Nintendo's first big step into mobile is powered by Pokemon and Niantic

Nintendo's first step into the realm of mobile gaming will be led, to no great surprise, by an army of tiny, collectible battle creatures.

Pokemon GO is the Wii U-maker's debut mobile effort, marking a collaboration between the big N, The Pokemon Company (in which Nintendo has a stake) and Niantic, the formerly Google game studio that splintered off into its own company after Alphabet came along. It's a free-to-play game and it's coming to iOS App Store and Google Play in 2016.

Players familiar with the Pokemon series should be in comfortable territory here. The heart of the game involves catching, trading and doing battle with the series' diverse bestiary. The difference-maker for GO is that it's an alternate-reality game, using your device's camera and location data to give the impression of Pokemon roaming free throughout the real world. Read more...