The Pokemon Presents stream on Pokemon Day this past week has been one of the shortest streams ever, but for the updates given, one new announcement was the introduction of a brand-new standalone mobile app for Pokemon TCG, Pokemon TCG Pocket. The mobile app will be coming later this year and will be giving a new platform for Pokemon TCG collecting, coming with a special illustration view of Pokemon cards and much more, all while remaining unaffected and vice versa by other TCG software like Pokemon TCG Live.
Pokemon TCG Pocket:
The announcement came with different teams coming together to make this new mobile application for Pokemon TCG, The Pokemon Company, Creatures Inc. and DeNA working as developers. The game will feature opening packs, collecting Pokemon cards in a digital format, Trading digital cards, TCG matches against other players or users, and more.
The mobile game will be getting old and new Pokemon cards including those completely exclusive to Pokemon TCG Pocket. This means these cards wouldn’t be available anywhere else in any other format, hence this puts the question of some incentive and ingame purchases coming through with the game.
Players will however get to open 2 Pokemon TCG Pocket Booster Packs daily at no cost. The content will include older nostalgic cards from the main Pokemon TCG card lineup, as well as newer ones coming in the future after the release.
More information will also come in the future along with the actual release date for the mobile title. Here is the trailer for the game coming later this year;
The highlight of the announcement was the dedicated development going to the card that will be featured in Pokemon TCG Pocket. As mentioned by the president and CEO of Creatures Inc. Yuji Kitano, the cards within this platform will be getting special animations and illustrations, a direction that aims to touch the feeling of collecting real Pokemon cards and getting a rare one with its own unique shine and quality. The cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket won’t be simple copies of them as they are in real life, instead, rarer cards would be interactive, with players being able to dive into the artwork. The quality of real Pokemon cards has a certain standard that The Pokemon Company and Creatures Inc. meet through paper material, production process quality, colors and more.
Immersive Cards:
The aim to give the cards this additional polish in their digital form aims to give a worthwhile platform to Pokemon TCG collectors and fans around the world when Pokemon TCG Pocket arrives later this year on iOS and Android devices.
“When we developet physical cards, we strive to please by taking great care with our paper quality, colors, and printing process. Since this game uses mobile devices rather than paper, we’re challenging ourselves to express that care in new ways that are only possible digitally, such as using the characteristics of the screen to show off brilliant colors and stylish effects.”
Yuji Kitano, President & CEO Creatures Inc. on Pokemon TCG Pocket.
The trailer for the upcoming mobile title gave an example of this direction with a digital Full Art Pikachu ex card, being called an ‘Immersive card’ where the artwork is interactive and opens up to players.
“One way we’re accomplishing this is with Immersive Cards, which give players the experience of leaping into the world of the card Illustration.”
Pokemon TCG Pocket Game Rules:
With a new TCG title, TCG matches will obviously be one reason players use it. The announcement also went through the news that new game rules will be set for battles in the game, allowing players to be able to enjoy TCG matches more casually and conveniently as compared to game rules in Pokemon TCG Live.
The aim of the title is to provide a new platform where Pokemon TCG fans and collectors can enjoy the hobby, and meet the standard set by the collaboration of the three development teams to release the game later this year. There was not any mention of this title coming as a replacement for Pokemon TCG Live, and right now it’s being considered as an alternate digital app fans can use.
TCG Live Complaints and New Competition:
On the other side, the reception for Pokemon TCG Live itself is very mixed, some consider it a good upgrade to the older Pokemon TCG Online application that was available on multiple platforms including PCs, mobiles and Tablets, while others consider it as a negative overhaul with bugs and glitches making its usage a worse experience than it was for TCG Online. This comes as an intriguing aspect that another online TCG platform is getting released soon that would give competition to Pokemon TCG Live. It certainly would meet TCG Live’s negative reception once and aim to deliver a better experience to those who don’t like TCG Live, but only time will tell if it is a worthy jump to Pokemon TCG Pocket.
Players can simply check out the game once it is released and decide for themselves which platform would be better to use.
For more on the upcoming title, check out the official website for Pokemon. We’ll also be covering Pokemon news on our website the same way we’ve covered mainline Pokemon videogame titles, mobile apps like Pokemon and also other news from the Pokemon Presents stream, so please check us out if you’re a Pokemon fan.
We’ll be sure to provide updates on future information coming for Pokemon TCG Pocket and other Pokemon titles as well so stay tuned.
