Tag Archive

Pokemon GO Gets A Little Pixilated In Latest [April Fools] Update

Posted on March 31, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Niantic Labs rolled out an update to Pokemon Go today that brings a very special retro feature to the highly successful mobile game. All you have to do is take a look at your Pokedex index screen or list of available monsters to see that their usual 3D models have been replaced with adorable “twice the quality of 4K” sprites.

Here’s the full pop-up text as it appeared in Pokemon Go today:

“Experience Pokemon GO Like NEVER BEFORE with Brand-New Graphics!

Trainers, we always want to bring you the most immersive graphics experience possible, and were excited to share our latest breakthrough with millions of Pokemon GO Trainers around the world. Experience Pokemon GO like never before with cutting-edge 8-BIT GRAPHICS! Registering approximately twice the amount of definition of 4K, the chunky squares of each pixel provide realistic detail and unbelievable definition. Your Pokedex will feel lifelike in ways previously unimagined on any handheld device ever created. Enjoy it now!”

Also the Pokedex screen changes as well with the new “4K Sprites”, sadly only the index with all of your entries, when you click on an individual monster the usual 3D model will load. Here is a look:

I’ve been playing a lot more Pokemon GO this past week than I have in the past few months – solely thanks to the addition of Daily Quests and the chance to get the elusive Mew. If they made these retro sprites a toggle like the AR/Grass mode, I’d use them all the time!

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section.

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Pokemon From Generation III and Real Time Weather Coming To Pokemon GO

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Pokemon from the Hoen region are about to find their way into our world with the rollout of pocket monsters from Generation III in Pokemon GO. Over the next few weeks, Niantic will make 50 different monsters from Ruby and Sapphire catchable in the augmented reality game.  

Also coming to Pokemon GO for the first time is real-world weather that will affect gameplay. No longer will it be pouring rain on your virtual self while back, in reality, it is bone dry. Weather in POGO won’t just be cosmetic either, it will change which monsters you might find in the wild as well as other factors like combat power and stardust. 

Here is what Niantic’s official press release said about the upcoming weather feature: 

“For the first time in an augmented reality mobile game, the real-world weather will now be a factor in the gameplay experience. As Trainers are exploring the world around them in search of Pokémon, the current weather in their vicinity will be visible on the in-game map. The real-world weather around Trainers will impact the gameplay of Pokémon GO in a variety of ways that include changing Pokémon habitats and where they can be found, increasing Combat Power, and earning more Stardust after catching a Pokémon.” 

Is the addition of monsters like Torchick, Mudkip and Swablue enough to keep you playing? Pokemon GO might not be the mega-smash success it once was back in the summer of 2016 but millions of Pokemon trainers still log in daily to catch them all! 

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Pokemon Go Has Been Dropping Less Items For Some Players For A While Now

Posted on October 24, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Walking through downtown Calgary tonight I decided to login to Pokemon Go for the first time in several months and catch some spooky monsters from the Halloween event. My usual walking route contains approximately 20 or so PokeStops including a few Gyms, so when walking it forward & back, filling my item bag is usually par for the course. Except for tonight I noticed something odd – every Stop/Gym was only giving me two items. What the hell… 

After some sleuthing (e.g. Using Google) it turns out the Niantic has been messing with the drop rates of both PokeStops & Gyms for at least the past two weeks. Back on October 11th Reddit user, vtmcouver reported that they had begun to see Stops/Gyms drop only two items. Over the course of that evenings one particular user collected 250 spins from across the Reddit community (that’s a lot of walking) and came to some interesting conclusions: 

  • Gyms will only drop 2 to 3 items (not including bonuses for your team controlling the Gym or daily streaks). 
  • The differing drop rates may be tied to individual trainer accounts rather than be based on other criteria – say trainer location. 
  • If your account is affected there is only a %10 – %12 chance that you’ll receive a bonus third item per spin. 
  • Some players report never receiving a bonus item at all. 

These numbers aren’t exact, and I don’t expect that Niantic will comment on the item drop rate. It is a bit of a bummer – as a casual Pokemon Go player I kind of relied on regular PokeStop drops to provide me with enough Pokeballs to play. If these changes are indeed account wide, I guess all I can do is a shrug and I’ll be less inclined to play Pokemon Go as we head into the Winter months. 

Are you experience fewer item drops from Gyms & Pokestops? Let me know in the comments. 

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