Sign-ups Begin for US Pokémon GO Beta

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Trainers interested in trying out the augmented virtual reality game Pokémon GO, expected to launch later this year on iOS & Android, can apply to the beta now if they live in the United States.

Let us know if you’re throwing your name in the hat! Unfortunately I wasn’t abl to get into the Japanese field test myself 🙁 Best of luck to my American readers!

<3 PJ

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265 thoughts on “Sign-ups Begin for US Pokémon GO Beta”

  1. I don’t know how to describe such a feeling but knowing that we’ll soon get a new pseudo-legendary, regional bird, etc… makes me really happy. Traditions are meant to be broken but these traditions are some of the little things I look forward to when playing Pokemon because somehow, they’ve been ingrained in my heart!

    Reply

    • I uphold traditions with great gusto
      It’s not a Pokemon game unless
      Grass, Fire, Water Starters
      Regional Bird
      Regional Rodent
      Small cute cheeked Electrical Rodent
      Draconian Pseudo-Legend
      Two main Legendaries
      Small mythical Pokemon

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      • Or we could have something like Metagross and Tyranitar and they won’t be part Dragon…

        PS: I’ve thought for the longest time that Flygon was a pseudo-legendary!

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        • But Tyranitar still poses sea dragon like qualities
          And don’t forget Salamence which is still a dragon

          Reply

  2. Speaking of new ideas I want to hold a little Idea powwow on potential Electrical Rodents for the Alola Region
    No wrong answers (except the wrong ones)
    Mine would be a Pale yellow and white Computer Mouse with a long plug like tail and sharp incisors to nibble wires to eat the electricity
    Electric/Steel

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  3. This united states-only crap is bugging me! Why are so many nintendo things exclusive to US and Japan only?? Dont they use the internet? Isnt the internet a global thing? Also the caribbean uses US servers so why cant I have all the things too???? D;

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  4. I really hope the rival villain teams return. A fairly minor feature but one of my favourite parts of RSE/ORAS

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  5. So, just to contribute/spark more discussion, what is the best Pokemon remake? My pros and cons will be things that were added and things that weren’t changed. Let me know what you think

    FR/LG
    Pros:
    -VS Seeker
    -Sevii islands & added post game
    -entrance artwork

    Cons:
    -not much, improved on the originals in everyway
    -perhaps not innovative enough

    HG/SS
    Pros:
    -Pokemon follow you!
    -included crystal elements
    -pokewalker
    -locked running shoes
    -leader rematches
    -huge amount of Pokemon
    -new safari zone
    -retro music

    Cons:
    -the grinding…ugh
    -cant some johto Pokemon till post game

    ORAS
    Pros:
    – graphics!
    -awesome for breeders
    -pokedex plus (pokenav and stuff)
    -can catch almost every Pokemon/legendary
    -Soaring!!!
    -connectivity with secret bases

    Cons:
    -gym leaders didn’t have emerald teams/were weak
    -no rematches
    -no battle frontier. Sorry, should’ve been included

    Reply

    • HGSS are the best. I love Johto, it feels so vibrant in the remakes and it has so many features to keep you playing for long after you defeat red. I may be biased because it was my first (besides red, that doesn’t count) but still. So good. Still my favorite Pokemon game

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      • I love them so much. ORAS is good too though. Without Soaring and the dexnav it’d be an easy call for me. I think I’d have to rank them as a tie because they both are good. And that’s pretty impressive for hgss since it’s like 6 years old..

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      • Maybe if they gave us more variety and had slots and voltorb flip it would’ve been fine. But it became a little monotonous and stressful

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  6. I think it would be neat if there was no evil team in these games. I would like the story to be pushed forward by characters instead of “Bad guys doing bad thing in the town you were going to go to anyways”

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    • Revolutionary but the sheer amount of dialogue, exposition, character build up, arcs, etc… required to pull it off is not worth it… at the moment. 😀

      Reply

  9. (Offtopic pokemon topic) what are some story hopes you guys had for sun and moon:

    – I know this is sorta random, but I hope they increase on what Black and White did with version differences. Black and White probably had the most notable version differences out of any game but if they increased upon that would be great.

    – An excellent story like or better than Black and White

    – This also may be a off putting and most likely won’t happen happen ever again, but I would like it if the legends weren’t apart of the main villain team goal. We have had legends used in this aspect since gen 3. I think it is high time we switch it back to like gen 1 and 2 where the legends were a side mission. Maybe The evil team in Sun and moon and disrupt nature and the legends come in all mad and destroy everything, and whatever. I think it is kinda illogical (yes I know applying logic to pokemon isn’t good) that a whole group of adults cant catch a legendary, but a 10 year old can. So maybe we can have legends play a different role than main villain team target, or pokemon to help achieve goal.

    Reply

    • I don’t care too much about the version differences, but a story that is on par with BW would be awesome.
      And it would be refreshing to have the legend not be a part of the evil team’s plans, but with this pair I don’t see it happening. But who knows, right?
      I kinda want a villain either like Lysandre (who I feel is the greyest sort of villain we’ve ever had in a Pokemon game. His views were acceptable but his actions were not) or Cyrus. Basically, with the legends and the speculation about them (especially GameXplain’s theory of them also representing hope and despair), I could see a Cyrus-like villain where, in Sun, he/she wants the world to feel hope but does it in a wrong sort of way, and in Moon, he/she wants the world to feel despair but has things that make them more human and relatable, I guess.

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        • Yessss
          Wait, I have an idea.
          Version exclusive team leaders.
          One for Sun and one for Moon.
          At the end of the day, I will be sorta sad if it didn’t happen, but it would be awesome if some of these things were right.

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          • That’d be cool and different. I’m really trying to think of a scheme that would involve having control of the sun and moon but I’m failing.

          • I’m thinking more of the hope and despair aspect, cause that’s easy to think about, but I’m sure there’s something about that. I think I heard something about control one to eclipse the other. Like a solar eclipse in one game, and a lunar eclipse in the other. Although, I dunno the benefits of that. Maybe to make people fear them so they could have power?

          • Yeah, but that’s so basic. I have power, fear me! 😛 I’m interested to see what they come up with because I got nothin.

          • I know, but I honestly can’t think of why they would eclipse the planet other than that. Knowing me, I’ll keep tossing the idea around until info is released about it.

    • I like that 3rd idea… Hate the differences though. If you’re like me.. you brought the wrong version… White.. and missed out on that battle city people couldn’t keep quiet about!

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  10. PJ ppl .. I am sorry but sometimes I can’t be in good mood to speak english fluently specially on those days…so I can’t write correct sentences …..so don’t hesitate to ask me anything u can’t understand.

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  11. I want an overall tough game, I want to lose a gym battle for once… I’m sorry.. but I really dgaf if kids get frustrated and rage quit.
    #selfishme

    Reply

    • Same, that just makes you rethink your strategy. I was battling Whitney’s Miltank yesterday thinking, “I’m about to crush this punk. Miltank ain’t shit.” But then I forgot that stupid cow knew attract…and dear god that is now my least favorite move EVER. EVER.

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          • Liza and Tate were so hard in the originals.. I remember one playthrough having to battle them over and over because they kept knocking me out. Every time I see them, I cry on the inside.

          • I couldn’t even beat them during my first playthrough of Emerald so I’m pretty sure I gave up for a while

          • I feel sorry for my younger self for having to endure that. As well as the E4, cause I only beat the RSE E4 and Champion once. And I played through Emerald so many times. I just reset it every time cause I was annoyed and bored.

          • Granted this is what they are afraid of, and rightfully so. We are in a time where kids with a lot of quick mobile games, so most play a game and move on, and if a game gives them trouble, they stop playing and go on to a different game. This is a decent fear for a company to have, losing customers will never be a good thing. However, I think GF should overcome this fear, and reward people who do stick with it, and not let this hinder them. This fear should not prevent them from making an excellent game. Oh well, what can you do. Times have changed

          • That’s the main thing here. And to be honest, it’s what I do when I’m stuck in a game. I usually put it down, sometimes I go back, sometimes I don’t. It depends on how much I loved the game so far.
            And it’s not usually because it’s difficult, it’s sometimes because I get lost and they don’t give me even a single clue where to go or what to do. Like, I don’t want hand-holding but I want to be able to talk to people or go to a journal to give me a hint about it.

          • Exactly the second point!
            Literally all Link games have done this to me, it’s why I never have completed a link game because they never tell you where to go, or maybe like once.
            and if you look back on past pokemon games they did this as well, which may explain why games are getting more linear. I just want an even compromise so casual fans and hardcore fans can be happy

          • I feel the compromise would be having a region that has a lot of awesome side features you had to discover for yourself like Sinnoh had. Fuego Ironworks, Chateau, wayward cave, etc. Places that you have to go back to and find. Part of why I didn’t like Kalos is because everything was spelled out for you. There were no mystery places.

          • Yeah, exactly. I’m playing Pokemon Blue now and I know why my younger self never completed Yellow at all. It’s because they never show you where to go. There’s not even dialogue helping you. The only reason I’m still playing now is because I’m older and I know sorta where to go now.
            I want a compromise too. Cause I’m as casual as it gets(yet sometimes hardcore? I’m in the middle I guess), yet I still want a somewhat more difficult game that helps you if you need help.
            Then again, I don’t do Nuzlockes for the difficulty. I do it for the story/adventure I build in my head. So, meh, for me the story matters most.

          • That’s true…I guess I never thought about that. Well that’s why they need challenge mode!

          • I remember being a kid and losing to them over and over, to the point where I would be crying every single loss. But it feels so much more rewarding beating someone like that, than just OHKOing everything IMO

    • The most recent gym battle I struggled during a normal playthrough is Lenora. I dunno why but she is so hard for me. I dunno. Oh, and Korrina’s Gym is super hard without the Exp Share.
      Then again, any gym can be difficult when playing a Nuzlocke variant. I remember struggling to find a good Pokemon to be Clemont in my Y Wedlocke, cause I had no Ground types. Luckily, I found way using Venusaur with Bulldoze, but that Emolga almost fainted its partner, which was a Furret.

      Reply

      • I’m not bragging if you thought XY was difficult, but I went through the whole game on my first run and never had one Pokemon faint. XY was too easy, and thus very forgettable.

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          • The designs are great, but I best each gym leader in >4 turns. And for God’s sake, GF, let them have more than 3 Pokemon!

          • I just don’t get why they introduced challenge mode and then never brought it back, especially when people loved it

          • this can be said for soooo many features in Pokemon, and it honestly does not make sense why they continue doing this. I just tell myself they do it to make the game it appears in memorable, even though thats a pretty stupid reason

        • Oh, some of the trainers were a bit difficult (the Fighting type onces specifically) but I wouldn’t say it was difficult. Emerald is more difficult by far.
          I played through without EXP Share (which is the thing that made it easy), and I was specifically talking about the Nuzlocke variants myself. And, to be honest, my X Nuzlocke I barely lost any Pokemon and I had my starter to the end. As for my Y Wedlocke, so far I only have a handful of deaths, and some were my own fault really.

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        • XY were rushed games, thats why they were easy. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sun and Moon are quite challenging.

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      • I retried XY without exp share, and the game was actually fairly difficult, but the gym leaders weren’t the difficult part. It was the trainers, and like Team flare HQ, because since I was so underleveled they would constantly bring at least a pokemon down per trainer

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        • Exactly, it’s the normal trainer, mostly the fighting type ones, that had mons that were surprisingly difficult (Reflection Cave, *shiver*)

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    • Honestly they need to have options (ones that are already unlocked). I shouldn’t be able to breeze through the game, it’s just not any fun. Even now, going back to some of the older games presents me with a fun challenge. They should take a page from FE and call the hardest mode “Lunatic” in Sun/Moon.

      Reply

      • Ikr! I want it to be Intense! Hard Mode!
        People get so bored they are forced to make up the stupidest challenges on their own

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        • BW2 was a step in the right direction, but no where near perfect. They should have easy, normal, hard, and “lunatic”. I also want good AI along with level boosts.

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  12. I was hoping we’d walk around with a Pokemon outside its pokeball. It’d be cool if it was always your starter. I don’t know about you all but I always have my starter on my team.

    I just restarted my X versions (I have 2) and my Y.

    Y: Delphox, Charizard, Ampharos, Beartic, Dragalge (not sold on Dragale yet… Was also considering Ludicolo) and Sylveon

    X: Chestnaught, Blastoise, Abomasnow, Aromatisse, Honchkrow and Ninetalea

    X: Greninja, Venusaur, Manectric, Pyroar, Meowstic and Mamoswine

    The teams are based on the personalities of their characters. Y is Belle, a girly girl. X is Jeff which is really me and the other X is Barnaby my dog.

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  13. So I thought I’d bring this up. I mean, in my opinion this could very well happen in the future.

    Since Virtual Reality is becoming a thing and will eventually be a very popular video game platform, I thought it would be cool if (in the future) Pokemon make a game on Virtual Reality. Wouldn’t that be sick!!!!!????

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  14. I found a close-up from Lunaala’s head. It has a “3th eye” instead of the moon symbol like Solgaleo. Its also the psychic type logo. So what do you think

    Reply

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