Pokémon Go Gyms Are About To Get A Whole Lot Friendlier

If you’re sick of having your ass handed to you everytime you enter a Pokémon gym, fear not, that’s about to change.

Pokémon Go creator Niantic has announced that it will be making its gyms more beginner-friendly.

At the moment gamers can only bring the one Pokémon to a friendly gym to get it trained up. Now Niantic has said that will be pushed up to allow for six Pokémon at a time. The result should mean much faster progression of many Pokémon in training, ready for battles.

It also sounds like the gym levels will be adapted to suit the individual entering for battle, so as not to leave newbs out. Niantic said in its blog post: “No matter what your level, you can now have an impact on your team’s gym,” referring to the adaptation of CP (combat power) levels to suit the fighter.

This is pretty exciting for beginners who can now get more involved and progress faster through the game. This combines with the recent announcement that catching Pokémon should be a lot easier too. You will also be able to get medals for catching multiple Pokémon of the same type. Once you have these medals that in turn will increase the chances of you catching more Pokémon of that type.

All these updates will roll out soon when Pokémon Go gets its next major update.

Pokémon Go hack: Here's where to find Pokémon nests in the UK and London

Finding new monsters in Pokémon Go isn’t easy, but that’s partly because you’re looking in the wrong places. No matter how hard you look, you won’t find different Pokemon if you keep looking in the same places. So, if you want to capture something more interesting and exotic than Pidgeys or Zubats, you’re going to have to to explore outside of your usual areas. But where do you go? And is there a quick way to find the exact sort of Pokémon you want? The answer is actually a bit more complex than yes or no, and that’s where Pokémon nests come in.

What is a Pokémon nest?
If you’ve played Pokémon Go for a while now, you’ll probably notice that there are some areas which seem to swarm with certain types of Pokémon, and that’s basically what a Pokémon nest is. Simply put, a Pokémon nest is a location where large numbers of a Pokémon (excluding wasters like Drowzee) spawn in one place over a short period of time. If for example, say, four Abras can be captured over the space of 20-30 minutes in one location, then you’d call that hotspot a Pokémon nest.

It’s possible that Pokémon nests are a glitch, created due to a mistake in the algorithm that spawns Pokémon – but we won’t complain. When the nest phenomenon first appeared, we thought Niantic would get rid of it entirely – but it looks like Niantic is simply changing the Pokémon type each nest tends to spawn.

Where can you find Pokémon nests?
Pokémon trainers from around the world have worked together to find the nesting spots of Pokémon. Most Pokémon nests are in big cities, so there’s much more to see and do than just play Pokémon Go. However, don’t plan your city breaks just yet – the location of Pokémon nests have been known to change. As a rule, it’s worth checking to make sure the Pokémon nests you want to visit still spawns the Pokémon you want. Imagine taking a day off work to catch 34 Drowzees. Gutted.

If you live around London, you’re already in luck. A Poké trainer named I_am_Bruton_Gaste has posted the locations of all the Pokémon nest locations in London on Reddit. As well as the post, a helpful map showing the Pokémon nest locations has been created – although it only covers London right now. To give you a taste of what to expect in the Reddit post, Charmanders can often be found in Greenwich Park, Blackheath and the Olympic park.

If you find any more Pokémon nests, you can contribute to the post too – but if you’re not coming to London anytime soon, then it may be worth searching for Pokémon nests in your local town or city. There’s already a national Pokémon nests map for the UK, which is proving to be a valuable tool in the quest to be the very best, like no-one ever was.

Commuters ‘Pokemon Go’ out

Even with Pokemon Go's decline in users since late July, on Sept. 9, students went out to a Pokemon Go excursion held by the Commuter Student Association to catch the variety of Pokemon that Audubon Park had to offer.

"The excursion went well for CSA," Malik Thompson, English sophomore, said, "We had a decent number of people that went on it. People were friendly and talkative throughout so I hope some friendships were formed."

Pokemon Go, a game created by Niantic, has rapidly grown since its launch July 6 this year. With over a million locations to stop and visit, Pokemon Go popularizes local landmarks, transforming them into pokestops, locations where players called trainers can collect supplies, and gyms, where trainers can battle.

"The game brings people together in an effort to catch them all," Thompson said, "we actually found someone who was already playing the game at the park and they decided to tag along with us. It's a very social game since it gets the player to go out and travel."

The game's premise is to explore locations in order to find and catch Pokemon. Though the non-mobile Pokemon games include over 700 Pokemon, Pokemon Go only has the first 151 Pokemon.

Brianna McMorris, criminal justice junior and president of the Commuter Student Association, and Liz Johnston, psychology senior and social media and event planning chair, organized the event.

"In addition to hunting for some Pokemon, we were able to take in the sites that Audubon Park had to offer," McMorris, whose favorite Pokemon is Jigglypuff, said. "For example, the ducks, and not just the Psyducks we were looking for."

"All in all, the event was great and if the game regains its popularity, I would hope to do it again sometime."

The Niantic app continues to add features to improve gameplay such as the upcoming "buddy system" that would allow trainers to "walk" with their Pokemon.

"I think that the game is interesting," Liz Johnston said, "Pokemon games were always like this sit-down and shut up kind of thing. Now it's like this go outside and communicate with people. Squirtle was always my favorite Pokemon because he's adorable, and I had a turtle growing up."

The Pokemon Go excursion is only one of the association's events. The Commuter Students Association also held Commuter Appreciation Week, an event exclusive to commuters from Sept. 26 to Sept. 30. Approximately 64 percent of students live off campus.

‘Pokemon GO’ Latest News & Update: Niantic Confirms Pokemon Trading, Generation 2, Player Battles, Capture Features! Mew, MewTwo, Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos Available?

There is no doubt that a lot of "Pokemon GO" players are now eager to experience the updates and other expansions Niantic has in store for them. However, it seems like the waiting will be prolonged again after it has been reported that most of the exciting updates are still currently in the works.

On its official Facebook page, Niantic has confirmed that game developers are now working very hard for the incoming game update for all "Pokemon GO" players who are using iOS and Android devices. Coming along with the game upgrade is the much-anticipated Trading System, which allows fans to exchange their Pokemons to one another.

The new Trading System is expected to add hype to the game, which is now said to be declining since its first release. Not only will it add thrill and fun to the "Pokemon GO" game as it will also encourage players to interact with each other, too.

Another reason why "Pokemon GO" players should watch out for the upcoming updates is due to the arrival of the Generation 2 Pokemons, which may include the Legendaries such as Mew, MewTwo, Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos. While some gamers have claimed that these Pokemon types are already present in the game, Niantic has made it clear that no Legendary Pokemon has been launched as of yet.

Just like the original "Pokemon" TV series, there are reports claiming that Niantic is now considering the Players-versus-Player battle in "Pokemon GO." Rumors are rife that the game developer is going to release an update that would bring this feature to let fans fight with other players of the highly-successful game.

Game Rant has also divulged that a so-called Capture Feature is going to make lives of "Pokemon GO" players easier. According to reports, this kind of feature will allow gamers to view some important details about all the Pokemons inside their Pokedex.

Pokemon GO: Region Exclusive Pokemon Clarified

Niantic CEO John Hanke responds to a fan on Twitter, clarifying whether or not region-exclusive Pokemon in Pokemon GO can be hatched from eggs anywhere in the world.

Even after one dedicated player caught all the Pokemon in North America in Pokemon GO, he still was short a few of the original 151 Pokemon. Besides the Pokemon that haven't been added to the game at all yet, the player also lacked region-exclusive Pokemon that can only be found in specific parts of the Earth. It was said that these Pokemon could still be caught by players in other regions by hatching them from eggs, but Niantic CEO John Hanke has offered some clarification, confirming to an inquiring fan on Twitter that region-exclusive Pokemon can only be hatched from eggs obtained from PokeStops in their regions.

Unfortunately, this means that the majority of the Pokemon GO population simply won't be able to "catch 'em all," unless they dig out their passport and buy a plane ticket to another continent, of course. While this news may be disappointing for some that were hoping to fill out their Pokedex before new Pokemon are added to the game, at least they now won't waste their time endlessly hatching eggs for Pokemon that are impossible for them to collect.

Even though some Pokemon are region-exclusive now, though, there may be a chance for fans to collect them in the future. Niantic could always release these Pokemon in other regions, or alternatively, make it possible to at least hatch them from eggs in other regions. If Pokemon trading is implemented and allows people to trade with others online, that is another way fans could potentially obtain region-exclusive Pokemon without having to break the bank with raveling fees.

@lady_maethoriel the eggs can only be found in their natural habitat.

— John Hanke (@johnhanke) September 22, 2016

If Pokemon trading doesn't include online functionality, it should still theoretically make it easier for region-exclusive Pokemon to be caught by those in other countries. People that do travel overseas could bring with them multiples of their region-exclusive Pokemon to trade, which would start populating other regions of the world with the exclusives. Of course, this all depends on Niantic adding Pokemon trading to the game, which is a feature fans have been asking for ever since the game's reveal trailer teased it.

Niantic is purposefully slow when it comes to adding features to Pokemon GO, but hopefully it fast tracks Pokemon trading to make it more likely for players to capture region-exclusive creatures. In the meantime, anyone from North America hoping to capture a Mr. Mime, Kangaskhan, or Farfetch'd will have to go on an exotic vacation.

Pokemon Go Plus Review: As Engaging As It Is Frustrating

We spend some rigorous time with the highly desired Pokemon GO Plus peripheral, coming away both impressed and a little deflated by the companion accessory.

I've always thought of myself as technologically progressive. I have the new iPhone 7 Plus on back order, there's one of every gaming console currently found on the market in my possession, and I'll probably pick up a pair of the divisive AirPod headphones upon their release. As much as that trait may be a factor in day to day life, I'm also heavily nostalgic, which could very well be the reason for my continued support of the ever-popular Pokemon GO. So, the arrival of a device that paired with the game seemed like an all too appropriate purchase, but the end result left me with the acceptance that this item is an asset, albeit shrouded in a 'warts and all' mantra.

For anyone unsure of how the hardware functions, it's important to keep in mind how basic the product (appropriately titled Pokemon GO Plus) is designed. As a means of playing the game without having to physically wield a phone at all times, the peripheral works as advertised, utilizing a distinct number of vibrations and color flashes to indicate what's happening around the player – all sans screen. It's a rather simple layout: Green means there's a previously obtained wild Pokemon in the area; Yellow indicates there's a never before captured beast in the vicinity; Blue implies that there's a PokeStop nearby; and Red means that the creature has fled.

As a major plus (pun somewhat intended), users will be constantly emptying their virtual bags in order to make room for all of the additional items they'll undoubtedly be gathering from PokeStops. Obviously, catching Pocket Monsters is the main reason to own the device, but since it only hurls standard Pokeballs at them it's not overly practical for those hoping to stockpile candies from rare 'mons. In fact, the higher the level of the individual, the stronger the Pokemon tend to be, and in most cases this means that the tried and true Pokeball is not enough to condemn these monsters to life on a mobile device. In that regard, this is not an ideal way to go about experiencing the title.

Pokemon GO Will Release for Android Watches

Android Wear users are in luck, as dataminers at the Pokemon GO Hub have confirmed that the app will be coming to the smartwatch devices in the near future.

Global sensation Pokemon GO may be losing its paying players, but Niantic isn't giving up on the ambitious AR project, giving its fans a whole new way to play the game over the coming months.

Only a few days ago, Niantic took to the stage at Apple's Special Event in order to announce that the game would soon be coming to the Apple Watch, a fact that will allow Pokemon GO fans to catch more of the classic 151, without using their mobile devices. Now however, dataminers over at Pokemon GO Hub have confirmed that the game will also be available on Android Wear, sometime in the near future.

Pokemon Go Apple Watch 3 encounter

According to the discoverers, the android version of the app contains code for a range of Android Wear devices. The code is complete, ready to be implemented, and will use bluetooth to connect to the player's mobile. It's not just Android phones that will be able to used with the Android smartwatches however, and certain watches will work with iOS devices too.

For those who make use of the Android Wear to play Pokemon GO will be able to have the app running on the watch, without the mobile version needing to be open. Players will be able to track and capture Pokemon, recieve items, and notify the Android app in case of issues (such as lack of Pokeballs).

In other recent Pokemon GO news, the long-awaited "buddy" update has finally begun to launch, following delays. The update adds to ability to gain candy for your favorite Pokemon, by walking with them set as your buddy. For those who have been lucky enough to catch or hatch their very own Pikachu, an amazing Easter egg is available, once over 10 KM have been walked alongside the iconic electric mouse.

Introducing new features into the game is a good way to attempt to gain back some of Pokemon GO's lost users, though we'll have to wait to see if this is enough to bring back the hype that the title has lost recently. Similarly, giving players new ways to access the game, other than from their mobile devices, is a good move as it eliminates the severe issues that Pokemon GO has with battery-drainage.

Pokemon GO Dev Talks Pokemon Battles Between Players

Niantic Labs CEO John Hanke talks about the future of Pokemon GO, and discusses the interest in trainers battling each other and whether it will come to the game.

Pokemon GO's initial debut trailer gave gamers a hint of what the game would ultimately offer, but much of what was shown in the video hasn't been implemented in the game yet. Niantic CEO John Hanke is addressing one of those possible features, discussing the potential for Pokemon battles in a future update.

In a recent interview at TechCrunch Disrupt SF, John Hanke got down to business talking about Pokemon GO's future. In addition to the news that Pokemon GO will come to Android smartwatch devices eventually, Hanke also discussed Pokemon battling. According to the CEO, his own son loves the Pokemon series, and wants to be able to battle with his friends in the Pokemon GO game. Regarding whether or not this could happen, Hanke had this to say:

"Battling is something we talk a lot about. It's probably something that will make its way onto our roadmap."

Unfortunately, this isn't the most solid answer most Pokemon fans were probably hoping for. It sounds as though the Niantic team is only considering the possibility of allowing players to battle each other directly at this time, rather than saying with a certainty that it will be a future feature, or that the team is currently working on it. Many players probably thought trainer battles would undoubtedly be included in Pokemon GO, considering that the main goal of catching and raising Pokemon in the original series was always to battle against other trainers, including NPCs and other players.

Pokémon Go wil valsspelers aanpakken met jailbreak-blokkade

In een poging valsspelen te voorkomen is Pokémon Go binnenkort niet meer speelbaar op telefoons met een jailreak of root.

Pokémon Go-ontwikkelaar Niantic wil op die manier voorkomen dat mensen bijvoorbeeld bots gebruiken of de gps van hun toestel voor de gek houden, meldt het bedrijf in een verklaring.

Voor de meeste van die valsspeel-methodes moeten spelers hun toestel jailbreaken of rooten. Gebruikers hebben dan volledige toegang tot hun toestel en kunnen ook apps die toegang verlenen.

Die toegang wordt bijvoorbeeld gebruik om Pokémon Go te laten denken dat de gebruiker ergens anders is. De makers van Pokémon Go-kaartenapps gebruiken de toegang ook om de locatie van Pokémon in de buurt in kaart te brengen.

De blokkering van toestellen met jailbreak of root wordt ingevoerd bij de aanstaande grote update voor Pokémon Go. Dan wordt ook het Buddy-systeem toegevoegd, waarbij spelers één Pokémon als hun buddy kunnen aanwijzen en zo bonussen kunnen vrijspelen.

Ontwikkelaar Pokémon Go werkt al aan nieuwe projecten.

Niantic, de ontwikkelaar van de succesvolle mobiele game Pokémon Go, werkt al aan nieuwe projecten. Dat laat CEO John Hanke weten aan Game Informer.

Voordat Niantic Pokémon Go maakte, werkte het aan Ingress, een soortgelijke game maar dan zonder pokémon om te vangen. Pokémon Go gebruikt veel informatie en techniek die al in Ingress zit.

"Het is altijd onze strategie om een platform onder een game te bouwen die ook voor andere games gebruikt kan worden. Het hoeven niet eens echt games te zijn, maar wel in diezelfde richting qua beweging, ontdekking en sociale interactie", aldus Hanke. "Het Niantic-platform is onderdeel van onze langetermijnvisie en we hebben wat projecten in een vroeg stadium die hier op voortbouwen, dus je kunt meer van ons verwachten in de toekomst."

Hanke denkt daarbij dat er meer games uit gaan komen die net als Pokémon Go gebruikmaken van echte locaties en augmented reality. "Ik denk dat het gezond is. Er is zeker ruimte voor meerdere succesvolle games in dit genre. Het is een fris idee voor ontwikkelaars en uitgevers die diverse soorten gameplay willen verkennen. Er kan nog veel innovatie bij komen kijken."

Sony gaf deze week al aan zich agressief op mobiel gamen te richten na het succes van Pokémon Go.

The Official Pikachu Song Lyrics Are

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Actually, no. They're like "Pikapikapikapika."

There is an official Pikachu song. It's getting released and everything. The name of the song is "Pikachu no Uta" or "Pikachu's Song." Via the official site for anime Pokémon XY & Z, here are the catchy lyrics:

Piikaa! Pikachu! Pika Pika Pikachu! Pika Pika Pikachu!

Pikkachu Pikkachu Pikkacchu (Pikkachu Pikkachu Pikkacchu)

Pikapika Pikkachu Pikkacchu (Pikapika Pikkachu Pikkacchu)

Pikapikapikapika (Pikapikapikapika)

Pikapika (Pikapika)

Pikapika (Pikapika)

Pika (Pika)

Pika (Pika)

Pikkaa!

Pikkachu Pikkachu Pikapika Pikachu Pikapika

Pikachu Pikapika Pikapika Pikapikachu Pikachu

Pikachu Pika Pika (Pikachu Pika Pika)

Pikapikachu!

Pikachu Pikachu (Pika)

Pikapika Pikachu (Pika)

Pikachu Pikachu (Pika)

Pikapika Pikachu (Pika)

Pikapikapikapikapikapikapikapikapikapikapikapikapikapikapikapika

Pipikachu!

What did you expect? Pikachu has be able to sing it, too, you know.

Surprise Stories at the US Video Game National Championships

The 2016 US Pokémon Video Game National Championships revealed an unexpected depth to the current Championship Series metagame, with more interesting teams and Pokémon than many players and spectators planned for. And despite a narrower selection of winning combinations than their TCG counterparts, the video game competitors put on a rousing display of inventive gameplay. After fifteen rounds of best-of-three play and a 12-player Top Cut in the Masters Division, Chase Lybbert has been crowned the National Champion at the 2016 US Pokémon Video Game Masters Division National Championships. Carson St. Denis and Enzo Reci took home impressive victories in the Senior and Junior Divisions, and Trainers have earned their Travel Awards and invitations to the 2016 World Championships in San Francisco.

With so many rounds of intense Pokémon battles in the books, the puzzle of the 2016 Video Game National Championships is now clearer. We'll break down the teams used at the top tables of the 2016 National Championships and take a look at a Pokémon that proved to be a surprise star in Columbus. Remember that you can check out the teams from the Top Cut in each of the Masters, Senior, andJunior Divisions.

Metagame Musings
Leading into Nationals we'd seen teams based around two pairings of restricted Pokémon having the most success. Teams using Groudon and Xerneas dominated early in the season, and teams using Kyogre and Groudon started breaking away from the pack of other restricted Pokémon pairings during the run of May tournaments. As many players had predicted (including 2015 Champion Toler Webb in our interview), teams doubling up on the power of Primal Reversion were much less common in Columbus than they were at tournaments in the spring. The Groudon and Xerneas teams picked up the slack, not only coming away with a victory in two of the three age divisions, but also boasting the most representation in Masters Division Day 2 play by far.

Trainers in North America have favored Groudon and Xerneas over other pairings more so than any other region all season. That's not to say no other type of team was successful in Columbus. Both of the other popular pairings Trainers have used to try to topple Groudon and Xerneas over the course of the season made it to the semi-finals (Rayquaza with Kyogre, which also won the Senior Division title, and the aforementioned Groudon with Kyogre). But Groudon and Xerneas came out on top against its supposed counters in both of these showdowns, leading to one of the first 2016 Video Game National Championship finals that featured a mirror match between two teams using Groudon and Xerneas.

Tracking Bug In 'Pokémon GO' Is Part Of A Bigger Problem

There’s something tantalizing about the “nearby” tracking system in Pokémon GO. It shows you all the Pokémon near you and dares you to go out and find them. They’re so close, it seems to say. Only three footsteps! And so I’ve been trying it — and trying it — over the past week. Paul Tassi says he’s got it figured out, and I’ve read his and other guides. I’m not so sure, at least with my particular instance of Pokémon GO. I remember thinking about it in the first day or two of the game, because it seemed to be showing me the multiple footprints it was supposed to. Ever since then, however, it’s shown me three footprints for every Pokémon always. Look below: 

And that’s the way it always looks. I’ve been paying more attention to it for the past couple of days, and I’ve yet to see a single one or two footprint Pokémon in that time, or to see a particular Pokémon‘s footprints decrease when walking in any direction. I don’t seem to be alone, at least judging by this reddit thread. It’s impossible to know how many people this is effecting, but it’s clearly a bug. It’s too bad, because as I said, I really like the idea of hunting down specific Pokémon. For now, at least, that doesn’t seem like it will be happening. 

And that’s not the only problem, for those that desire some pontification on the subject. Something happens when you have technical problems like these in a games. On one level, it’s pretty straightforward: if the game crashes, then the game has crashed and it’s annoying. Cut and dry. If that sort of thing starts to happen with regularity, however, the trust you have in a developer starts to erode. And trust is that essential thing that allows a player to work with a game. I believe that if I participate in this game according to the rules the developer has laid down, then I will be rewarded in the ways that the developer has said that I will be. If you don’t believe in that, the whole thing gets wonky. The “nearby” system is a perfect example of that: as a player, I don’t really believe that it works, and so I’m not inclined to figure it out. That mindset begins to apply with other things in the game, as well: the less faith you have, the less real the game becomes. 

Right now, Pokémon GO is fun enough that I don’t care, and obviously that’s true for millions upon millions around the world. But any game like this needs to be built to go the distance. And this, as well as other problems, will lead to player decline as people advance in the game and aren’t sure what’s going on. Keeping people around takes the level of trust that convinces you to put more effort into the game, knowing that it will give back. I’m not sure this is there yet, but it could be soon.