Pokemon GO received an update over the weekend, but maybe not the one you were hoping for just yet.
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One of the truly great things about mobile games compared to other platforms for video games is that they are works in progress. It’s much easier for developers to drop in content updates on iOS or Android, which is why mobile gamers expect that their favorite titles will be updated frequently.
Pokemon GO should be no exception, and even though the latest gaming sensation is just a few weeks old, Niantic has already released an update for it that arrived this weekend. It doesn’t add much in the way of new content or features, but it does make some fixes and generally tidies the game up a bit.
Here’s what you can expect to find if you haven’t gone for your Pokewalk yet today:
- There’s a safety warning when you start the game – Yes, it literally tells you, “Do not enter dangerous areas while playing Pokemon GO.” That was necessary, sadly.
- Footprints have been removed from the ‘Nearby’ menu – This feature never worked right anyway — the footprints were supposed to let you know which Pokemon were closer than others — so Niantic simply removed it.
- Updated Pokemon details UI – This is a change so minor, you might have trouble even remembering what the devs tinkered with when you tap on a Pokemon. One thing you can now do is to transfer the Pokemon back to the professor from a menu in the bottom-right corner of the details screen, which also includes the option to mark that monster as a favorite.
Everything else is mostly behind the scenes stuff, as there were fixes made to the game text, certain map elements, and some adjustments made to both the values and animations during battles. Niantic also promises some bugs have been squashed during wild Pokemon encounters, which is something for which we should all be grateful.
As for meatier stuff, like trading, multiplayer battles and the like, we’ll have to wait a little bit longer. But any update is a good update for Pokemon GO as it attempts to hang onto its title as the “it” thing in gaming for a while longer.