Plenty of Nintendo gamers may not have heard of Niantic before it was confirmed as the developer of AR-based Pokémon Go, which is coming iOS and Android in 2016. Nevertheless the company has strong credentials - it was launched by Google co-founder John Hanke and has 13 million downloads behind it of previous AR title Ingress, which seems similar in concept to Pokémon Go.
Not only are Nintendo and The Pokémon Company active in the development of Go, but both companies have now boosted their investment in Niantic. The big N, Pokémon Company and Google are investing a combined $30 million into the company, with $20 million of that being up front. The press release gives the following purpose for the cash:
Niantic, Inc. will leverage the funding and strategic relationships to continue work on Pokémon GO, support its thriving global Ingress community, scale its platform and bring new games to market.
President and CEO of The Pokémon Company, Tsunekazu Ishihara, is quoted as follows.
Pokémon's strategic investment in Niantic paves the way for a social mobile experience the world has never seen before. The Pokémon Company is committed to partnering with companies like Niantic that share the same spirit of community and innovation.
It's worth noting, once again, that although The Pokémon Company operates independently, it is owned by Nintendo. From Nintendo's perspective this represents a significant investment, and a renewal of its intention to invest in smart device gaming - in addition to its partnership with DeNA.
Are you excited about Pokémon Go's arrival next year, and what do you think of this investment by Nintendo? Let us know.
Comments 39
Looking forward to this!
How about supporting 3DS with that app there Nintendo? Anything that you release on Mobile should also come to 3DS...
Time will tell how this will turn out. I wonder how they will market the Pokewatch and where we can get one. On a phone store or on a game store?
I don't have a cell phone
@Link41x Unless the 3DS has GPS and 3G/4G/whatever then no.
@ikki5 Neither do I, but Pokémon Go is more than enough to change that.
@Link41x 3DS lacks 4G and GPS. The 2 apsects that make Pokemon GO the kind of game it is on mobile.
Without those 2 features the game cannot function on 3DS.
@Chiptek @ikki5 Christmas? I mean Christmas is a perfect chance to get money to buy a mobile or get someone to buy a mobile for you as a Christmas gift .
Either way I hope both of you get the chance to play Pokémon Go ^^.
I am really looking forward to Pokémon Go and I hope it will be really good and exciting ^^.
New information about Pokémon Go should come up soon so hopefully this week.
@ikki5 - Don't have a phone either, since I use my 3DS as one, really. If Go is good enough though, I'll probably get one...
@Kimite I'll definitely get one no matter what. I don't think I've ever been this hyped for a game before.
Nintendo does not "own" TPC. They are an equal shareholder with GameFreak and Creatures.
Love the trailer. I'm looking forward to Pokemon Go.
@Chiptek I would b even more hyped if Pokémon Go get something like the Hololens technology and let us see the Pokémons in front of us .
I mean if Pokémon Go has AR technology incorporated sometimes in the future, then Pokémon Go will likely become a really huge hit ^^.
@SpookyMeths You're confusing The Pokemon Company with Pokemon itself.
While Pokemon is jointly owned by Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures, TPC is solely owned by Nintendo (AFAIK).
@SpookyMeths In fact I am likely misinformed on this, so disregard my comment if so
I think we all jointly own Pokemon in our hearts ☺️
But, er, none of the profits 😄
I just want to fight a real Pokemon battle along side my God, Feraligatr.
@ThomasBW84 "...coming to iOS and Apple in 2016"? Aren't those one and the same? Did you mean iOS and Android?
@xInsomniax Yep, I meant Android
@Link41x
No GPS on 3DS, so this would be impossible. They COULD release on Vita if they wanted to, but that ain't happening lol
Not bothering with this one. After the way Ingress went. Compete with the opposing team, compete with the guys on your team or your ability to do much will be stifled and compete with all the people with the best stuff preventing you from doing much of anything. Not to mention that community was fairly toxic at times. So I'll certainly keep away, nice that Nintendo has faith but I have none in Niantic.
@ikki5 me too...
@Link41x The 3DS can't access your location, which is the focus of the game.
@SpookyMeths It's not like the Pokemon Company can make non-Pokemon games, which Nintendo owns.
@Aqueous I don't think you'll have to compete with anybody. I think the biggest issue will be along this line "If i don't live in Kenya, will i still find a dragonair?" Pokemon diversity per region and having to trade most likely will be the issue. Pokemon stock and trade. Can you imagine what the cht will be like? Sheesh.
@EmmatheBest You use your 3DS as a phone? Please disclose to me this magical method of communication while out and about you use...
@kamifox1 - Sure, it's called the Internet Browser!
Call me old school, but I'll stick with the mainline games. I appreciate what Nintendo is trying to do, give us a unique experience that can't be done on a 3DS, and it sounds like they chose the perfect developer to implement their vision. It's a better gesture then "Now you can legally play Super Mario Bros on your phone. $5 please." I just hope that they don't require you to travel the world to capture every Pokemon (because some will always strive to do so) because kids are still a large demographic.
I just wanna know how this is going to work with the main games.
@EmmatheBest Sorry, how exactly do you use your 3DS like a phone?
well at the very least nobody can say that NIntendo's venture into mobile games is half assed. I mean they've entered into development partnerships with companies that have strong credentials in the mobile games market. Ninty have even bought a stake in these companies.
@EmmatheBest Sorry, how exactly do you use your 3DS like a phone?
Pokémon Go is almost a non-idea, at least the way it is seemingly executed.
This is all very boring.
Pokémon Go seems pretty cool. As a huge Pokémon fan, I very likely to get it. I never miss out if it's a Pokémon game.
I'm still waiting for a Pokédex Pro update for the 3DS though, it's still stuck in 5th gen!!
@capa - I suspect that will become a similar problem, along with likely odds of pokemon respawn time and needing to walk in circles
@Aqueous I've been having a lot of fun with Ingress, maybe my area has a better community.
There is no way they will require people to travel the world. Ingress has possibly more than a hundred portals in every suburb. At worst, you may need to travel across town at a certain time of day to get a particular Pokémon, and some might be rare and require particular items or other tricks to get like the main games.
I'm guessing each portal will act as it's own route, and will have a few different Pokemon to find.
@EmmatheBest You use that out on the street, where there's no such thing as wifi and in emergencies?
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