Last night The Pokemon Company revealed four new Pokémon titles. Pokémon Quest, which throws you into an island of Pokémon where you battle and collect ingredients. While very much a mobile game when it comes to gameplay and monetization there is still fun to be had.
Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee are continuations of the wildly successful Pokémon Go on mobile. Here’s what a Game Freak executive had to say:
“These games really combine the broad appeal of Pokemon Go with the functionality offered by Nintendo Switch,” said Junichi Masuda, an executive at Game Freak Inc., the developer of the games announced on Wednesday. “They allow an easy to pick-up-and-play experience for players who are new to our Pokemon RPGs, while also providing a fresh experience for long-time fans of the series.”
Here’s a Tweet from Yuji Nakamura, Bloomberg tech reporter in Tokyo.
Pokemon CEO: Let’s Go P/E are more focused on home gaming, but next year’s games will be more about handheld elements
— Yuji Nakamura (@ynakamura56) May 30, 2018
“Next year’s games will be more about handheld elements”
It’s this statement that makes me wonder if we will see the next core Pokemon game on 2DS and the Switch? Why the focus on “handheld elements? On one side of the argument, a new core Pokemon title will move more Switch consoles and increase the install base. But then it’s the install base of the 2DS/3DS that leaves me to wonder if the next core game comes to both systems. Could it be the 2DS’s swan song? If they launched on both systems they could potently release four games that all interacted with each other, a blue, red, green, and yellow if you will. The HD home console experience could be the lure for the Switch, but there could still be a Pokemon game available for those 2DS/3DS owners that have not taken the plunge on the Switch yet. Nintendo is still releasing new models of the New 2DS XL, with a Zelda themed one for the states and black and green and white and lavender in Europe.
You may remember this IGN article and this quote imparticular:
“With Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon,” explains Ohmori, “we’ve tried to eke that out more and really, really push the system to its absolute limits, and we’re now feeling that perhaps this is the maximum of what we can get out. So we’re really treating Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon as the culmination of our work with the 3DS system.”
That statement makes it pretty clear that Pokemon would be moving on from the 2DS/3DS, but that was October and the 2DS/3DS sold over 750,000 units in December. This system still sells and Pokemon sell on the system. Could the core game be a soft launch for the series on the Switch? If the games came out on both systems, and they were able to interact with each other, it would mean massive software sales. On the other hand, if Nintendo wants to move more Switches keeping it Switch only will definitely grow the Switch’s install base.
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Source: Link
