pokemon go

Pokemon Go Player’s Guide to Toronto: Nathan Phillips Square

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Attracting nearly 1.5 million visitors every year, Nathan Phillips Square is Canada’s largest city square. As a tourist, you’ll want to come by and see our unique city hall building to the north, which was actually featured in the movie Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Getting your picture in front of the now-iconic Toronto sign should also be in your list of to-dos. If you’re there in the winter, bring a pair of skates, as the pond is frozen over for skating.

As a Pokemon Go player, it’s also a solid, and quite possibly underrated, place to visit.

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Pokemon Go Player’s Guide to Toronto: Jack Layton Ferry Terminal

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Pokemon Go Jack Layton Ferry TerminalWhen it comes to the most talked-about Pokemon Go hot-spots in Toronto, nothing will ever beat the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal. Located at the south end of the city, it quickly developed a reputation for being the best place to catch pokemon thanks to its tightly-packed PokeStops. During its peak, thousands of players from across the Greater Toronto Area would make the pilgrimage to the promise land in hopes of hauling back a king’s ransom.

Unfortunately, the hype got too big, causing real problems with the people who showed up to actually use the ferry. A few weeks ago, a number of PokeStops were removed and the crowds dissipated. Should you cancel your travel plans now? Not necessarily.

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I Spent Real Money in Pokemon Go

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I generally avoid free-to-play games. Call me old school, but I much prefer the idea of paying for “all” of a game upfront, versus playing a game that nickel and dimes me over the long haul. In particular, I hate when free-to-play games that are so focused on milking money from you that its commerce system detracts from the game itself.

Pokemon Go, while being a free-to-play game with in-app purchases, has been much more palatable. I’ve put in dozens of hours into the game and had a blast without putting in a cent. If I wanted to, I could adjust my play style a bit and continue to play the free way. However, I recently pulled out the credit card and bought a few gold coins.

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Pokemon Go and the Upcoming Buddy System

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In the latest build of Pokemon Go, snippets of code have been discovered that indicate that a buddy system of sorts is on the way. Based on what’s been deciphered from the code, it looks like the game will allow you to walk alongside one of your pokemon so that it can collect candy for its species. This is a brilliant idea!

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Trying to Obtain the Perfect Pokemon in Pokemon Go

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When I first started playing Pokemon Go, my primary goal was to get a Raichu. Raichu is my favourite, and I figured I would be happy as soon as I got one. Then I started playing the game and quickly realized that CP is an important stat. Fine. I’ll aim to get a Raichu with a good CP, whatever that is.

But as I started to learn more about the inner workings of pokemon, settling with any old Raichu wasn’t good enough. In this post, we look at the other factors that determine the quality of a pokemon and why getting the “perfect” version of one is so hard.

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Pokemon Go and the Use of Tracking Apps Like Pokevision

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During my first few days of playing Pokemon Go, and impressive bird-like shadow appeared in my Nearby section. Wanting to strike before it disappeared, I rushed out of my home, trying my best to catch it. Unfortunately, I never actually encountered it. Using the old Nearby system, I wandered in circles with no meaningful way of tracking my progress. As it turned out, the game was actually glitched during that time where the steps weren’t decreasing in count as you got closer. I’ve done many embarrassing things in my day, but aimlessly walking around a kids playground as parents curiously watched me was up there.

After this incident, I started using Pokevision. Unlike the Nearby system or the crowdsourced solutions that were popular early on, Pokevision taps directly into the game’s API to show the exact locations of nearby pokemon, as well as how long they’ll be there. Whether you view it as cheating or as a valuable tool for catching them all, it’s certainly a game-changer.

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Playing Pokemon Go at Jack Layton Ferry Terminal in Toronto

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Pokemon Go Jack Layton Ferry TerminalJack Layton Ferry Terminal in Toronto shuttles 25,000 people per day to-and-from Toronto Island. Over the past few weeks, it’s also been the hottest place for Pokemon Go players to congregate and catch them all. What makes it so appealing is that there are four overlapping PokeStops that are constantly equipped with lures. Furthermore, its geographic location by the water makes it a prime spot for land and water-based pokemon.

The ferry terminal has been so hot that it’s appeared on the local news. Unfortunately, the news isn’t all good. Due to the increased traffic and players getting in the way of people that actually need to use the ferry, the city has asked for the PokeStops to be moved or removed entirely. Before Niantic shuts this down, Steff and I made the pilgrimage to Toronto’s pokemon Valhalla.

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Early Impressions of Pokemon Go

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Pokemon Go mania is sweeping the planet and I am not immune to the madness. My background in the franchise is fairly limited, but I did beat Pokemon X, so I get the gist of what the core games in the series are about. Unlike those, this one uses the power of GPS and augmented reality to put you at the heart of the action. On paper, this should be the franchise in its ultimate form. So far, does the game look to be on track to meet or exceed the lofty expectations in front of it?

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