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A mobile version of ‘Pokémon Rumble’ is coming to iOS and Android
Yet another Pokémon game is coming to smartphones. Pokémon Rumble Rush appeared in Australia's Google Play store today, and according to EuroGamer, it's "coming soon" for iOS and Android.
Playing ‘Pokémon’ as a kid may have rewired your brain
If you played Pokémon video games extensively as a kid, there's a good chance that a specific region of your brain gets fired up when you see the characters now. In a recent study, researchers from Stanford University showed test subjects hundreds of Pokémon characters. As you might expect, the brains of longtime Pokémon fans responded more than those unfamiliar with the game. But what's more surprising is that, in all of the fans, a specific brain fold responded, an area just behind the ears, called the occipitotemporal sulcus.
Snap selfies with Pikachu in Google Pixel's AR Playground
You don't have to wait until May 10th to see Pikachu come to life in new ways. Ahead of the long-awaited Pokémon movie, Google released Detective Pikachu, Charizard, Jigglypuff and Mr. Mime as Playmojis for the Pixel's Playground mode. As you can with Google's other Playmojis (previously called AR stickers), you can drop these characters into scenes around you and interact with them through the Pixel's cameras.
'Pokémon Go' challenges you to photograph its AR creatures
Now that Pokémon Go has a photo mode, Niantic is encouraging you to use it the best way it knows how: the promise of goodies. It's launching a Go Snapshot Challenge that rewards you for taking photos that include the game's augmented reality critters. A Buddy Challenge category encourages you to take selfies with your favorite creature, a Habitat Challenge asks you to take a picture based on a Pokémon's 'natural' element, and a Go Create Challenge allows more free-form photography.
What’s coming to Netflix in April: 'Our Planet' and the return of 'Sabrina'
Spring is here at last and while many of us will want to enjoy the sunshine after what's been a long, harsh winter in many places, we'll still have evenings where we want to kick back and watch something. As always, Netflix has a trove of new shows, movies and documentaries coming our way when the calendar flips to the next page. Among the highlights for April are You vs. Wild, an interactive survival show starring Bear Grylls (April 10th) and the long-awaited nature docuseries Our Planet, which is narrated by David Attenborough and from the creator of Planet Earth (April 5th).
'Pokémon Go' is testing high noon raids
Next week, Pokémon Go will experiment with a new feature: lunch hour raid battles. On March 13, from 12pm to 1pm in your local time zone, Pokémon Go will increase the number of raids. If the one-day trial run goes well, lunchtime brawls might become a regular part of the game.
'Mewtwo Strikes Back' CG remake shows off its first trailer
Pokémon The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back debuted in 1998, and now we have a trailer for the CG-rendered reimagining that's coming to theaters in Japan on July 12th. A post on the official site revealed that Masaomi Ichimura will return as a voice actor on the project, while the English account promised "a Pokémon experience like you've never seen before" and said details for its international release will come soon. This is a movie that's entirely separate from the Ryan Reynolds-voiced Detective Pikachu movie that we'll see in May. Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution has a very different look from the original's 2D animation, but it appears the plot is sticking closely to the original's theme of the cloned psychic creature seeking revenge against humanity.
'Pokémon Sword' and 'Shield' arrive on Switch late 2019
Nintendo and Game Freak have been promising an honest-to-goodness Pokémon role-playing game for the Switch for years, and they're nearly ready to deliver. They've unveiled Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, the first entries in the core RPG franchise for Nintendo's current console. The initial clips only provide so much detail, but they do suggest a change from the classic top-down perspective to a horizontal view. And of course, there's new material. You can expect a new region, Galar, as well as three new starter critters: Grookee (a grass character), Scorbunny (fire) and Sobble (water).
Niantic is turning ‘Pokémon Go’ into an AR photo machine
The augmented reality photo mode in Pokémon Go will soon offer a better way for you to take pictures of your Pokémon. While you've already been able to take photos of Pokémon you see in the wild using the AR+ mode, the Go Snapshot update will allow you to pose and interact with Pokémon you've already captured.
'Detective Pikachu' already has a sequel in the works
Detective Pikachu won't be in theaters until May of this year but there's already a sequel in the works. According to The Hollywood Reporter, production company Legendary has already started work on a follow-up film and has tapped Oren Uziel to write it. Uziel worked on an upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog film and is credited as a writer on 22 Jump Street and The Cloverfield Paradox.
'Pokémon Go' players can finally fight against each other
Over the last couple of hours, Niantic Labs has flipped all the switches and now Pokémon Go players worldwide can engage in PvP battles. They'll need to have reached at least level 10 before fighting, but as the company explained when they were announced, it limits CPs for competing Pokémon by dividing them into leagues to keep things balanced. Real-time battles between players is something people have been anticipating since the augmented reality game launched in 2016, so it could reinvigorate a player base that has dropped off from its peak. If you play, you'll be able to take on people from your Ultra or Best friends list no matter where they are, while fighting others has to be done in person. If you'd rather take on the computer then you can also fight the game's team leaders to gain rewards. Either way, you'll want to save up on in-game resources like Stardust and candies, using them to unlock new Charge attacks ahead of battles for characters like Dragonite or Tyranitar can cost 75,000 Stardust and 75 candies.
'Pokémon Go' will finally let you battle other players
If you've been waiting for the day when you can take on your friends in Pokémon Go, you'll be pleased to know you can do just that later this month. Trainer battles will finally arrive by the end of the year -- two and a half years after the game launched.
Eevee lives inside the first Pokémon Tamagotchi
The ultra-cute collaboration we've been waiting for has been confirmed: Pokémon's Eevee is coming to Tamagotchi. Information leaked earlier this month hinted at a new dawn in virtual pet ownership, now Pokémon website Serebii has settled the rumors.
'Pokémon Go' creator Niantic to develop GPS-based tourism games
It was at the helm of GPS/AR/Maps-based "exergaming" in 2013 with Ingress, saw phenomenal success with Pokémon Go, and will launch a location-based Harry Potter mobile game next year. Now, Niantic is making the natural move into tourism-focused games. In partnership with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), as part of its Travel.Enjoy.Respect program, the games company will create new experiences that encourage players to explore and discover the hidden histories of both their own neighborhoods and further afield.
'Detective Pikachu' movie trailer offers a look at 'lifelike' Pokémon
After years of build-up, Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for the Detective Pikachu movie... and it's promising, if also slightly disconcerting. The movie follows the basic thread of the game, with young Tim meeting a Pikachu he can actually understand as they embark on a quest to find Tim's dad. To say the live-action movie has a different feel than the 3DS/2DS title would be an understatement, though. The creators have gone for a "realistic" look for Pokémon, and you're probably going to find it either very appropriate or decidedly weird.
'Pokémon Go' will track your activity without launching the app
Pokémon Go has encouraged more than a few people to step up their physical exercise, and Niantic wants to reward that. It's launching an Adventure Sync feature in its augmented reality games (starting with Pokémon Go) that syncs with Google Fit and iOS' HealthKit to translate steps into game progress without having the app open or using a smartwatch. If you regularly go for a run before work, you'll see that reflected in more Pokémon candy or more efficient egg hatching. You'll get weekly milestones, too.
'Pokémon Go' gets a little bigger with 'Diamond' and 'Pearl' monsters
The Pokémon Company has announced that monsters from the Sinnoh region -- the Diamond and Pearl games -- are now available in Pokémon Go. Players will now be able to capture favorites like Turtwig, Chimchar and Piplup as they make their debut in the still-popular mobile AR game.
'Pokémon Go' AR+ mode brings life-size monsters to Android
Pokémon vary in size, from as small as 4 in. to as tall as 47 ft. But for Android users, regardless of size, Pokémon looked kind of the same. Well developer Niantic has released a new update for the Android version of Pokémon Go which incorporates the ARCore. The enhanced AR mode was released in iOS back in December of 2017. Called Pokémon Go AR+ Android users can download ARCore from the Google Play Store and finally see the scale of Pokémon out in the real world. As players walk up to Pokémon, it will scale in size and will notice player movements. Not all devices are supported, but already users on Twitter are taking photos of Pokémon, and the scale seems to be matching up correctly. pic.twitter.com/WUIGX7G0DU — 🎃Travler👻BOO👻Jackson🎃 (@SeasideQuest) October 11, 2018
'Pokémon Go' adds Meltan, the first monster to debut in the spinoff game
If you gotta catch 'em all, you're going to have to get off your couch. In a new video released on the official Pokémon YouTube channel, it revealed that the popular mobile game Pokémon Go will get its first exclusive monster with Meltan. And for those wanting to fill their Pokémon Bank with every single critter, there will be a timed period where Meltan can be transferred from the mobile game to the upcoming Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go Eevee! on Nintendo Switch via a special item. Once it's in the game, it can likely be transferred to your Pokémon Bank, which can then be transferred to the next mainline series Pokémon game that's set to release in late 2019. The Pokémon Company has done limited releases of Pokémon in the past, usually through events at GameStop. But this is the first time a new creature will be introduced to players through Pokémon Go. Players noticed last month that caught Ditto were transforming into Meltan. It's unclear how viable Meltan will be for competitive play. But considering Meltan is a mythical Pokémon, it's likely that its base stat total will be 600, which is above average. It's also possible that players will need to catch multiple Meltan to find the right one. And, if finding a Meltan in Pokémon Go proves to be a challenge, it's going to drive competitive players wild. Meltan itself is a steel-type Pokémon and is classified as hex nut, a new species. Its body is made of liquid metal and its shape is fluid. Meltan generates electricity using the metal it absorbs from outside sources. Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go Eevee! are set to arrive on November 16th on Nintendo Switch.
'Pokémon Go' adds Sinnoh region critters from 'Diamond' and 'Pearl'
Here's hoping you saved those candies in Pokémon Go. Now Sinnoh Region Pokémon, introduced in the versions of Diamond and Pearl from the Nintendo DS, are making their way into the game. A teaser of what's to come shows that at least Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup and the legendary Giratina will be in this upcoming wave. A release date was not announced. There will also be some balance changes to the game as well. CP and HP values will be adjusted to even things out. Defense and stamina values will too be rebalanced, preventing tanky Pokémon from taking too long to defeat. Defense overall has been nerfed. And with four generations of Pokémon down, it's only another four before developer Niantic and The Pokemon Company catch up to the mainline series of games. And while Pokémon Go might not have the same hype it did back in 2016, it still has an active--and recently growing. This is in large part to Niantic's continued update release schedule and events, helping inject the game with new things to do. For Halloween this year, the Psychic Spectacular event has trainers capturing as many strong-against-ghost Pokémon as possible. This will culminate with the chance to capture the legendary Pokémon Suicune, as well as some other shinies.