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Pokemon Go [Now in SG]

Sinon

By Sinon
in Trainers Club

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curious_boi
curious_boi

Instinct here!  

bbboyddd
bbboyddd

Instinct YAS

Dorkable
Dorkable

Mystic is seemingly the most popular choice so I went with the underdogs - Team Instinct.

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MancerNecro Newbie

MancerNecro

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, birth_ave said:

Hopefully after beta-testing in Japan, it will be rolled out soon. But singapore aint one of the first countries to get it :(

 

That really sucks... T.T

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Carpenter Enthusiast

Carpenter

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Saw the US alr release n test it. Apparently still lagging alot like app closing on itself, screen touch sensitivity not that good. N the whole time they play its only going to certain place to encounter pokemon then catch it. :/  

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HendryTan Experienced

HendryTan

Posted
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Any of you young guys playing Pokemon Go ? Uncle downloaded but do NOT see anyone around town.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36763504

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pokemon Go is a monster mobile hit

 
Dave LeeNorth America technology reporter
Pokemon GoImage copyrightNIANTIC
Image captionPokemon Go was released for iPhones and Android handsets in several countries last week

Police in Missouri put out a warning that was both terrifying and bizarre: Armed robbers were believed to be targeting people hunting for Pokemon.

You read that right. Pokemon. The little monsters.

Police said the victims were playing Pokemon Go - a new smartphone app that encourages gamers to search local areas to find Pokemon in the "real world".

Certain locations offer bonuses and higher chances of catching rare species and that's where officers said criminals had been lying in wait.

"It is believed these suspects targeted their victims through the Pokemon Go smartphone application," the post on the force's Facebook page read.

"Apparently they were using the app to locate people standing around in the middle of a parking lot or whatever other location they were in."

MugshotsImage copyrightO'FALLON MISSOURI POLICE
Image captionO'Fallon Missouri Police Department published mugshots of three suspects allegedly involved in the Pokemon-related armed robbery

The incident was just one of several odd goings-on in the first weekend of Pokemon Go's release - a title that achieved such rapid popularity it had to be briefly shut down while servers were upgraded to handle demand.

 

The app's innovation is its use of augmented reality (AR). The Pokemon are placed within real-life views captured by the phones' cameras.

When I fired up my app for the first time, a little Charmander was lurking near my TV cabinet.

Charmander
Image captionCharmander is one of more than a hundred characters available in the app

Within moments, I had my shoes on and was out of the door to find more - I needed to get to a nearby Pokestop, a location where you gather supplies.

It turns out the fairly inconspicuous corner near my flat is something of a Pokemon hotspot thanks to a little landmark - a mural above eye level - that I hadn't even noticed before.

Great, I thought - that'll be handy, having a Pokestop so near my house. And then it hit me - I'm 30 next year.

'Bigger than Tinder'

The Pokemon franchise has always been huge business, but the game's prior success may pale in comparison to what's ahead for the app.

So far, its launched in the US, Australia and New Zealand. Europe is up next. Oh, and Japan. I think it'll go down well there, somehow.

Pokemon GoImage copyrightNIANTIC
Image captionPokemon Go is not yet available via the UK's app stores

Some gamers are using workarounds to avoid the wait - such as signing in with a US iTunes account on a UK phone.

Its success isn't just anecdotal. Pokemon Go has already been installed on a phenomenal 5.16% of all Android smartphones in the US, according to SimilarWeb, an app analytics firm.

For context, that's more installs than dating app Tinder. Almost double, in fact.

SimilarWeb estimates that by the end of the week on Android, Pokemon Go will have more active users than Twitter. Twitter!

Right now, the average time players are spending on the app is about 43 minutes a day. More than WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook Messenger. That will presumably dwindle away a little, but wow - what a start.

It's terrific news for Nintendo. The beleaguered Japanese gaming giant has a 33% stake in the Pokemon company and has also created a small wearable accessory that buzzes if the monsters are nearby.

Pokemon Go PlusImage copyrightNINTENDO
Image captionThe Pokemon Go Plus vibrates on its owner's wrist, meaning they are less reliant on checking their smartphone's screen

Since Pokemon Go's release, Nintendo's share price has soared - up by almost 25% in Monday's trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Until now, the firm had all but snubbed smartphone-gaming. But this title could come to define the activity in the way its Game Boy did for handheld consoles all those years ago.

Moral panic

But like every new craze, particularly one that is likely to obsess children, we're now entering a period where any story with a Pokemon Go angle instantly grabs attention.

First up - there are privacy concerns.

The app needs lots of permissions - location data, camera and more. Almost overnight, its developer Niantic has found itself in possession of an enormous amount of data about specific people. People are putting pressure on it to clarify what it intends to do with that information.

PokemonImage copyrightNINTENDO
Image captionThe original Pokemon Red and Blue games were released 20 years ago for the Game Boy

Parents might also feel worried about their kids wandering, zombie-like, into areas of towns they wouldn't normally go.

Furthermore, the in-app purchases are enough to make your eyes pop out: $99.99 (£77.73) gets 14,500 Pokecoins to buy things in-game - you can, of course, purchase smaller amounts.

Alongside Missouri's police warning, we've also seen darker scenes in Wyoming, where a Pokemon Go trainer reportedly stumbled across a very real dead body.

And authorities in Washington State are urging players not to combine theactivity with driving.

Pokemon tweetImage copyrightTWITTER
Image captionThe authorities are urging the public to play safely

Though that did give Keith Green, from South Carolina, an idea.

"For the low price of $10 per hour," he offered, "you can have me drive you around on a Pokemon Safari.

"This way you can focus 100% of your attention on catching those little [monsters] while not posing a danger to other people on the road! Just say the word 'Charizard' and I'll slam on the brakes."

He told me no-one had taken him up on the offer. Yet.

 

 

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HendryTan Experienced

HendryTan

Posted
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For guys who want a head start ahead, go download "Ingress" first.

 

http://mashable.com/2016/07/10/john-hanke-pokemon-go/

 

The story behind 'Pokémon Go's' impressive mapping
BY ARIEL BOGLE AUSTRALIA

If you spotted dozens of people silently congregating in parks and train stations over the weekend, they were probably just busy trying to catch a Pidgeotto. 

 

Niantic's Pokémon Go, the augmented reality mobile game, has become a global phenomenon since it launched Wednesday in Australia before rolling out in the U.S. The game requires players to explore the real world to find Pokémon, collect items at Pokéstops and conquer gyms, and a lot of work has gone into the game's mapping.

 


John Hanke, the CEO and founder of Niantic, is a Google veteran. He was one of the founders of Keyhole, the company Google bought to start Google Earth, and had a hand in Google Maps before forming Niantic. The company spun off from Google's parent company Alphabet in 2015.

For Hanke, accurate mapping was integral to Pokémon Go. "A lot of us worked on Google Maps and Google Earth for many, many years, so we want the mapping to be good," he told Mashable.

 

How Pokéstop and gyms locations were chosen
All those Pokémon Go obsessives out there owe some serious thanks to a whole other set of gamers.

Ingress, the augmented-reality multiplayer game, was launched in beta by Niantic in 2011. Its users are responsible for helping create the data pool that determines where Pokéstops and gyms appear in Pokémon Go.

In the early days of Ingress, Niantic formed a beginning pool of portal locations for the game based on historical markers, as well as a data set of public artwork mined from geo-tagged photos on Google. "We basically defined the kinds of places that we wanted to be part of the game," Hanke said. "Things that were public artwork, that were historical sites, that were buildings with some unique architectural history or characteristic, or a unique local businesses."

 

The team then asked Ingress players to submit places they thought were worthy of being portals. "There have been about 15 million submissions, and we've approved in the order of 5 million of these locations worldwide," Hanke said.

The Ingress portal data set became so robust, it was chosen as the starting point for Pokémon Go. Some of the most popular Ingress portals within a certain geographic location are gyms in the new game, while the next most popular have become Pokéstops. 

Thanks to the efforts of Ingress users, you should be able to find Pokéstops almost anywhere, although you may have trouble in some of the more remote corners of Australia. 

"The Pokéstops are submitted by users, so obviously they're based on places people go," Hanke said. "We had essentially two and a half years of people going to all the places where they thought they should be able to play Ingress, so it's some pretty remote places. 

"There are portals in Antartica and the North Pole, and most points in between."


Which Pokémon appear where
Deciding which Pokémon would appear where required a whole extra set of mapping data.

Geographic markers in the map created for Pokémon Go help determine Pokémon habitat. "We assign values based on whether there is a water body in an area — so a stream, a river, a pond — whether areas are designated as zoos or parks, or other kinds of mapping designations," Hanke said. 

That means, for the most part, water-type Pokémon like Magikarp and Squirtles should appear near water.

Although he could not disclose its origins, another data set used in the game is drawn from the geographic classification of an area based on climate, vegetation and soil or rock type. "That gets into more [geographic information system]-type of data ... and we utilise that to map Pokémon species to appropriate habitats," he explained.

 

Keeping players safe
Since Pokémon Go launched, there's been plenty of hype on social media about players going to extremes to capture the elusive creatures.

According to Hanke, however, safety has always been a priority. One of the criteria for Ingress portals, which are now Pokéstops and gyms, is that they be safe and publicly accessible. "The goal is they are places that are pedestrian-safe," he explained. There have been reports of Ingress players running into trouble with the authorities for lurking in odd locations, however.

As for Pokémon, players shouldn't have to go out of their way to capture them. "We also try to limit the spawning of the Pokémon — not to roadways, or in the vicinity of the user so that they don't have to do anything out of the ordinary," Hanke said. 

"Once a Pokémon spawns, you can tap on it and start interacting with it. You don't have to go any further than where you already are — the assumption being that you are safe."

Of course, having your head permanently bent over your smartphone is not the safest way to walk the streets.

"We encourage people to keep their heads up and be aware of what's going on around them," Hanke stressed. When the app is opened, it launches with a warning message for users to keep their wits about them. "It is something that you would have with exercise apps, or geo-caching apps, or mapping apps, where people are moving about," he added.

Hanke said Niantic hopes to encourage people to stay safe, while also building a game that gets people off the couch. "We're trying to strike a good balance," he added.

The future of Pokémon Go and augmented reality
Hanke has plans to add new, immersive features to Pokémon Go.

In particular, there are plans to develop Pokéstops and gyms to add depth to game play. Currently, it's possible to add a lure module to a Pokéstop to attract Pokémon, but extra capabilities are in the pipeline.

"We imagine teams building up their gyms and Pokéstops in certain ways and tailoring them to their tastes," he said.

 

Trading is also part of the roadmap. "We think that that in particular is going to drive a lot of cooperation, competition and social interactions between people," Hanke said. "Some of the game design features that we have in mind for Pokéstops and gyms are designed with the idea of encouraging cooperation and gameplay between players on the same team."

While the technology is not yet mature, Hanke also sees the game potentially working with augmented reality goggles.

"A lot of those systems will probably only work well indoors in the beginning," he said. "But I think certainly within a decade we'll see that kind of immersive visual eye wear that you could wear outside and play games like Pokémon Go, and see Pokémon appear in a three-dimensional context."

 

 

 

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EasleyLim Newbie

EasleyLim

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Coolbriz said:

You can't play the game while keeping still I supposed. Unless walking around the lecture hall? Lol

 

All dem pokestops tho.

Good thing i capture two gyms before the sg pokestops were removed, haha. Getting free coins everyday yo.

 

 

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30yochinese Veteran

30yochinese

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Posted
7 hours ago, Angelix said:

The app is out in Italy, Spain and Portugal...and no sight yet in Asia. Damn!

Latest Update from CNA:
The game is not yet available in Singapore, but its developer Niantic said on Monday that it will roll out in Asia "in a few days" after ensuring the servers will be stable enough for a smooth launch.

http://www.straitstimes.com/tech/local-fans-try-various-ways-to-get-hold-of-pokemon-go

 

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Angelix Newbie

Angelix

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1 minute ago, 30yochinese said:

Latest Update from CNA:
The game is not yet available in Singapore, but its developer Niantic said on Monday that it will roll out in Asia "in a few days" after ensuring the servers will be stable enough for a smooth launch.

http://www.straitstimes.com/tech/local-fans-try-various-ways-to-get-hold-of-pokemon-go

 

"A few days" is as cryptic as the clues in The Da Vinci Code.

http://instagram.com/franciscwh90/

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Guest PokeDot

Guest PokeDot

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Posted

Downloaded from the US store, only caught the Bulbasaur at the beginning. Been walking around, no Pokemon spotted anywhere. I suppose its tied in with Google maps somehow, quite cool. Really can be quite dangerous if used to lure kids to obscure places to chase Pokemons.

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HendryTan Experienced

HendryTan

Posted
Posted

1. According to this site http://xose.net/pgo/ , Japan launched Pokemon Go today.

 

2. I guess Singapore likely will be this weekend. 

 

3. Make sure you co-ordinate with your Kakis, Friends so that all everyone is on the same team.

So can "fight together" on the same side. 

 

PS: credit to The Independent http://theindependent.sg/pokemon-go-is-all-set-to-be-launched-in-singapore/ for the above link. 

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