we’re going to build a game that works with location, it has to be fun for people anywhere to play, in small towns as well as San Francisco. If we designed something that only worked in San Francisco, it wouldn’t be a real success. We wanted it to work globally." If you're just passing through a location, you'll still be able to interact with it without fully engaging that place.
Hanke also revealed that the game will feature gyms, as well as loads and loads of wild Pokémon. The goal is to ensure that you'll run into at least one Pokémon within five minutes of leaving your house. I don't know about you, but I'm assuming that means Rattatas everywhere. Rarer Pokémon will obviously be harder to find, and all Pokémon will be location/environment specific, meaning you'll only find water types near water.
But if you're landlocked, fear not; you'll be able to attend events to not only battle, but also trade Pokémon with other players. Even more exciting, you'll be able to join teams. According to Hinke, "there will be teams to join in Pokémon, more than two. Those teams will compete against one another."
Fight me IRL (whenever this game comes out), bros.
For starters, Hanke promises the game will be fun even if you don't live in a big city: "If we’re going to build a game that works with location, it has to be fun for people anywhere to play, in small towns as well as San Francisco. If we designed something that only worked in San Francisco, it wouldn’t be a real success. We wanted it to work globally." If you're just passing through a location, you'll still be able to interact with it without fully engaging that place.
Hanke also revealed that the game will feature gyms, as well as loads and loads of wild Pokémon. The goal is to ensure that you'll run into at least one Pokémon within five minutes of leaving your house. I don't know about you, but I'm assuming that means Rattatas everywhere. Rarer Pokémon will obviously be harder to find, and all Pokémon will be location/environment specific, meaning you'll only find water types near water.
But if you're landlocked, fear not; you'll be able to attend events to not only battle, but also trade Pokémon with other players. Even more exciting, you'll be able to join teams. According to Hinke, "there will be teams to join in Pokémon, more than two. Those teams will compete against one another."
Fight me IRL (whenever this game comes out), bros.