Pokemon back with a bang & the internet loses its mind once again

chekohler (70)in #gaming • 6 years ago

Pokemon is back and I haven't seen the internet in a frenzy since the release of Pokemon Go back in July 2016. Yes, the famous free to play augmented reality game is almost two years old and its aged faster than anyone thought possible. Many of the casual gamers who flocked to the app even before it was officially launched in their country and the demand was so huge that Niantic struggled to keep its servers going and while it was a huge hit and the highlight of 2016 in terms of gaming the appeal quickly wore off.

A combination of high volumes slowing servers, glitches in the game, poor direction on development, overpromising on features and the repetitive nature of the game quickly had numbers dropping from the record highs it experienced and the game eventually faded into obscurity and the world went on. A few million hardcore pokemon go fans still continue to play but It's nowhere near what the initial launch had.

So what did Nintendo and Game freak do off the back of the initial success of Pokemon Go? They went back to the drawing board, rehashed our old favourites and given us a new take on it

Introducing Pokemon: Let's Go series

Nintendo and Game freak have announced a new series in the Pokemon franchise. Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! Which will be the ’ first exclusive Nintendo Switch games, but they may not be the RPGs longtime fans were expecting and the 2 companies have been teasing for years.

But during a press conference held in Japan, The Pokémon Company confirmed that its next generation of games will arrive in 2019, so there is still hope.

Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! will support two-player mode

The teased autumn titles, Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, build on the popularity of the Pokemon Go augmented reality game for smartphones by allowing players to connect their Switch gameplay with the mobile app.

Piers Harding-Rolls, director of games research at IHS Markit, said that the games are "obvious strategic decisions" for Nintendo.

"The new games fit with their strategy and appeal to young users, female gamers and family audiences, with co-operative game play,"
"They are taking advantage of momentum on different platforms. Pokemon Go has a large addressable audience that's been engaged on mobile devices in the past."
"That shows me that their thinking is more all-encompassing than a single platform strategy."

The Pokémon Company first revealed that a traditional set of Pokémon games were in the works for Switch during Nintendo’s E3 2017 stream. This tiny check-in marks our first update on the projects since last June; until we learn more, we have the newcomer-friendly, Pokémon Go-inspired Let’s Go! games to tide us over. They’re out in November.

“We’re also hard at work on another Pokemon core RPG designed for Nintendo Switch,” said series director Junichi Masuda toward the end of the presentation. “It’s being designed simultaneously with Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!

“Today I can only tell you of its existence, but I can assure you that there’s another game that we’re pouring a lot of our energy into over at Game Freak,” according to Masuda.

Pokemon Generation 8

Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara later clarified that these titles will be “in the tradition of Pokémon X and Y and Sun and Moon,” suggesting that they’ll comprise the eight generation (!) of games.

Keynote and launch

Watch the full, 45-minute press conference below for more info on both Let’s Go! games, alongside Pokémon Quest, which is available on Switch now.

Pokemon Quest

Apart from the launch fo Go Pikachu and Go Evee, Nintendo also announced the launch of another Pokemon game with the launch of Pokemon Quest. This game is a very basic introudction to the world of Pokemon and many gaming experts said they are likely to "broaden the appeal" of the device and the franchise. Pulling users into the ecosystem for the preparation of the Gen 8 games

The Switch is a hybrid gaming console which can be used in connection with a TV or smart tablet, or as a stand-alone portable device, giving developers a whole new platform to develop for and take franchises forward.

Pokemon reinvents itself with new games

Although Switch's worldwide sales have been strong so far, the new games are widely seen as a way to continue that momentum and avoid the fate of the console's predecessor, the Wii U. That console was discontinued in 2017 after a five-year run, following what many considered to be a fatal dry spell of new games in its second year on the market.

New hardware on the way

Nintendo has also announced a new device, the Pokeball Plus, which can be used to play Pokemon Go and the new Switch titles instead of the Switch's Joy-Con controller. The Switch has sold more than 17 million units, more in its first year than the Wii U sold in its entire lifetime and Nintendo looks set to now support its growing audeince with some of the most popular franchises whcih were largely absent on the Wii U.

The market reaction

Nintendo share prices rose by more than 4% in early trading after the announcements were made in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Looking to set up for E3

Nintendo's next big scheduled update will be at E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles in June. Further details - including the as-of-yet unnamed fourth title for Switch - may be announced there.

Have your say?

Are you excited about this latest range of Pokemon based games? Or has the nostalgia worn off? Do you think they're just milking the brand to death at this point?