Almost three months after the games were released, players have discovered Pokémon Sword & Shield’s case has a really cool interactive feature.
The age of physical media is coming to an end. Chances are it will never disappear completely, but more and more people are opting to buy digital versions of music, movies, and video games. It grants them instant access to that media on the majority of occasions and is one less thing cluttering up shelves and boxes in your home.
In terms of the three forms of media mentioned above, gaming is a little behind the other two in this arena. It seems as if a lot of gamers can’t tear themselves away from owning games physically rather than just downloading them. It’s an odd phenomenon as even once we have the physical copy, we still have to insert it into the console and then download it like we would have if we had bought a digital copy online.
As more and more gamers move from physical to digital, developers are having to come up with inventive ways to make going to the store to grab a copy worthwhile. Some games come with free gifts or bonuses only up for grabs with a physical copy. Game Freak didn’t do that with Pokémon Sword & Shield, or at least that’s what everybody thought until very recently.
Redditor Rancid Bean discovered the game’s covers are interactive. When looked at through the Google Lens app, they come to life. The video shown on the interactive version of the covers starts with the legendary Pokémon on the front coming to life, whether it be Zacian or Zamazenta, and then proceeds to show other scenes from the games, including the three starters.
Google Lens is obviously available on Android, but iOS users can also get in on the fun by accessing it via the Google app. We also have good news for those of you reading this who are now kicking yourselves for buying a digital copy of one of the games. Viewing the icon for the game on your Switch through Google Lens will have the same effect. Now, all we want to know is if this feature was only added recently, or if Game Freak just decided to see how long it would take for players to discover it by themselves.
Source: Reddit
