Where and how to look for Pokemon? Pokemon Go game: How the whole world catches Pokemon on real streets
In the game Pokemon go, the user of a mobile device who has downloaded the game application acts as a trainer who has to find and then tame them. The uniqueness of the game is that a person needs to look for Pokemon in the real world - on city streets using GPS. The game informs you that a Pokémon is nearby, and the camera of your mobile device—phone or tablet—helps you find the creature. Water Pokémon can be found near rivers and lakes, while the likelihood of finding Rock Pokémon is higher in rocky areas.
Pokemon go - how to play?
To catch a Pokemon, you need to throw a trap at it - a pokeball. This will require a certain accuracy of the player. In this case, virtual creatures are in circles of different colors. If the circle is green, the Pokemon is guaranteed to be caught and will not go anywhere; from the orange one it can get out if desired, and from the red one it will escape the fastest. If the hunt was successful, the Pokemon becomes the property of the player, ending up in his collection. For this, the game provides a reward - “star dust” and candies, which help improve the tamed pet.
The more Pokémon a player has and the more improved they are, the greater the chance of catching stronger creatures and receiving rewards.
Pokemon go - release date in Russia
Outside Russia, the game was released on July 6, 2016, and from July 18 it became possible to try yourself in the new virtual reality in our country. You can download Pokemon go in Russia on any mobile device based on iOS and Android. The game is initially free, but you will need to pay extra to get certain privileges. After following certain steps provided in the instructions for downloading Pokemon go, you can immediately start catching Pokemon. The advantage of the application is that a person will have to go out, discover new places in his city, find friends and like-minded people. The main thing is not to get carried away and not get lost in virtual reality, which intersects with the real world.
Pokemon Go is rapidly conquering the world. However, you should not succumb to the general fashion and download the game to your smartphone, because it is not as harmless as you might think.
That she detained four suspects who, under the pretext of finding a Pokemon, lured victims to a secluded place and robbed them.
What is going on?
Yoshizaku Tsuno/AFP, Getty Images
After several years of relative quiet, Pokémon are making a comeback. The Nintendo-owned franchise that exploded in the late 1990s is taking America by storm again, this time through what has become the franchise's biggest title on mobile platforms. It is not yet available in Russia, but we have compiled instructions for those of you who are eager to play. (How to install Pokemon GO if you live in Russia).
This game is so popular that it has almost surpassed Twitter on Android in the number of daily active users, Tinder in the number of downloads on Android devices, and porn in the number of search queries on Google. At the same time, Nintendo's shares rose sharply on the stock exchange, adding almost $11 billion to the company's value.
In a nutshell, Pokémon Go uses your phone's GPS and clock to determine what time and place you are in the game, and then randomly places Pokémon around you (on your phone screen) for you to chase and catch. The idea is for you to travel around the world more, trying to catch more and more new Pokemon in the game.
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When you're stopped by the police but you have to catch them all #Pokémongo
Where does this popularity come from?
Part of the game's popularity is that it's free, so it's easy to download and start playing. But something else is more important. Pokémon Go brings to life the dream that every Pokémon fan has dreamed of since the release of the first game: what if Pokémon really existed and lived in our world?
But to understand why people are so attracted to this idea, we first need to go back to the late 1990s and the original Pokémon games.
How Pokémon games work
The Pokémon series takes place in a world inhabited by exotic, powerful creatures. They can look like rats, snakes, dragons, dinosaurs, birds, eggs, trees and even swords. Humans called "trainers" travel this world to tame these creatures and, in an ethically controversial manner, use them for combat.
Pokémon Go is an attempt to bring to life what Pokémon fans have always dreamed of
The game currently doesn't have a multiplayer component, meaning you can't engage in battles or trade with your friends - two features that are very important in console games. (There are even serious tournaments with cash prizes.)
Judging by the game's first trailer, multiplayer mode may be coming in the future, although this feature has been announced from the very beginning.
The lack of normal multiplayer and familiar battles upset some fans of the franchise.
Another major issue is battery usage. Having a game on all the time can quickly drain your phone's battery - to the point where there are guides on how to play and save battery power. In fact, this is one of the technological rough edges that will have to be corrected over time in augmented reality games.
Ash and Pikachu meet Scraggy, the best of the Pokémon.
In addition to making childhood dreams come true, for many, Pokémon Go was an introduction to a new type of game that blends the real world with the virtual world - a mixture called "augmented reality."
This is not virtual reality, where you put on glasses or a helmet and are completely immersed in the virtual world. Augmented reality games use technology to augment the world around you, like putting the Pokémon Abra in your toilet.
Why would anyone want this? Well, everyday life can get boring. Why not add some Pokemon to it?
Predecessors to Pokémon Go
Pokémon Go is perhaps the most advanced augmented reality game to date. But it wasn't the first, and it certainly won't be the last: developers are increasingly embracing the concept as games like Ingress, Life Is Crime, and yes, Pokémon Go come out.
Google even parodied the idea of Pokémon Go for an April Fool's Day prank in 2014 (although it may have been a secret reveal, given that Niantic, the company that created Pokémon Go, was launched at Google):
Ingress, meanwhile, showed a potential problem with augmented reality games. In Ingress, users can take over each other's "portals", which requires them to travel to different locations in the real world. So players can literally crash into each other in the real world in an attempt to capture the portal.
Problem: When people compete, they can become aggressive. And already There is messages about how people had conflicts in real life because of the game.
There have already been several incidents with Pokémon Go as well. Even if we forget for a moment about the four suspects who allegedly placed beacons on Pokéstops to attract victims and rob them, there are several cases of injuries due to the game, and police are advising players not to go where they shouldn't be. Most players will likely stay sane and not get into trouble, but there is still some risk in combining the real world and a video game.
Pokémon GO is a mobile game for iOS and Android from Nintendo, The Pokémon Company and Niantic that uses augmented reality technology. The essence of the game is to find funny fictional creatures - Pokemon. And not sitting at home in front of the computer, but moving around in the real world.
Who are Pokemon?
Our story would be incomplete without a brief excursion into the history of Pokemon. It will be especially useful for those who were born recently or, conversely, have already forgotten everything.
The word "Pokemon" is derived from the English phrase Pocket Monster, that is, pocket monster. A super popular series of games, films, comics, toys and all that, invented in Japan in 1996, is dedicated to these creatures.
During its existence, Pokemon have been both at the peak of worldwide popularity and in the abyss of complete oblivion. Now we are seeing an unexpected revival of this glorious brand.
However, over the 20 years of its existence, the world of Pokemon has developed so much, it has acquired so many written and unwritten rules, traditions and conventions that an uninitiated person will not be able to immediately understand them.
If you encounter something strange and incomprehensible in Pokémon GO, do not try to explain it using logic. It's just the way it is in this universe. Relax and accept everything as it comes. Dot.
So, in the Pokémon GO universe, the main characters are pocket monsters - Pokémon. They come in a wide variety: more than 721 species are known, but only 174 of them are included in the game so far. However, this is quite enough for a start, because each Pokemon has its own set of unique characteristics, its own history and development path.
The player's first task is to catch Pokemon. However, this can only be done on the street, because the game is inextricably linked with our real world. To do this, you should activate GPS and mobile data, start it up and go for a walk. All your movements will be displayed on the map built into the application.
Where to look for Pokemon and how to catch them?
There are no exact indications of Pokémon habitats on the map. But there are indirect signs of their presence. First of all, pay attention to those places on the map where the grass and leaves are moving.
Don't lose sight of the indicator in the lower right corner. It shows images of Pokemon that are roaming somewhere near you. But, again, there is no guarantee that you will meet a Pokemon along the way. And this uncertainty makes the game even more interesting.
If you encounter a Pokémon, its image will appear on the map near you. Tap on it and you will be taken to the capture screen. At the bottom of the screen is a Pokeball (red and white disk), and right in front of you is a Pokemon. We take a pokeball and throw it towards the monster, choosing the moment when the pokemon is in the green circle. Just a few attempts will be enough to understand the mechanics of this simple action.
Got it, now what?
One of the important objectives of Pokémon GO is to catch at least one Pokémon from each available category. Your entire collection is collected in a Pokédex, and you should strive to fill it completely.
But that's not all we need Pokemon for. They also know how to fight each other, and they do this in accordance with very intricate rules, which will be discussed below. Here we just mention that each monster has its own unique characteristics, which can be upgraded through training. These include hit points (HP), combat points (Combat Points - CP) and attacks (Moves).
Let's add to this the ability of Pokemon to evolve. This is important for catching Pokemon that are difficult to find in the wild. For example, if there are a lot of polywags in your area, but polywhirls are hard to find, catch as many polywags as possible so that eventually one of them will evolve into a polywhirl. All clear?
What are these rotating things on the map?
These are pokestops - special hiding places that contain pokeballs, pokemon eggs and other cool things. They are usually located in interesting places, such as public art installations or architectural, historical and cultural monuments. So, while playing Pokémon GO, you can at the same time get acquainted with interesting objects nearby that you had no idea about before.
When you get close enough to a PokeStop, it will expand in size and your smartphone will vibrate. Touch it on the map, and a photograph of this place in the form of a disk will appear in front of you. Make a swipe - the disk will begin to rotate, and bonuses will fall out of it. Collect them by touching each one.
What about those big towers?
When you reach level five, you will be invited to join the team. But these same towers (in the game terminology they are called “gyms”) are the habitat of the teams.
You will be able to assign captured Pokemon to a free Gym or to your team's Gym, while each player can only place one Pokemon in a particular Gym. Pokemon added to the gym can be trained in battles, thereby increasing the level of prestige of this training hall.
The higher the prestige of a gym, the more difficult it will be to recapture it from the opposing team. If a gym's prestige is reduced to zero, the defending team loses control of the gym, and you or another player can take control of it by placing your Pokémon there.
The team with the most extensive and pumped up set of monsters can gradually capture more and more training halls.
Should I play Pokémon GO?
- If you like walks and adventures, then explore all the interesting corners in your area in search of Pokemon and PokéStops.
- If you love card games and evolution simulators, then collect a complete collection of Pokemon and follow their development.
- If you prefer team-based multiplayer games and battles, then fight for control of the gyms and make your team the coolest in town.
Pokémon GO is a game that gives you exactly what you want. And therefore it is no longer possible to tear yourself away from it.
Well, now do you understand why the whole world has gone crazy?
Released in early July, a mobile phone game called Pokémon GO instantly rocketed to the top of the App Store and Google Play. It drives millions of people crazy in the USA and New Zealand (the game is currently only available in these and some other countries). We decided to figure out what kind of game this is and why everyone who has ever heard of Pokemon is playing it now.
Well, another Pokemon game came out, so what? There are hundreds of such games.
This game is not quite ordinary. The fact is that it uses the technology of so-called “augmented” reality: you turn on the camera on your smartphone, and a virtual image is superimposed on the image of the real world around you, with which you can interact. This technology has already been used previously in games such as Ingress. The most important thing is that during the game you do not sit in one place - in order to succeed, you need to constantly move around. So, when playing Pokemon GO, you will combine business with pleasure.
And how to play it?
It's very simple to play. You walk around the city and use your phone to scan everything around in search of treasured Pokemon. Here's a look at this video:
When you find one of the Pokemon, a virtual ball, the so-called “Pokeball,” will appear on your screen, by throwing which you can catch the Pokemon. Once you've caught a few Pokémon, you can battle other players, gain experience, evolve your monsters, and eventually catch them all.
Sounds interesting. Why is there so much buzz around this game?
Well, firstly, because this game involves not just sitting at home in front of the monitor screen, but going outside. And there are other people on the street. Some of them also play Pokemon GO. This game involves live communication with people, and not virtual chats with strangers.
Secondly, in the short time that has passed since the game was released (the game was released in early July), it has managed to acquire a huge number of funny (and not so funny) incidents.
Come on, what happened?
To begin with, it’s worth saying that Nintendo shares rose by more than 25% after the release of Pokemon GO, increasing the company’s capitalization by $7 billion.
Some people find a girlfriend thanks to this game. So, one of the Reddit users said that during his next walk in search of Pokemon, he met a girl who also played Pokemon GO. As a result, the two discussed their collections of pocket monsters, and the guy asked the girl out on a date. And what do you think? She agreed. Checkmate, people who believe that gamers cannot find a girlfriend.
Another guy was driving around his city on a skateboard, trying to find his Pokemon. Completely immersed in this process, he did not notice the hole in the road, and the hunt for Pokemon ended with a broken face and a broken phone.
For some, this game helps restore relationships with loved ones - one guy very rarely communicated with his parents, and one day while going out for coffee with his mother, they decided to play Pokemon GO. As a result, after walking in nature for several hours, mother and son had a great time and agreed to go on the next walk with the whole family (they even decided to take the dog).
Nothing can distract a true Pokemon trainer from what he loves - not even the birth of a child. This guy decided to hunt right in the room where his wife was lying, who was ready to give birth any minute.
Some stories are not so rosy. For example, a girl from the USA found... a corpse during her Pokemon hunt. According to her, she was looking for Pokemon in the local river area when she noticed something strange in the water. As she came closer, she realized that it was a human body. The young hunter was not at a loss and quickly called 911, after which the police took up the matter. It was recently revealed that a group of robbers were using this app to ambush unsuspecting people in dark alleys. It's good that the criminals were eventually caught. Despite the fact that the game is extremely exciting, it is always worth looking around and monitoring what is happening around you.
That's it, I can't wait to go find these cute little creatures myself. When will this appear in Russia?
Soon. The developers have not yet given official comments (when they do, we will definitely write about it), but they simply cannot ignore such a huge audience in the form of Russian Pokemon fans. So get ready - soon an army of Pokemon seekers will take to the streets, exploring every crevice and loophole of Russian cities just to get their hands on the coveted monster.
