It is a wow news for Pokemon fan in India. Pokemon Go is finally available officially in India via Google Play and App Store. Developer Niantic is bringing Pokemon Go to India by partnering with Reliance Jio.
“We are delighted to partner with Jio to launch Pokemon Go in India,” said John Hanke, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Niantic. “It’s exciting to see Pokemon fans in India step out and explore their neighbourhoods in search of Pokemon, and Jio’s disruptive high speed 4G LTE Network will be an excellent way to experience the game.”
As a part of this partnership, Reliance Digital Stores and company's select partner premises in India will appear as 'PokeStops' or 'Gyms' within the game from Wednesday, Reliance Jio said in its release.
Notably, players will get an exclusive Pokemon Go channel on Reliance Jio's messaging app, JioChat. "The Pokemon Go Channel will enable Pokemon Go players to collaborate and be part of an exciting community of players with daily tips, contests, clues, and special events," the company said.
To recall, Pokemon Go created huge waves around the world after its launch in July earlier this year as gamers around the world took the game with open hands and created social groups with those who were playing the game. The mobile game achieved several milestones at both Google Play and App Store and has been downloaded over 500 million times since its launch.
Perhaps what Hanke doesn’t realise is that Indians have been playing Pokemon Go ever since it was released globally.Here what you should know about Pokemon Go. Check it out below:
What is Pokemon Go?
Pokemon Go is a game for smartphones based on Nintendo's classic Pokemon games. It's available for both Android and iOS. It uses your phone's camera to show you cute monsters (Pokemon) you can collect for points. You can also train these Pokemon up and make them battle in 'Gyms''. Less than a week after its release, Pokemon Go was already more popular than Tinder.
"Over 60 percent of those who have downloaded the app in the US are using it daily, meaning around 3 percent of the entire US Android population are users of the app," the company's post continues. It's reaching a point where it could rival the likes of Twitter. So much so that SimilarWeb believes that Pokemon Go is "neck and neck with Twitter, and in a few more days, Pokémon Go will likely have more users Daily Active Users than the well-established social network."
Nintendo did not make Pokemon Go
A common misconception is to confuse Pokemon with Nintendo. We can’t blame you for that considering that the Pokemon games have been available on Nintendo’s consoles for the longest time. Pokemon Go is developed by The Pokemon Company — the firm responsible for marketing and licensing the Pokemon franchise; and Niantic — which used to operate as a part of Google, and was later spun off as a separate company when Google became Alphabet.
You don’t need Reliance Jio to play Pokemon Go
Although Niantic has partnered with Reliance Jio to launch Pokemon Go in India, the game is playable on other operators such as Airtel and Vodafone too. Of course, with Jio's ongoing free data services, you can use it to download and play Pokemon Go without incurring further costs.Network analytics firm P3 Communications Inc. has discovered that the app only uses around five to 10 megabytes of data per hour. As a comparison, an hour of HD video weighs in at about 350 megabytes.
Important things to know before playing Pokemon Go
Pokemon Go will possibly destroy your phone’s battery life and demands a good 3G connection at the very least.
Tips and tricks
Pokemon Go may not have released officially the world over, but that hasn't stopped eager fans from downloading the game anyway. Compared to older games, a lot has changed in Pokemon Go. So, whether you're new to Pokemon or a longtime fan of the franchise playing Pokemon Go for the first time, it can be a little confusing. Here are some tips and tricks that can make your play-through easier.
Know how to level up
You gain levels by catching Pokemon, exploring PokeStops, and battling at Gyms. Each of the aforementioned actions gives you some Pokemon Go experience, and as you gain more experience you level up. To do all of these, you need to be walking around. There is the odd chance that a Pokemon or two might show up in your house or office but by and large, you will need to be on the move to find them. From level 5, you can battle as the Gyms, and as you gain more experience, you'll have access not just to Gyms but higher quality PokeBalls, and items that can augment your Pokemon. Having a higher trainer level gives you a better chance of taking over Gyms that may have multiple trainers. For this reason, remember to swipe every PokeStop, since that's just free experience, and try to catch lots of Pokemon early on to gain levels quickly.
Combat is different
Unlike usual Pokemon games where you choose from four kinds of moves to use against an enemy, Pokemon Go has you attacking by tapping a foe, and swiping to dodge its moves. Special attacks are activated by holding the screen. Battles only take place when you're in a Gym. So no, you can't duke it out against friends just yet. Which brings us to our next point...
Hit level 5 as soon as possible
When you hit level 5 in Pokemon Go, you can join a team, either Red, Blue, or Yellow (in homage to the first three games in the series) and start to battle at Gyms. On joining a team you can assign a Pokemon you caught to an open Gym, or to one where other team members have already placed Pokemon. Only one Pokemon per player can be put in a single Gym.
Understand how Gyms work
Before you attack a Gym run by another team, you should check out its Prestige. The higher this stat is, the tougher it would be to take over. Lower a Gym's Prestige to zero and the defending team loses control. This is possible by defeating its Pokemon.
In order to keep your Gym's Prestige up, simply train your Pokemon there. This is done by battling against Pokemon from the same team you're on. Defeating them all increases Prestige, making it tough for other teams to attack. That's because each Prestige level allows you to add one more Pokemon Trainer to the gym, making it tougher to defeat.
Occupying a gym is useful as it allows you to earn PokeCoins - Pokemon Go currency that allows you to buy items. You can redeem them based on the gyms you're a part of, every 20 hours. You can also buy PokeCoins via the game's store and it's working in India on Android, complete with INR pricing ranging from Rs. 60 to Rs. 6,200, despite the game not being officially available in the country. If you've downloaded the app on iOS via the US store, in-app purchases should work as well, as long as you have a valid payment method on record.
PokeStops are your friend
PokeStops are important landmarks in your area. These have blue markers on them. Clicking on the marker throws up an image of what type of location it is. Swiping it gives you items. These include Pokeballs, or a Pokemon Egg, which on hatching gives you new Pokemon for your collection. Hatching a Pokemon Egg requires you to place it in an Incubator, which you receive when you start the game, and then walking a specified distance - some eggs hatch after two kilometres, others need a lot more walking. If you've played Ingress- Niantic's last game, you should have a good idea of where to look for PokeStops as the location data in Pokemon Go is based on that of Ingress.
Evolution doesn't happen after battles, but from items
Unlike every other game in the Pokemon Go series, this Pokemon don't evolve after battles. In order to turn your Charmander into a Charizard, or Pikachu into a Raichu, you'll need to catch more of the same kind of Pokemon. Doing so nets Candy and Stardust. Gather enough, and you can use the Candy obtained to evolve it. This results in better attack power and more health for your Pokemon.
Pokemon Go is not on Windows 10 devices
Despite attempts from rabid Windows 10 users to get Pokemon Go onto their devices, Niantic has focussed all its attention on the iOS and Android versions of the game. A petition did surface, hitting 41,600 signatures in short time, and Microsoft Portugal did put out a statement that it would end up retracting soon after, but it is safe to say that you won’t be able get it on hardware running Microsoft’s OS anytime soon.
Pokemon Go new features
Months after release, Niantic revealed a slew of updates. One of these made it easier to catch rare Pokemon, another allowed for daily bonuses and the Nearby feature, which was in need of a revamp to let you track Pokemon more accurately was done as well.
Some not so pleasant side-effects of playing Pokemon Go
We’ve seen the Prime Minister of Norway caught playing Pokemon Go in parliament, a Russian blogger charged with offending Religious sensibilities for playing it in a church, a Pokemon Go-playing Japanese truck driver running over a pedestrian, and countries banning it in specific locations or altogether amidst security concerns. Hopefully Indian players are mindful of their surroundings before putting themselves or others at risk.
©Rishi Alwani,Gadgets360
Loading...
Comments
Post a Comment