Nintendo is finally making their way into the mobile videogame market with the announcement for "Pokémon GO's" release dates. While this will be the first Nintendo title to take advantage of mobile platforms, the company plans to continue developing more that utilize its well-known licensed characters in collaboration with DeNA, a Japanese gaming firm, according to Tech Times.
The Pokémon Company released a trading card game for mobile devices back in March 2011, but its design was catered more towards those already familiar with the series, TechNewsWorld reported. Alternatively, "Pokémon GO" is set to attract both old fans and newcomers to the series using its unique augmented reality (AR) gameplay.
"Bringing the property out of the Nintendo environment to iOS and Google Play exposes Pokémon to exponentially more potential players than ever before," said Christine Arrington, senior analyst of games at IHS Technology.
AR games have had little success with the mainstream so far, but with technology advancing and companies like Nintendo jumping into the field, their future shows plenty of promise.
"AR allows people to interact with real and virtual objects," said Eliot Winer, associate director of Iowa State University's Virtual Reality Applications Center. "This provides a sense of familiarity and security that users like."
Although franchise games making their way onto mobile platforms usually means a more limiting, lesser quality game, "Pokémon GO" may change this pattern with its potential for international trade networks and the possibility of real-world interaction that hasn't been seen in video games, according to Forbes.
