Pokemon Go players — there’s still a few of you out there, right? — are in for a treat this week as the game patches up with over 80 new pokemon.
“These include Pokémon originally discovered in the Johto region from the Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver video games, including Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile. Trainers will encounter these Pokémon “in the wild” as they embark on adventures and explore their neighborhoods and cities to catch Pokémon. In addition to Pokémon that will appear in the game for the first time, the latest update introduces new gameplay mechanics for Trainers to master, including new encounter gameplay, new Evolution items, two new Berries, and expanded outfit and accessory options for their Trainer avatars.”
Meanwhile, Niantic’s John Hanke has been touring the mainstream gaming media over the past few weeks discussing Pokemon Go’s successes — and missteps. And in a recent interview with Vice’s Waypoint subgroup, he talks about the rollercoaster-like ride of the game for the studio, which doesn’t regret launching the game before many of its key features were finished — the “hysteria” was worth it.
As for right now? “[T]he priority for Pokémon Go now is to build in those things that reward co-operative gameplay, and make experiences available that offer more depth than just the capturing mechanic,” he says, suggesting that monster trading and PvP battles are on the way, but the tracker? The tracker is never coming back.
“I think the more interesting thing for me is not extending the tracker, but basically making the world richer and adding more ways to interact with new kinds of things in the world.”
Welp.
