[MiniGuide] Pokemon GO

<br /><br />Pokémon GO was released yesterday on Android and iOS. What was announced as an April Fools' joke by Google, the Pokémon Challenge, generated so much anticipation that Google and Nintendo decided to take it seriously and create a Pokémon game for mobile using augmented reality. And judging by the success it has had in the last 30 hours, it seems they hit the nail on the head. At last we can enjoy a Pokémon game outside the Nintendo ecosystem.<br /><br />Although it is not yet officially available in our country, you can easily get the APK on Android, though not on iOS, where we will have to go to the Australian App Store to download it. The game is free, but it has micropayments in case we want to "speed up" the gaming experience.<br /><br />First of all, stay alert<br /><br />To hunt Pokémon we will have to go outside. When crossing at crosswalks, or walking down the street, we may come across obstacles, or cars that could run us over. Both the game and we remind you that you should be as aware of your surroundings as possible.<br /><br />Customizing our character and our email<br /><br />As soon as we enter the game, it asks for our age and our email to log in. You can sign up for the Pokémon Trainer program and receive a monthly newsletter with some perks, such as codes to download Pokémon.<br /><br />Then, we can customize a character, either boy or girl, and choose different elements such as face color, hair, eyes, clothes, backpack... There isn't much variety, but being able to choose eye, hair and skin color gives it a certain personal touch.<br /><br /><br />Fully customizable names<br /><br />Both the character's name and the Pokémon's names are customizable. Ours can be chosen when starting the game, and the Pokémon's can be changed in the game menu. Names are unique, and if you have a common name, it will already be taken. So the quicker you are, the sooner you'll be able to pick it. Those who have already grabbed Ash, Misty, Allegra, Oak, or Jessie and James are in luck.<br /><br /><br />How do I catch my first Pokémon?<br /><br />Once we have our character, using GPS positioning or mobile data the game will show us the nearby Pokémon around us on a detailed map of our area. Normally the three starters are the ones we'll have nearby: Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander, and we'll barely have to move to catch one. Remember that this game "only" has the original 150, that is, the old ones. Including all 726 would have been too chaotic, and this will help attract both old and new Pokémon fans.<br /><br />Los enlaces son solo para miembros. Registrate o iniciá sesión<br /><br />To catch one of the first three, the handsome Professor Willow (kawaii desu ne) gives us enough Poké Balls to practice our aim. This technique is something we'll need to keep very much in mind when catching Pokémon. The first ones will be easy, but as we progress in the game, we'll need to be much more precise.<br /><br />Los enlaces son solo para miembros. Registrate o iniciá sesión<br /><br /><br />How do I get more Pokémon and items?<br /><br />From here on, it's time to head out to the street and explore our surroundings to get more Pokémon.<br /><br />Once we have our first Pokémon, we should head to PokéStops, which are iconic spots in our town or city that are listed as such in Google Maps or Street View. These PokéStops can also be things the map database considers relevant in our area, such as churches, statues, or more mundane things like graffiti or very busy and popular areas. Also, it's important to keep an eye on the indicator showing nearby Pokémon, since it will also show a silhouette with which we can identify which one is around us.<br /><br />PokéStops give us different things, such as Eggs, Poké Balls or experience. Once you visit a PokéStop, a certain amount of time has to pass before you can visit it again.<br /><br />As we walk down the street, Pokémon will appear in grassy patches that show up as we walk. If we tap on them, a battle will start. Battles don't just stand out for being a fight between two Pokémon; they also measure your skill at catching them with Poké Balls. When you have a Poké Ball in hand, a green ring will appear around the opponent. The smaller the ring when you throw the Poké Ball at the Pokémon, the greater the chance of catching it.<br /><br />The beauty of using a smart environment is that, depending on where we go, different Pokémon will appear. If we go to the sea or areas with water, there'll be a greater chance of finding Water Pokémon. If we play at night, nocturnal Pokémon will appear, such as Gastly. In iconic places, less common Pokémon will appear.<br /><br /><br />Optional microtransactions<br /><br />To progress in the game, we'll need various items. These can be bought in the in-game shop, or obtained at PokéStops as we mentioned, by winning battles or catching Pokémon. To buy items, we'll need PokéCoins. Prices range from 100 PokéCoins for 1 euro, to 14,500 for 100 euros. 100 Poké Balls cost 460 PokéCoins.<br /><br />Los enlaces son solo para miembros. Registrate o iniciá sesión<br /><br /><br />Other items that can help us on our adventure are Incense and Lucky Eggs. Incense attracts many more Pokémon around us for 30 minutes, and Lucky Eggs make us earn double experience points for 30 minutes.<br /><br />If you're at a PokéStop and want to attract Pokémon, you can use Lure Modules to draw Pokémon to it. We also have an incubator so we can hatch an Egg as we walk.<br /><br />Finally, we can buy backpack space upgrades (increments of 50) or upgrades to the number of Pokémon we can carry (also of 50).<br /><br />What about my friends? Can we battle and trade items?<br /><br />For now, we can neither battle our friends nor trade items or Pokémon. The only exchange option available is to give it to Professor Willow, which is basically like releasing it into the wild.<br /><br />Going forward, we hope they add a feature to compete against our friends and share different items and Pokémon with them. This is key for the social development of this game.<br /><br />Gym battles, the only way to play with friends<br /><br />The only way we can interact with our friends is by teaming up in battles to conquer a gym. Gyms are scattered across the map, just like PokéStops. Before going to a gym, the game warns us that we need to reach level 5, so we have to do a few battles beforehand to reach that level. Once we take over a gym, we can leave a Pokémon there defending it.<br /><br />Battles are determined by each Pokémon's combat power, which can be improved using experience and various items, with which we can also evolve them. Battles have changed a lot compared to the console games, and we can only attack by tapping on enemies and swiping to dodge attacks.<br /><br />Medals: achievements... that aren't much use<br /><br />There are achievements in Pokémon GO, similar to those on consoles. These take the form of medals. There are various achievements, such as walking a certain distance or catching a certain number of Pokémon.<br /><br />Do I need a powerful phone to play it?<br /><br />We've tested the game on various phones, and on the least powerful one, a Galaxy S4, it works perfectly, so if you have a phone bought in the last 3 years, it will run without problems, but we can't confirm for older models because we can't test them.<br /><br />Does it use a lot of data and battery?<br /><br />The game needs to be always connected to the network, either via Wi-Fi or mobile data, as well as GPS. In half an hour of use, the app consumed 7.5 MB, so if you're going to load maps of large areas, we recommend you monitor the app's usage via the option in your phone's settings.<br /><br />As for battery, the game uses the same as having any GPS app open with the screen on.4<br /><br />Source: adslzone.net