Pokemon

Pokémon GO on Apple Watch /  by Kyle Johnstone

Image Courtesy of apple.com

With the Pokémon GO Plus getting an official release date of September 16th via pokemongolive.com .  John Hanke of Niantic announced that Pokémon GO is coming to Apple Watch at Apple's Special Event.  The watch app seems to offer a workout function that let's you encounter wild Pokémon, swipe PokéStops for items, hatch eggs and more!  John announced that the watch functionality will be available before the end of 2016.

Watch the whole Apple keynote presentation on demand here, with the Pokémon GO news at 28:35 if you want to fast forward. 

@PokemonGoApp   @NianticLabs   @Pokemon   @NintendoAmerica   @Apple   @AppStore   @johnhanke   @nomtats   #PokemonGO   #PokemonGOPlus   #AppleWatch

Pokémon Sun & Moon /  by Kyle Johnstone

Image Courtesy of pokemon-sunmoon.com

Today we received a look into the new Pokémon series Sun and Moon!  The new region Alola appears to be Hawaiian themed.  Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio will be our 3 starter Pokémon (gallery below).  The new trailers and box art display our new main Legendary Pokémon, names have not been released, but we'll look forward to those.  Lastly, we received some in game footage and battle sequences, two characters that could potentially be the professor or professors, what our hero characters look like, and maybe a Mother and friend/rival character as well.  Pokémon Sun and Moon will be available on November 18, 2016 in North America!

I just want to add that I'm really excited to see that these games are moving away from the the top down view.  The characters look less Chibi and more proportionate.  In recent games we would see a combination of the Chibi look with proportionate battle scenes or cut scenes.  Going off this footage, the game looks proportionate throughout, similar to how Pokémon Colosseum looked in the GameCube days.  I can't wait to hear more news as we get closer to the release!

@Pokemon   @NintendoAmerica   #PokemonSunMoon   Instagram: @pokemon   Instagram: @nintendo   Instagram: #pokemonsunmoon   YouTube: Pokemon

Blog Repost, Niantic, A First Look at Pokémon GO /  by Kyle Johnstone

Images Courtesy of nianticlabs.com

Niantic has officially posted on Twitter and their blog the first look at Pokémon GO.  Battles, Pokemon Eggs, Gyms, and more all confirmed, click the link for all the details!  Click here for the official post.

Last weekend the YouTube user Eric F posted "leaked" footage from CEO John Hanke's SXSW Gaming Panel presentation.  Niantic hasn't taken it down since it was posted, check it out while it's up!

@NianticLabs   #PokémonGO   facebook: Niantic

Pokémon 20 Year Celebration! /  by Kyle Johnstone

Image Courtesy of pokemon.com/us/ 

Today The Pokémon Company has launched an official site to celebrate 20 years since the games first launched in Japan back in 1996!  Check it our here pokemon20.com!  If you haven't boarded the Pokémon hype train yet, check out the video below to get you warmed up.

Announced Events So Far:

"Use #Pokemon20 to share your favorite Pokémon moments on Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube! Our favorite #Pokemon20 submission may get something special, so keep an eye out!" -cited from pokemon20.com

The original game was released on February 27th 1996 in Japan, the official twitter account announced that the 27th of this year will be dubbed Pokémon Day!  Maybe if we're lucky we'll get a surprise announcement of some kind?

If you've been trying to collect every single Pokémon legit (no cheat codes, GameShark, or modern day apps) since you were a kid, The Pokémon Company is here to help.  Every month from February to December 2016, GameStop and the Nintendo Network will distributing a new mythical Pokémon starting with Mew!  Check here for more info.

Tons of new merch, 20th Anniversary merch too! Here & Here

New Pokémon Trading Cards, "Generations" themed decks and individual cards.  Word on the street is that Japan is getting reprints of the original set! Check it out here.  I would love it if they reprinted the North American cards!

A re-release of the films Pokémon: The First Movie, Pokémon the Movie 2000, and Pokémon 3: The Movie on iTunes, Amazon Video, and Google Play.  I don't see it on the official site, but I'm seeing a Blu-Ray 3 pack of the movies as pre-orders on various sites.  

Lastly, what I'm most excited for ... the re-release of Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow Version via Nintendo 3DS' Virtual Console!  Red and Blue will have the original graphics and music while Yellow Version will sport some enhanced color graphics.  Check here, here, and here for more info.  Nintendo of America is also releasing a special edition "new" 3DS bundle.  This will have Red and Blue Version pre-installed, 2 cover plates (similar original Game Boy box art of Charizard and Blastoise on cover plates), and a download code for an exclusive 3DS theme.  Japan and The UK (minus Green Version) are getting some fancy 2DS console bundles!  Check it out here.  I was really hoping Nintendo/The Pokémon Company would release Green Version State side, but I don't think it's going to happen.  I can't complain, this year is going to be amazing!

FEBRUARY 2016 UPDATE: Pokémon Sun & Pokémon Moon #PokemonSunMoon  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmzDL1l3Fag

Image Courtesy of pokemon20.com