Yesterday we have discussed the first part about everything there is to know about Pokémon Go. Now, let’s dig a little deeper into this pretty mysterious application.

Meh, microtransactions
Other than the things mentioned yesterday there are not a lot of things out about this game yet, except for the news that the game will release on Android and iOS and that it will include microtransactions. How those microtransactions will work is not clear yet. It is positive that the game can be downloaded for free, but if that cheap entrance means the content will be super expensive (cause those mobile games just take my money, they simply do!), then I would rather pay an x amount of money to download the app instead of getting seduced by those darn microtransactions. But, what would you do with those microtransactions: can you buy levels with them, and if yes, will those battles then be very unbalanced?

Which little monsters will eventually end up in the game is not clear yet, but Pokémon Go will have three starter Pokémon: Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle. That could mean you get them for free when downloading the game, but also that you will not have them yet but they will be the first to catch in a tutorial or something. Plus, it depends on the element of the creature where it will be located. Water Pokémon can be found near… water. But, you can also get Pokémon by trading with someone else, as long as that person is okay with the transaction, of course.

Trading Pokémon is essential, as it is “impossible to catch all Pokémon yourself, as they are scattered all over the world”, according to the developers. That is why there will be special trade events, but it could be that the trading will be made available online too. Don’t be afraid, this does not mean you will be playing this game fully on the PC because all the Pokémon in your neighborhood are gone; the developers promised that a player will find a wild Pokémon within five minutes walking from his home. What?! And you can also run into a ‘gym’, which will be a very rare event with big bossfights to upgrade your Pokémon.

There are still a lot of unclear elements about Pokémon Go, with the release date being the biggest one. All we know is: 2016. We are already worried about the batteries of our phone though, are they still good enough to handle the game for multiple hours? The app will probably ask a lot from your phone, as it is not just the app you are using, but also: GPS, Blutooth, Internet and your camera. Hopefully Plus can reduce the use of the smartphone battery a lot, but what is that going to cost us? And: will the handy little thing get the same availability issues as many of Nintendo’s Amiibo?

On some online discussion boards people have been talking about the possible price of the Pokémon Go Plus. Many consumers think they can make an excellent estimation of the costs of this technology: it’s led, it’s Bluetooth, but somehow the suggestions are very different. One person says 15 dollars, while another says 50 dollars. On the Dutch Facebook page of Pokémon Go there was a poll that showed that Dutch games would prefer paying 0 to 29 euros (haha, that is very Dutch, I know!), while there are also Dutch gamers that are willing to pay 110 euros. That seems a bit much though, Go Plus is created to make the game easier to access, and if it was expensive they would be better off making it a smart watch application.

Iwata’s legacy
Pokémon Go is not just one of the biggest mobile releases of this year thanks to the thrilling announcement trailer and the big love from the fans. It is also one of the last projects that Satoru Iwata, the Nintendo President that passed away recently, was involved in. That is according to Tsunekazu Ishihara (The Pokémon Company). To make the game as Pokémon as possible, Junichi Masuda also got involved in the project. He as the big brain behind Pokémon, has been given the task to come up with new types of gameplay. He also has to puzzle together how Go will fit in the world of Pokémon.

Are you as excited about this application as I am?