Niantic’s cash cow still has much to offer
Apple fanboys may be geeking out over Apple’s announcement of the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus phones but we Pokémon trainers all know what really stole the show — Pokémon GO coming to the Apple Watch.
Indeed, despite less than favourable forecasts, Niantic‘s AR phenomenon, which hit Southeast Asia merely a month ago (sure felt like a long time!) still has a whole bag of tricks.
Among them is its new Bluetooth companion wristband device Pokémon GO Plus , which will be released on September 16. In a nutshell, this device syncs up to the player’s smartphone, and lights up and vibrates to notify if a Pokémon has appeared in the vicinity.
When a Pokémon is within catching range, players can tap on a button to toss a Pokéball to capture the Pokémon. The catch (no pun intended): that feature only works if the Pokémon type has been caught by the player previously — so that annoying finger upswipe method is here to stay.
Pokémon GO Plus will also notify players if they are within range of a PokéStop. They can then tap a button on the device to collect items from the PokéStop.
According to latest estimates, the device — available for both Apple and Android phones — is expected to cost US$35.
Also Read: Truck accident fatality is first death attributed to Pokémon Go in Japan
On the software end, major game updates are expected to be rolled out soon. Niantic has so far disclosed two of them.
The first is the Buddy Pokémon feature. This allows players to select one Pokémon to travel by their side, unlocking in-game rewards such as extra candy.
The next new feature is Pokémon Appraisal. Team leaders from the three teams – Team Mystic, Team Valor and Team Instinct — will advise players on which of their Pokémons have the best attack and defence capabilities, allowing them to make well-informed preparations for gym battles.
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Image Credit: Niantic
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