Though Pokémon Go recently saw its GDC presentation get cancelled, there's no real suggestion as yet that the project is in trouble; to the contrary developer Niantic is gearing up to send its app into the real world.
In a short but sweet blog update the developer has stated that it's planning a field test of the real-world AR-based game in Japan, with the objective being to spread the tests further in the coming months.
The Pokémon Company and Niantic will be inviting users to field test Pokémon GO in Japan later this month. The Pokémon GO field test program will give users the opportunity to share early feedback and help improve the Pokémon GO experience. Please stay tuned for information about expansion of the field test to other markets.
It's going to be a significant release for Nintendo and The Pokémon Company - as co-publishers - on mobile this year. There's little doubt it'll attract a lot of interest and downloads, so much focus will surely be on how the experience stands up. Running field tests is certainly a sensible way to identify and fix early issues.
Would you be keen to take part in a 'field test' of Pokémon Go this year?
With thanks to Ryan Millar for the heads up.
[source nianticlabs.com]
Comments 20
i'm watching the monster hunter eu stream live on twitch and i think that if pokemon go is a hit, will monster hunter and others follow? yo-kai watch is an obvious one to follow, tho'.
Pokémon Go is actually more exciting than Nintendo other "mobile Games" crap, because I really hate mobile gaming and companies trying to use them to get tons of money, but in my country this will be bad, you can't walk on the street with your smartphone in your hand so, I will stay with Pokémon Sun.
Yes please
This is much more exciting than porting Super Mario World to mobile jfc if this is what they meant by going mobile it'll be better than virtual console in the app store.
I played Niantic's main game Ingress and was hooked! I switched to Windows Mobile last year and am not going back to Android any time soon, so to everybody else, have fun!
This far done yet they could not give any details in the failure of a direct?
Well, Really I will need a new smartphone, for this game (and other more) and also, because, I really need a new (my old one is working extra time!...)
@Jamotello: I'd say that is very very unlikely. Heck even Pokemon GO is the 2nd app like this to ever hit the app stores. First being Ingress by the same developer (Niantic).
My own thoughts on this news.. awesome, but at the same time, very disturbing. Awesome because we finally got some Pokemon GO news, very disturbing because a field test might mean that development is FAAAR from done.
That's a rhetorical question, right?😀
If this is successful I hope Squeenix does a Dragon Quest Monsters version...just so we can hear about the economic collapse of Japan because nobody went to work. (we all know half the country would call out sick)
@Favna i dont see how a field test means its far from done..... japanese phone games do this before release all the time and usually the release happens a few months later. This isnt a controlled field test within the company, they are giving random people early access. Anyone in japan can sign up (me being one of them). I would expect the field test version to be near complete but with a game like this just needs to be tested in different environments.
I've been hooked on Ingress and would probably end up switching to this once it comes out in NA
@Favna yeah it is unlikely. it was more my way of trying to say 'hey will someone at nlife cover this live stream of monster hunter already?!' coz' there isn't a news tip button. that is a good point about the development tho' i suspect this beta is a form of promotion as well.
recently, there were two ubisoft clancy games that show how a beta can really improve a game's cachet: rainbow six siege, and the division. division was all but given up on, and siege had the same 'no campaign?!' problem that splatoon had.
when the beta hit, people's minds were changed. same story with splatoon. i think this might be what they're trying to do with pokemon go. they're trying to remove the stigma of mobile games to 'gamers'.
Not quite sure what all the hype is about. It'll play like Denpa Men or Face Raiders or something. This won't be very good I don't think. It'll certainly take more than a pre-rendered advertisement with no gameplay in to get me interested.
@Moon It's not going to play like either of those. it's location based, not camera based. Niantic (the people who are making this) made another location based game that's pretty good! It's called Ingress and I recommend trying it to see what I mean
@Moon based on Ingress it won't really be like those, it uses GPS technology so Pokemon locations will likely be fixed instead of randomly generated around wifi spots (as Denpa Men was).
Good luck making it work in Brazil, where everything is far and expensive enough and you can get your cellphone stolen by either a robber or a monkey anytime, anywhere.
@Ryu_Niiyama I'd wager that it wiuld bring hordes of NEETs out in the world.
Okay, maybe a fantastic dating sim where you get to flaunt your success via StreetPass would do it better. Right, Konami? (The lead dev left for greener pastures, though.)
What is that thing? What is it?
@TheWPCTraveler LMAO true enough.
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