Nintendo very briefly confirms new Pokémon game on Switch
Likely to emerge as the biggest story out of today's latest round of news at the 2017 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Nintendo has announced that it is working on a new Pokémon title for its Switch console.
In the very brief announcement, the title was described as a new entry to the "core RPG" series of Pokémon games. Presumably that means it will be the launching pad for a new generation of Pokémon creatures, and if so, it would be the first time that has happened on a home console.
The original Pokémon games were released in 1996 on the handheld Game Boy system. Since then, the titles known colloquially as the "core RPG" titles have been released exclusively on handheld consoles (the Game Boy and Nintendo DS families of systems).
Although the Switch is generally classified as a home console that you can plug into an HDMI port, since it has an embedded display, it can also be unplugged and used as a (slightly bulky) portable system. This has led to serious questions about the future of a dedicated handheld system, and this announcement signaling that the Pokémon franchise is moving away from the DS product line will fuel that discussion.
The company made the announcement during its live-streamed pre-E3 presentation. Unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo does not have a glitzy, theatrical event in the historical environs of downtown Los Angeles. It instead rolls out a pre-packaged video of game trailers and announcements in a live online video feed. The news and announcements are just as real, though, as this is the first official confirmation that the core line of Pokémon games is coming to a home console.
Last week, the Kyoto-based gaming giant confirmed that it was working on an enhanced port of the Wii U Pokemon fighting game Pokken Tournament for the Switch. That news had mixed reactions since it is just a re-packaged Wii U title -- criticism that was also directed at the first version of Mario Kart to release on the Switch. A new core Pokémon title will, however, be a major driver of sales for the platform.
The tentative and vague release target for the unnamed new Pokémon game is 2018.
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