‘Ingress Prime’ Breathes New Life Into Pokémon GO Developer’s First Popular AR Game

While Pokémon GO smashed records and earned the world’s attention thanks to its ties to the mega-popular Pokémon franchise, the developer behind the title, Niantic, had another augmented reality game that managed to rake in its own sort of attention.

Ingress has been available for iOS and Android devices for quite some time, and incorporates various augmented reality features to see a pair of factions go head-to-head as they try to capture specific real-world locations in the digital realm. There are a variety of similarities between Ingress and Pokémon GO, and that trend continues as Niantic brings what it has learned from that other super-popular title and breathes new life into its Ingress franchise.

Ingress Prime is a free update for folks who already have Ingress installed on their devices. For those who don’t, the free app is available in the App Store, and a link to download the AR game is available at the bottom of this post.

As for what’s new, there is quite a bit. Niantic rebuilt the user interface to make it cleaner and easier to use. That includes improved animations and a bigger focus on one-finger movement. The company is also introducing a more developed storyline, which is a continuation of what came before. That means that if you have been playing Ingress, your progress should carry over to the new Ingress Prime effort.

Niantic is also building the new game on the Real World Platform, which is what Pokémon GO runs on. That should make the experience even smoother and stable, while also improving the AR features baked into the game as well. Another element that Niantic is bringing to Ingress Prime is global events, which are called “Recursion Prime” and will see events hosted in cities all across the planet, including Austin, Texas, Hong Kong, and Barcelona.

“Adventure and explorer Hank Johnson is losing his memories rapidly, and he needs your help. A crucial Recursion Artifact is at stake and will be claimed by the winner of this Anomaly. Will it be you?”

Ingress Prime is just the beginning for Ingress players moving forward, as Niantic is planning future updates and new additions along the way.

Have you ever played Ingress before? If not, will you try it out now?

Download

• Ingress Prime — Free

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Pokémon GO Halloween Event Starts Today Includes a Legendary Out of the Sinnoh Region

Another holiday, another event for folks still playing the augmented reality-based Pokémon GO.

Niantic has announced the latest major event for its popular AR game on Tuesday. Halloween 2018 will kick off today, Tuesday, October 23, at 1:00 PM Pacific Time. It will run until Thursday, November 1, at 1:00 PM Pacific Time. And, as usual, during that time there is a lot to do and collect for trainers. That includes the ability to earn double Candy for every Pokémon a player catches.

Niantic is using the Halloween event to really showcase the latest additions to the game, the fourth-generation pocket monsters from the Sinnoh region within the games. These creatures were first introduced to the series in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. Within the Halloween event you’ll see more Ghost- and Dark-type pocket monsters, like Stunky and Drifloon.

And Niantic is also offering up some special projects from Professor Willow in the game, which appears to be hinting at a special Pokémon within the game for trainers to catch during the Halloween event:

“During this event, it seems Professor Willow will need your help on some limited-time Special Research. He stumbled across an odd stone one day and has been experiencing strange happenings around his lab ever since! Could a Pokémon be causing this ruckus? Complete Special Research tasks and find out before whatever it is goes away!”

That’s not all, though. Niantic is also including Giratina, the Legendary renegade Pokémon as part of the new Raid battles for the Halloween event. This is a Ghost- and Dragon-type Pokémon, and it will be leaving the game on November 20. So if this is a pocket monster you want to add to your collection, you’ll need to jump at the chance before it’s gone.

The Halloween event is now live, at the time of publication, so who’s jumping in to collect that extra Candy and take part in the new event?

[via Niantic]

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Pokémon GO is Adding Fourth-Generation Pocket Monsters

Pokémon Go remains one of the most successful mobile games out there, especially for a title based on augmented reality features and gameplay.

Part of that comes from the regular updates that developer Niantic continues to roll out, adding new content, features, and pocket monsters for trainers to catch. In a public blog post published on Tuesday, the developer confirmed another large update to its roster of available pokémon to catch, this time adding fourth-generation digital monsters from the Sinnoh region. These were first presented to players back in games like Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.

As is par for the course with these types of updates, Niantic will be adding the Sinnoh Region-based pocket monsters in waves, rather than in one lump sum. That means you’ll need to keep playing to make sure you catch all of the new additions, as they will be rolling out into the game over the next week or so.

“Pokémon originally discovered in the Sinnoh region will be making their way to Pokémon GO in waves! So, you can look forward to discovering even more Pokémon over the next few weeks appearing in the wild, hatching from Eggs, and battling in raids. Stay tuned to our official channels for updates about new Pokémon, new features, and expansions to existing features like Pokémon storage and more!”

As mentioned above, it sounds like Niantic has more in the works, and will be making some changes to storage in an impending update as well. No word on when that update will be released just yet, though.

The new fourth-generation Pokémon start rolling out today. Are you still playing Pokémon GO?

Our Take

This is still a fun game to play, especially because of how casual it is. While you’re out and about just catch a few pocket monsters, or you can go all-in and battle in a Raid or take on a gym leader. There’s still so much to do, and with Niantic adding content on the regular there’s still plenty to do all this time after launch.

[via Niantic]

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