Pokemon Go Coming this July!

Nintendo announced that plans for a Pokemon game for smartphones way back last September. Also previously announced was that the game was in joint development under the banners of The Pokemon Company, Nintendo, and Niantic – the makers of the game Ingress and would use the phone’s camera as part of gameplay. In addition to this, during the second day of E3’s livestream, the company also announced that a wearable wrist accessory was currently in the works for Pokemon Go would be available to play to let gamers experience the game without a smart phone for the price of $34.99.

For those still unfamiliar, Pokemon Go has been marketed as a Pokemon game unlike any other using real world settings and locations for collecting Pokemon and jumping head first into trainer battles with your friends or internationally using its system. Catch is, so far, that the Pokemon will also be location specific, meaning you can’t get all the Pokemon you want in your corner of the globe. Globe trotting for Pokemon seems hugely fun, though. Looking forward to which Pokemon pops up in which area, especially here in Manila (ed note: We found some of them already!) . Grimer or Wheezing for our polluted streets, or maybe something darker along Balete Drive like Ghastly? Magnemite as a sign of industrialization? JYNX IN A HAIR SALON!?

Newly announced in E3 is the gym feature, where as a trainer the user may engage in battles in notable landmarks within your area. The gyms will be controlled by three factions: Red, Yellow, and Blue. The trainer can also take control of the gym with the help of their friends, increasing their chances for victory.

As always in these games, leveling up means getting rewards. Clarified by Nintendo, the higher your level, the more able the trainer is to capture stronger Pokemon and gain “candy” rewards to evolve the Pokemon currently under the trainer’s care.

Pokeballs are thrown the by the Pokemon Go Plus device. When the Pokemon is caught in the ball, the device flashes rainbow. If not, it flashes red. And to make it convenient, the phone’s screen flashes green and vibrates when a Pokemon is nearby, saving the user from monitoring the phone screen while walking.

Folks over on IGN have been able to play the demo in E3 and have revealed hatching eggs works similar to how it was in the game, but due to its incorporation into real life, has become pedometer based. So y’all who want to hatch your well-bred Pokemon are in for some exercise! The demo version was also said not to include a Pokemon Center yet, so we’ll see how that works out.

Lastly, Nintendo has said that the game’s initial plan will only make the Pokemon from Blue and Red versions available to work with the 20^th anniversary! The first generation of 150 (or 151 give or take Mew) will be the first ones up for catching, trading, and battling.

So what do you guys expect from this game? What Pokemon do you want to see or think we’ll see here in the Philippines? Jump in the comments below and give us an idea!

Sources: The Verge, IGN