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Here’s what Pokémon Go will look like as a location-based mobile game

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 1 min

Just after announcing that it will partner with Google’s Niantic Labs location-based gaming division, Nintendo showed off what its location-based Pokémon game will look like in a new video.

The title is expected to debut in the Apple iTunes App Store and Google Play in 2016.

Nintendo said the game will have trainers exploring real-world locations to catch, trade, and battle with each other in their search for Pokémon. Players may use a separate Bluetooth device for their smartphone called Pokémon Go Plus, developed and manufactured by Nintendo, that alerts them to nearby events (such as Pokémon in the vicinity) with flashes and vibrations. Players can then catch them with the press of a button.

Junichi Masuda, the game director of the Pokémon video game series at developer Game Freak, is also contributing to the project.

Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.