Pop Culture | Video Games | 90s
Pokémon Go "Buddy System" Will Let You Walk With Your Favorite Pokémon
Pokémon Go is an hugely popular game that has been downloaded over 180 million times. It has already earned $440 million in the few months since its release, which is even more impressive given that the game itself is free. While the game seems to be on a bit of a downturn popularity wise, things may turn around when Niantic introduces the new "Buddy System" that was found hidden in the code of the latest release of the game.
The Pokémon Go Buddy System was found by the Pokémon Go Hub and it explains what all the complicated coding really means. Here is what we know so far:
The Buddy System uses the same distance calculation as the Egg Hatching system.
So you will be able to have a Pokémon with you while you go for those long walks while you hunt for that Blastoise and it will track how far you walk and award you with candy.
You will be awarded with the specific candy of the Pokémon you are walking.
This will let you collect candies on your own instead of waiting until you run into more of the same type of Pokémon. This would help those who really want to evolve a specific Pokémon but don't have a lot near by. It lets you take over your evolution potential which is pretty neat!
There is however a daily limit to the candy you can receive from one Pokémon
While you can walk the same Buddy more than once in a day, there does appear to be a limit on the total number of candies you can receive per day. I guess they don't want you to pick favorites...
You can only walk one at a time
Keep your attention focused on one little friend at a time .
You will be able to change how your Buddy looks on screen.
There were four different options listed: Medium Size, Big Size, Flying next to you, and Rests on your shoulder. This will let you customize your display to what you want and account for the different types of Pokémon there are. I don't know that anyone would what a Charizard resting on their shoulder. He can maybe just walk beside you...
There are still other updates to come!
According to Niantic, Pokémon Go is no where near being finished. Apparently it is only 10% of the game the creators have in mind. They want to enable custom PokéStops, build PokCenters and maybe even enable trading between the trainers. Any or all of these updates would help the game maintain it's impressive fan base while giving new players incentive to come try out the game.
What update are you looking forward to? Personally, I would like to be able to trade off some of these Pidgeys , but the idea of getting to walk my Charmander into a Charizard sounds pretty awesome for now!