Pokédex iOS launches in Japan

Unlikely to be released elsewhere.

Nintendo subsidiary The Pokémon Company has just released Pokémon Zukan on Apple’s iOS platform. The app tagged as ‘Pokédex for iOS’ is currently a Japan only release priced at ¥170 (AU$2).

Zukan is similar to Pokédex 3D Pro in the way it allows fans to view close to 650 Pokémon.

The app comes with 150 different Pokémon and requires users to purchase four separate in-app packs for around ¥500 (AU$6) each if they wish to view the rest.

Surprisingly, Pokémon Zukan is not the first time The Pokémon Company has released an iOS app. In 2011 Pokémon Say Tap? was released for free. Notable differences between this and Zukan was the app’s limited availability and how it was not in direct competition with 3DS software.

So what are your thoughts about this? Should Nintendo and The Pokemon Company be entering into iOS app development? Or should they be focusing on improving their own digital platforms such as the eShop and claiming their own little section of this emerging market? Let us know!

Liam Doolan

I’ve been writing about video games since 2006 and playing them since I was a kid. I started out with a copy of Mario & Yoshi on the Game Boy and before I knew it was in debt to Tom Nook. These days I spend much of my time trawling the eShop for the latest downloadable hit.