The first images of the long-awaited Pokémon Go

/ / Augmented reality @en

Do you remember Pokémon Go, the long-awaited augmented reality version of the videogame Pokémon? Among the fans it’s a race to figure out, or even just guess, some more clues: in fact, the collaboration between Nintendo and Niantic Labs seems to be one of the most secret ever happened.

After the announcement last September, basically there were no other words about the videogame: the majority of fans thought (and hoped) that this version will be released during the 20th anniversary of the game, but these are just hypothesis.

Now, finally, there’s something concrete to talk about, since a leaked video appeared on the web, probably recorded by an attendee to a speech by Niantic Labs’ CEO John Hanke at SXSW, that shows Pokémon Go’s gameplay. From what is visible, the Pokémon will be visualized on a map of the surroundings; tapping them they will be zoomed and put inside the real world scene we have in front. This vision, unluckily, doesn’t show the battle, but it will make possible to choose among different Poké Balls. In the leaked video we can see the capture and the escaping of a Ivysaur, and also a pop-up menu appearing on the screen, making it possible to choose, as we said, the right Poké Ball.

The videogame’s gameplay is pretty similar to the first and famous product by Niantic Labs, Ingress, in which the player walks in the surroundings that, thanks to augmented reality and a mobile device, are a battle field with portals for the factions to conquer.

The leaked video, anyway, shows how the videogame will look and it is pretty far from what expected from the video demo released some time ago, in which Pokémon Go seemed to be more complex and advanced. To swipe off all the doubts, we can just wait for the official release, at the moment yet without a date.