PokéNews (Nov. 4) – Pokémon GO: recent changes / Pokémon Sun and Moon

4 November 2016 Lite_Agent Game Freak, Niantic, Nintendo Minute, Pokémon GO, Pokémon Sun and Moon, Pokémon XY & Z, The Pokémon Company

Today’s Pokémon news: some recent changes for Pokémon GO (+ interview one of the designers at Niantic), but also…

Pokémon Sun and Moon
Nintendo Minute
Pokémon XY & Z (anime series)
Pokémon goodies/merchandise

Pokémon GO

Yesterday, Niantic tweeted about some changes made to Pokémon GO pretty recently, which were not port of any update (as the changes were made server-side):

Pidgey and Rattata no longer hatch from eggs;
Eevee now hatch from 5km eggs only;
changes in the spawn rates in some areas, with ultra common Pokémon like Pidgey, Rattata, and Zubat becoming less common.

Speaking of Pokémon GO, The Verge published an interview with Dennis Hwang (director of visual design at Niantic, who is working on Pokémon GO). Here’s the questions asked:

Let’s talk about the success of Pokémon Go. At what moment did you say “Okay, this is going to be big?”
Do you consider Pokémon Go to be a social network?
You designed the logo for Gmail, and then you designed Google Doodles. Where does Pokémon Go rank in your own design career, among all the things you’ve done that are really well known?
We’ve talked a little bit about the wrist, like your Apple Watch app, but also the face being the next space for interactions. What would you say the timeline is for people playing Pokémon Go, on a regular basis, through that lens?
Is it realistic to think that we will be playing AR games with just regular glasses, like the ones I’m wearing?
Have you already started work on the next game for Niantic, or the next Pokémon?
Is there anything you would change about the design of Pokémon Go?

Click here to check out the answers!

Pokémon Sun and Moon

Today, The Pokémon Company uploaded the long version of the third episode of their Train On series of promotional videos for Pokémon Sun and Moon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-WDj4sw0vQ

Unfortunately, we don’t know if there will also be an English version of that extended episode.

Pokémon Sun and Moon (3DS) comes out on November 18th in Japan and North America, and November 23rd in Europe.

Nintendo Minute

Starting today, and throughout the month, Nintendo is going to celebrate the release of Pokémon Sun and Moon during its Nintendo Minute webshow. The first episode will be uploaded later today, and here’s a short preview:

Celebrate #PokemonSunMoon all month long with Nintendo Minute! Check out the first video this Friday. pic.twitter.com/FMZ7FzGpOR

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) November 3, 2016