The "Pokémon GO!" release date will take the interaction between players and Pokémon to the next level.
In a press conference announcing "Pokémon GO!," The Pokémon Company president and CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara, Niantic founder John Hanke, Game Freak game director Junichi Masuda and Nintendo senior managing director Shigeru Miyamoto came together to discuss their highly-anticipated augmented reality game.
"Many of you already know this, but with the 'Pokémon' games, players can use the Pokémon they caught in the game to trade or battle with their real life friends," Ishihara explained the how the game started.
The Pokémon Company CEO discussed how the concept came from Niantic Labs' "Ingress" game. The studio's founder, John Hanke, admitted that they were able to bring together millions of people around the world through their augmented reality game.
"But the really exciting part of the game is the real-world social aspect of it," he said.
"Players meet up in the real world to play together, to go on adventures together and, about once a month, in cities all around the world, they come together for massive events that combine urban exploration, gameplay, and teamwork in a festival-like atmosphere."
Nintendo's Miyamoto also revealed the "Pokémon Snap" project which used photos and admitted that, this time, the game will take players to actual places to catch Pokémon. He confirmed that the upcoming augmented reality game gave off the same feeling as the previous project.
"I think it shares the same sense of being in the same space with a Pokémon and staring at it face to face," Ishihara added.
The game will use actual map data and is designed to get players out in the real world. Players can now catch, trade and battle with others using real world arenas. The upcoming "Pokémon GO!" release could revolutionize how Pokémon games are played.
The "Pokémon GO!" release date will be in 2016. There are speculations that it could happen early next year.