Tag: Pokemon GO Fest

Looking Back and My Hopes for Pokémon Go in 2023 (After its First Community Day)

Despite problems from last year, Niantic’s Pokémon GO is still a game played around the world. Hopefully it’ll fare better this year.

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Niantic’s Pokémon GO had quite the mish mash of hits and misses back in 2022. From massive coding gaffes that made gameplay frustrating to the release of new pocket monsters with statistics that can break the game, I’m glad this year is off with a good start. This weekend’s Community Day bonus went off without a hitch! Although how the new pokémon is supposed to appear at stops is said to be a bug by this software developer, I hope they can leave it alone because it makes finding them easier.

I’m guessing the coders learned from their mistakes. As I look back at everything they’ve offered in the past, all I did was shake my head. Whoever wrote the code didn’t consider all the permutations, or considered the issues that would go along with “copy and overlaying” one Pokémon’s appearance (and statistics) over another, or where spawns should exist, leading to these pocket monsters disappearing off the map! As a result with the former problem, if placed in a battle environment, there would be unbalanced fights. That is, their biggest gaffe was with Zorua. This mimic was launched at the end of Community Day in early October. The lack of testing caused this Pokémon to get crazy stats and, if used in PvP battle or raids, it would break the game.

As we enter 2023, a new ‘mon for completionists is finally released! This weekend released the elusive Kecleon, and it likes hiding. Thankfully, it does not copy the abilities of another pocket monster. But, it won’t pop up unless gamers touch every spinner in hopes this invisible wonder is there.

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What’s Next Niantic, After Daring to Cancel Transformers: Heavy Metal?

The shakeup at Niantic Inc. cannot go unnoticed. Despite making billions one year, they’re laying off the next, and cancelling titles, like Transformers Heavy metal too.

Pokémon Go creator Niantic announces Transformers: Heavy Metal AR game - Polygon

The shakeup at Niantic Inc. cannot go unnoticed. As published on Entrepreneur 360, Tristan Rose wrote, “According to Niantic’s Crunchbase profile, Niantic, the developer of Pokémon GO, has raised $770 million over 5 rounds giving them a post-money valuation in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion as of November 23, 2021.”

And eight months later, this company is laying off workers (up to 90, according to Bloomberg) and changing priorities. In other reports, John Hanke wrote in an internal email to say this company is “facing a time of economic turmoil” and had already been “reducing costs in a variety of areas.”

The shift is unusual, and many fans are speculating.

The effect on upcoming products means cancelling them altogether. Not only was Niantic to help market and distribute Transformers: Heavy Metal, a Pokémon GO like game, but also they were to produce three other games using the same engine. Whether that’s a good or bad thing, fans can’t say. Very few people may have seen a demo. I wasn’t too excited myself when I offered my opinion about it, but I’d still try the game out. The website for this game is still online at time of writing.

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Weekend Recap: Comic-Con@Home vs Pokemon GO Fest 2020! The Result…

Between Comic Con and NIantic’s event, to say which is better is tough fans of everything, every where can’t do it all at once.

San Deigo Comic Con International LogoBetween Pokemon GO Fest (Home Edition) and Comic-Con2020@Home, this weekend was certainly packed with a lot of nerdy delights to do. With the latter, one could participate in online gaming of various sorts–including teaming up with players in PoGO for remote raids–check out virtual panels or shop.

Believe it or not, I took part in both.

Niantic Inc Pokemon GO Logo

Niantic’s revised plans for their celebration of their flagship game was good. Saturday was better than Sunday. With rotating habitats coming to you instead of you wandering the city with a face mask on is an excellent plan. Players can play for a few hours or go nuts during both days! Sadly, nobody is going to get anything good by couch surfing this game; hundos, shinies and legendaries aren’t going to be in abundance by playing at home. Instead, players have to wander the neighbourhood to maximize their gains. The timed research tasks were not too difficult, and can be done within 3-4 hours.

Day two was a disappointment. There were no more habitats, and everything was just piled into one huge mega eight hour D&D quest where walking and searching is required for those who braved the elements–especially for those hunters wanting a shiny Gible.

Continue reading “Weekend Recap: Comic-Con@Home vs Pokemon GO Fest 2020! The Result…”

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