Tips for finding a Pokemon Go Plus today

With half a billion downloads under its belt, it’s fair to say that Pokemon Go has a rather large player base and today, a lot of those players seem to be out hunting for something a bit more substantial than the digital pocket monsters.

The Pokemon Go Plus accessory officially released this morning in North America. The problem is that it remains unclear where exactly a player is supposed to go to buy one.

There’s no information on what retail chains will be selling the device, which is designed to allow players to play a portion of the game without needing to use their mobile phone. The official site for the game just walks players through some of what the Plus can do.

Nintendo’s official Twitter account announced availability of the device, but hasn’t responded to direct questions about where interested customers can buy one.

PokéStop nearby? The #PokemonGO Plus accessory lets you know. Capture one next week on 9/16! https://t.co/u5d6jJmmE3 pic.twitter.com/qQiCxskX4u

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 8, 2016

Nintendo itself is also remaining quiet, not responding to our own repeated requests for where players can buy the device. The Pokemon Company told us they were looking into it and game developer Niantic pointed us to Nintendo for information.

Digging around a bit on our own we found that pre-orders of the device were sold out at Amazon and GameStop, though you could pick up the $35 trinket for more than $100 on eBay. Amazon third-party sellers were also selling the device for triple or more its price tag.

This morning we found a line of folks waiting to get their hands on the Nintendo World Store’s limited supplies in New York City.

Susana Polo

Fortunately, the official Nintendo store is limiting purchases to one per customer, though they declined to say how many they have on hand.

GameStop stores also seem to have the device in stock today at some locations. (I spoke to someone at a New York store who told me they had plenty and no line outside, about an hour before the store opened its doors.)

You can check supplies and have a store hold one for you to pick-up through the site by using GameStop’s website. I’ve tried that method, but haven’t yet received confirmation that one is available for me to pick-up in my area.

Apple Watch owners may also want to hold off for a promised update which will bring some of the same abilities of the Plus to the watch, though there’s no official timing on when that will hit.

Let us know what sort of luck you’ve had finding a Plus in your area. Do you know any tricks to help out your fellow trainers in their pursuit of seemingly rare plastic jewelry?

Russ Frushtick

Nintendo World Store, Pokémon Go Plus line

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