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Pokémon Go beginner's guide: How to get started in 2024
Start your Pokémon GO journey with a handbook that won’t go out of print
Niantic's Pokémon Go is one of the best Android apps to bring outdoors. Since the app's release in 2016, Pokémon Go has sent Pokémon trainers into the wild (also known as our backywards). Thanks to its steady monthly earnings, the game has stayed afloat with new updates and features. As new generations of Pokémon get added, Pokémon Go sees a healthy amount of installs to attract new prospective players. Even today, you won't find another AR-based game like Pokémon Go.
Pokémon Go's success looks like a fluke Niantic will never replicate
Niantic's latest string of flops have failed to capture the magic of its 2016 hit
In 2016, Pokemon Go hit our mobile devices with the force of a nuclear bomb. In its first quarter, people downloaded the game 226 million times, turning Niantic from a relatively unknown developer to a household name. Aiming to capitalize on Pokemon Go's success, it partnered with recognizable franchises like Catan, Harry Potter, Pikmin, and Marvel. Unfortunately, nearly all these projects were canceled during or shortly after release. Today, Niantic's success with Pokemon Go seems like a fluke.
Monster Hunter Now is playable a day early
The latest entry in the Monster Hunter franchise is out on Android
We've known Niantic would bring its familiar mobile flair to the Monster Hunter franchise since April, with the launch date revealed for September 14th. Well, it would appear someone opened the floodgates early, as the game is now available across Android and iOS. There's no mistake; this isn't a preload, I'm playing the full game right now, and you can too if you jump on over to the Play Store to snag the install.
Niantic's Pokémon Go companion app, Campfire, ignites confusion instead of convenience
Niantic wants players to use two different apps to raid in Pokémon Go
Not content with its recent uninspired release of Peridot (a feeble attempt at recapturing the glory days of Pokémon Go), Niantic, in its seemingly limitless capacity for recycling old ideas, has brought us another baffling development decision. Amid a storm of less-than-spectacular releases and a seemingly stagnant innovation culture, Niantic, the creator of the phenomenal Pokémon Go, has introduced its latest brainchild — Campfire.
NBA All-Worlds guide: How to build your b-ball legacy
Virtual dribble your way to the top of the NBA charts in Niantic's new release
Niantic is at it again, trying to emulate the success of its top-earning IP, Pokémon Go. However, there's no semblance of "catch 'em all" in NBA All-World. Instead, Niantic aims to bring sweaty 1v1 faceoffs against famous basketball players in a virtual setting. This means it's time to leave your (possibly) dusty collection of NBA cards behind and start scoring the world's best players from the NBA league inside of Niantic's newest AR game NBA All-World. But, of course, there's something in it for everyone, whether you're trying to recruit your favorite players or simply looking for a new game to fiddle with on your favorite Android phone. So we've compiled a beginner's guide for NBA All-World to assist players in building an unforgettable hoop legacy.
Pokémon Go creator launches Peridot, its first original game since Ingress
Collect and breed unique creatures in Niantic's latest AR game
Niantic's business strategy has become rather boring in recent years, burying us under a constant deluge of mediocre games aiming to emulate Pokémon Go's success with various existing IPs. However, today marks the release of Peridot, the first original Niantic augmented reality game since the release of Ingress (since renamed to Ingress Prime), which predates Pokémon Go. While Peridot is very clearly a Niantic game, drawing on gameplay mechanics established over the last seven years throughout its many titles, Peridot is the first of the studio's games that's looking ahead to the future rather than behind.
Marvel World of Heroes beta hands-on: A flop in the making
Snappy gameplay might not be enough to hold up Niantic's latest game
Marvel World of Heroes is an upcoming game from Niantic, marrying the developer's location-based gameplay formula with the world of Marvel. While it offers some satisfying gameplay, Marvel World of Heroes looks to be yet another example of how tedious this formula is becoming, especially when so many of Niantic's games are quickly closed.
Niantic is making a Pokémon Go clone with the Monster Hunter franchise
The Pokémon Go developer is aiming for a 2023 release date
Niantic's business strategy remains the same as ever. Gain rights to a popular IP, release an AR game using the Pokémon Go formula, and cross its fingers. From the dizzying success of Pokémon Go to the relative failures of every subsequent attempt thereafter, Niantic has touched on everything from Transformers to the NBA. Announced today, Monster Hunter will be the next franchise to be given the AR treatment by Niantic.
Pokémon Go creator's latest creature collection game now available for preregistration
Niantic's first original IP in years lets you raise adorable pets
Peridot, an original IP from Niantic, will launch on iOS and Android on May 9th worldwide. Niantic's success with Pokémon Go has clearly inspired this creature collector, which is probably for the best, considering the studio's slate of recent failures. While it's reasonable not to expect much from this latest game, the fact that Niantic is not relying on partnerships with existing IPs makes this creature collection game an intriguing concept. It's available to register now.
We played Niantic's NBA All-World, and it's a surprisingly fun collect-a-thon
NBA All-World doesn't capture the same magic as Pokémon Go, but it's just as entertaining
Niantic's been on a rough streak recently. The dizzying success of Pokémon Go is fading away, replaced by a string of failed games and canceled projects. With these failures fresh in my mind, I loaded up NBA All-World, expecting the worst. However, while I don't think this game will mark a Niantic comeback, I was pleasantly surprised by my experience.
NBA All-World is basically Pokémon Go for basketball fans, and it could be huge
Innovation doesn't seem to be Niantic's strong suit
NBA All-World is Niantic's latest attempt to resurrect the magic that made Pokémon Go a smash hit in 2016. Like previous Niantic titles, you'll wander around the world collecting items. This time there's a basketball theme rather than Pokemon battles, which means you'll engage in 1v1 gameplay against various athletes in one of four minigames. NBA All-World is now available to download for free from the Play Store.
Pokémon Go players on Android will end up paying for Apple's price hikes
In-app purchase pricing across ecosystems is inexplicably linked
Pokémon Go developer Niantic won fans over during the pandemic by lessening the requirement to catch from home. The developer has since faced backlash from loyal fans of the game as it restored mechanics to pre-pandemic levels. Now, Niantic finds itself in the thick of more backlash for tying an in-app price hike across Android and iOS in response to the recent change in Apple’s App Store pricing tiers.
Pokémon GO developer cancels four projects just two days after announcing a new game
Niantic faces economic turmoil, lays off 8% of its staff
Two days ago, Niantic announced yet another augmented reality game, this time themed around the NBA. But it would seem Niantic has been struggling to reproduce the success of Pokémon GO, despite having slapped all manner of brands on similar games over the last few years, like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (already shuttered as a failure), Catan: World Explorers (also canceled), and Pikmin Bloom. One-trick-pony just about sums up the company, and even though it's put in a lot of effort to build out its AR tech as a platform (known as Lightship), it would seem the success of Pokémon GO isn't enough to carry the studio forward as its branded clones fail to find similar success. In comes Bloomberg with a recent report that the company is facing a time of economic turmoil, per a leaked internal staff email, and so the studio has canceled four upcoming games while laying off 8% of its staff.
Niantic's next game aims to be a slam dunk, will settle for a free throw
Why play basketball for exercise when you can play a video game instead?
Some may say Niantic is a one-trick pony. They wouldn't be wrong, as the company has been pumping out similar augmented reality games for years. Of course, Pokémon GO is the developer's largest success, though lesser games like Pikmin Bloom and Ingress have their own audiences. Well, there's a new release coming from the studio, officially licensed through the NBA, and it's called NBA All-World. While details are light, we know the game will offer Niantic's familiar real-world mechanics paired with 1-on-1 basketball action, which will offer some form of collecting, along with fashion, because why not. While Niantic has yet to deliver on its two previously announced games (Transformers: Heavy Metal and Peridot), it would appear a third title is in the works, with pre-registration available today on Niantic's website.
Get an early look at Niantic's new AR game Peridot as gameplay video surfaces
As promised, you'll raise adorable augmented reality creatures in real-world environments
Earlier this month, we learned that Niantic is working on a new augmented reality game where you'll raise and breed adorable creatures. This is the developer that's best known for creating Pokémon GO, and its upcoming release, Peridot, sounds pretty familiar. However, if you've been curious to see what precisely Peridot brings to the table, thanks to a recent soft launch in Malaysia, the title's gameplay has finally leaked online. While we knew this soft launch would kick off sooner rather than later, now that it's underway, we can all get an eyeful of what the augmented reality pet raising game has to offer.
Niantic's upcoming virtual pet AR game sounds like Pokémon GO crossed with Pikmin Bloom
You'll raise and breed adorable creatures
Niantic has just announced a brand-new collection-based augmented reality game. Seeing that this is just about the only style of game the developer creates, it comes as no surprise. What is surprising is that there's no brand attached; this is a fresh creation directly from Niantic, known as Peridot, and it would appear that pet rearing is a focus. Peridot offers Tamagotchi-like mechanics where you'll raise and unlock new forms of adorable pets, combined with daily walks, and it will enter soft-launch on Android and iOS sometime soon.
Notifications feeling sluggish? This popular Android game may be to blame
Who needs reliable notifications on their phones?
Last week Niantic announced the global rollout for Pikmin Bloom, a new augmented reality game that functions much like a souped-up step counter complemented by Nintendo's adorable Pikmin graphics. Well, it would appear things aren't so rosy a week from launch now that many users are experiencing delayed notifications. A bug report that called out this issue was initially filed around Bloom's launch. Thankfully this bug report is finally gaining some traction now that many more reports are spreading across the web complaining about similar notification problems. Niantic support has at least confirmed it is looking into the bug, though there's still no confirmation whether or not this is a problem for everyone who has the game installed or simply a select few.
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Back in March, we learned that Nintendo had teamed up with Niantic to create a new augmented reality game for mobile, Niantic's bread and butter. Pikmin was chosen as the skin for this Niantic game (though there was no offical title at the time), and at the end of March the first public test was launched in Singapore. This AR game is now known as Pikmin Bloom, and its global release has already started rolling out in Australia and Singapore, with a wider rollout planned for the coming days. Despite the fact those of us in the West still can't play, it's clear that Pikmin Bloom's design revolves around the act of walking (much like a step counter) in order to grow Pikmin by making flowers bloom as you walk. In classic Niantic fashion, the company has created a free-to-play game with in-app purchases that range up to $99.99 per item, all without ever describing what these purchases are for.
Niantic calls it quits on its Settlers of Catan AR game
Catan – World Explorers set to wind down over the coming months
Back in June 2020, Niantic announced Catan – World Explorers, an augmented reality map exploration game in the same vein as Pokémon GO, the developer's bread and butter. Catan, of course, is a popular board game that's had several digital adaptations published on the Play Store, and it would seem Niantic was chomping at the bit to utilize its AR platform to turn the entire world into a Catan gameboard, but this has not panned out. Thanks to a recent blog post, we now know Niantic plans to sunset Catan – World Explorers on November 18th. Luckily, the game never made it out of testing, and so only those living in the game's soft-launch regions will be affected.
Pokémon GO creator announces Transformers: Heavy Metal, but will it be more than meets the eye?
This could be even more of an explosive mess than the Bay movies
To nobody's surprise, Niantic has yet another augmented reality game in the works. This time around, the studio has partnered with Hasbro and TOMY to create a game where players will battle and interact with familiar characters from the Transformers universe. The game is called Transformers: Heavy Metal, and as you would expect, it will utilize Niantic's Lightship AR platform, much like Pokémon GO, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and Ingress Prime.