After disastrous debut, Pokémon Go Fest will return this summer with high hopes

By Steven Petite Published May 4, 2018

Image used with permission by copyright holder

While the 2017 Pokémon Go Fest didn’t quite go as planned (to say the least), Niantic and The Pokémon Company will bring the festivities back this summer for round two from July 14-15.

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The two-day event dubbed “A Walk in the Park” will be held in Chicago once again. This time, though, the event takes place at Lincoln Park instead of Grant Park. Throughout the nearly two miles of paths in the park, Niantic will have booths and activities for trainers to engage with. Chicago will also see an uptick in rare Pokémon and in-game events during the fest. Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. PT on May 11 for $20 each.

The studio acknowledged the disappointing 2017 event in a press release. Last year, Pokémon Go was basically unplayable at the fest for a number of technical reasons, rendering the whole event a bust. Rightfully disgruntled eventgoers soon filed a class-action lawsuit against Niantic for hotel and travel expenses, a suit that Niantic recently settled to the tune of $1,575,000.

Niantic will also host a pair of “Safari Zones” in Dortmund, Germany, and Yokosuka, Japan. The Dortmund event is scheduled for June 30 and July 1, while the Japan event will take place sometime this summer. The international events fared much better than the Chicago fest last year, with successful outings in Korea, Japan, and numerous cities in Europe.

Niantic promises to have “connected gameplay events around the world” during and around the fests for those who cannot attend. This will include in-game activities and challenges. Exactly how those will play out will be revealed closer to each event.

It’ll be interesting to see how Niantic approaches the summer fests, in particular, the Chicago one. It’s likely that those who were playing Pokémon Go last summer still represent a sizable percentage of the current user base. Will hardcore Pokémon Go enthusiasts travel to an event that went so poorly last year? At the very least, it’s probably safe to say Niantic will go to great lengths to avoid a repeat of 2017. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see Pokémon Go getting this amount of love as it winds down its second year of life.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…

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Gaming

NBA All-World aims to replicate Pokémon Go’s success starting today

A player walks around their neighborhood's map in NBA All-World.

Niantic launched NBA All-World, its basketball-themed, location-based mobile game, on iOS and Android today. Ahead of this release, Digital Trends attended a presentation to learn more about how the sports AR title works.
If you've played any of Niantic's games before, many elements of NBA All-World will feel quite familiar. The mobile game tracks players' location and encourages them to explore. While doing so, players will find Drop Zones that grant them new gear. Niantic says Drop Zones will often be placed near real-world counterparts, so players can find money near a bank or shoes near a shoe store.
There will also be Player Encounters, where they can face off against current NBA athletes. Niantic tells Digital Trends that classic athletes aren't currently in the game, but feels that idea "is a good one."

In Player Encounters, users face off against athletes in one of four minigames: 3-Point Shootout, Beat the Clock, Around the World, and First-to-Five. While they feature some impressive and realistic animation for a mobile game, Niantic says these minigames only use simple swipe controls because the studio wanted to make something that is easy to play while someone is walking around their neighborhood. If a user wins a Player Encounter, they can recruit that athlete to their team, customize them with items found at Drop Zones, and upgrade them by playing with them. Players can also challenge players they already recruited again to earn more currency.
The title also includes "Rule the Court" neighborhood leaderboards, many of which are placed at real-world basketball courts, where players can compete for the highest score. Currently, there are no player-versus-player elements in NBA All-World, although Niantic understands players like competitive modes in their sports games and may add them in the future. In fact, many features are still in the pipeline for post-launch updates, including Niantic's trademark AR support. Early in the second quarter of 2023, Niantic plans on adding AR support to NBA All-World to enhance the loot drops from Drop Zones to make it look like they're happening in the real world.
One thing that will be in the game at launch is microtransactions, which Niantic says will be similar to the ones available in its other games and allow players to increase their athletes' stats with Offense, Defense, and Fitness boosts.
Despite the undeniable success of Pokémon Go, Niantic has never been able to completely replicate its success with games like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite or Pikmin Bloom. However, the studio seems confident that basketball has the global mass appeal to make NBA All-World another massive hit for the company. The early footage we saw of the game does leave us optimistic for NBA All-World's prospects, but we'll ultimately have to wait and see if the game will make it past its rookie season.
NBA All-World is available now for iOS and Android.

Gaming

After 25 seasons, Ash Ketchum is retiring from Pokémon

Ash holds a Pokeball while a lot of iconic Pokemon stand behind him.

The Pokémon Company confirmed that Ash Ketchum will no longer be the main protagonist of the series' anime starting in 2023.
Ever since Pokémon! I Choose You! first aired in Japan on April 1, 1997, the Pokémon anime has followed the exploits of 10-year-old Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum on his quest to become Pokémon Master. After trying and failing many times across 25 seasons, Ash finally managed to become the world's greatest Pokémon trainer in Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series after winning the Pokémon World Coronation Series.
The Pokémon Company is deciding to leave Ash's journey on a high note and will retire his character as the protagonist of the Pokémon anime after the current season. Thankfully, he is getting a proper send-off across the final 11 episodes of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, with classic anime characters like Misty and Brock returning to help tell "the final chapter in Ash and Pikachu's story." These final 11 episodes will start airing in Japan on January 13, 2023.
This won't be the end of Pokémon anime adaptions, though; The Pokémon Company will start a new series later next year, following two new characters named Liko and Roy. Details on this new series are still scarce, but we know it will also feature Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Quaxly, and a Shiny Rayquaza in significant roles. We're likely to see them venture through Paldea, the region Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are set in.
While the announcement that Ash Ketchum will no longer be the protagonist of the Pokémon series is bittersweet for those of us who grew up with the Pokémon anime, we can hope that the series will give him a beautiful farewell, and that Liko and Roy's series can successfully capture the hearts of a whole new generation of Pokémon fans.

Gaming

Summer Game Fest returns just before E3 2023 next June

The official artwork confirming Summer Game Fest's return on June 8, 2023.

Geoff Keighley has confirmed when Summer Game Fest will return in June 2023. It will begin with a live kickoff show on June 8, 2023, placing Keighley's game announcement alternative less than a week before E3's grand (intended) 2023 return.
Unlike past years, Summer Game Fest Live Kickoff 2023 will feature a live audience, like Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards. It will take place in the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park, with tickets going on sale in early 2023. It will still be livestreamed across platforms like YouTube and Twitch, though. It's currently unknown who's participating, how long Summer Game Fest will run afterward, or if it will feature a Summer Game Fest Play Days-like element for fans. Still, Keighley says all of that info will be revealed ahead of the event next year, teasing what people can expect.
"In keeping with tradition, we'll have tons of exciting announcements from the developers that are pushing the games industry forward, and will once again highlight other publisher digital events, demos, and more surprises to be announced in the coming months," Keighley says in a press release.
That June 8 start date, and the other Summer Game Fest events likely to follow, put Keighley's show just ahead of E3 2023. The ESA and ReedPop plan to bring E3 back between June 13 and June 16, 2023. With five days of lead time on E3, Summer Game Fest can coexist with the long-running gaming conference and encompass the plethora of publisher showcases that tend to precede E3.
Geoff Keighley made it clear that he wants Summer Game Fest and E3 to coexist for a while. "We've had extensive conversations with ReedPop about E3," he said in an interview with Epic Games Store. "I think it'll kind of fit together and flow kind of from what we're doing into what they're doing and stuff. E3, to me, is this kind of master brand that represents gaming news in June."
With the start date of Summer Game Fest confirmed, the coexistence of these two summer gaming events is a reality. Summer Game Fest returns on June 8, 2023.