I read a review of Pokemon Conquest recently, and found this passage interesting:

"There is something very odd going on in the world of Pokémon right now. Although Nintendo seemed to have long ago published their last DS game, for some reason both this and the forthcoming Pokémon Black/White 2 are DS games - not native 3DS titles. Why Nintendo should chose to sacrifice the 3DS’s hard won momentum in favour of a quick profit is a mystery, with all sorts of conspiracy theories circling around Nintendo’s future plans for, and control of, Pokémon. "

http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/games/906031-pokemon-conquest-rev...

What are these conspiracy theories? Anyone have an opinion on where the series is going?

Loving Pokemon Conquest by the way.

I imagine it's just due to the huge install base of the DS.

Conquest was a bit of a gamble, and Nintendo didn't back it strongly (evidenced by the lack of copies for sale at the moment) so probably figured that it would have a better chance on the DS than the 3DS. It was probably cheaper to make, too.

As for B&W2, I imagine they're in full swing on a true 3DS Pokemon game but want to make it something really special, so B&W2 being on the DS is just business as usual in the meantime (i.e. not splitting generations across handhelds).

This isn't something new. Both the NES, SNES and GBA had major games releases for them even after new consoles were released.

I think Gamefreak said that the reason they are making the games for the DS i because they are direct sequels this time. Also, does anyone know if 3DS games can communicate with DS games without any problems? Because if not, that was probably another reason.

Millions of people own a DS,and obvious it will appeal to a bigger audience.
With Pokemon Conquest coming out this week,and Pokemon Black and White 2,and surprising Pokemon Type and Get,the DS is having a brilliant swansong.

They were already in development and early 3DS sales weren't good anyway and 3D costs money and stuff.

CONSPIRACY!!111!!1

The DS user base is bigger than the 3DS user base as of right now and for the foreseeable future, if you want Pokemon for the 3DS than buy Pokemon Rumble Blast. Also Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire will (most likely) be out with in the next year.

My fence-sitting on B/W 2 has led me to the same question: where is the series heading? Based on patterns since Ruby and Sapphire, there should be a remake of Ruby and Sapphire sometime next year in Japan, meaning either next year or 2014 in the west. As likely as this seems, it could be just as unlikely as the 3DS is now in full swing and GameFreak has never released a remake as the first main Pokemon game on a new system, and it is hard to believe they will return to the DS for another game 2 years after the release of the 3DS.

Of course, they could buck the trend and release a 3DS Ruby and Sapphire remake first. Either way, assuming they continue the pattern of a new generation and a new region, a new generation game should be coming around 2014-2015. I figure 2014 is more likely if they skip the remake, and 2015 if they don't.

I have put way too much thought into this, but this is a series that introduced me to video games. Whatever the timeline, a new main Pokemon game for the 3DS is guaranteed, and with it will most likely come a huge jump for the series.

I actually think Gamefreak wants to 'end' this generation earlier. At least, not releasing any more main games and get to work on Pokemon 3DS. I think this way because BW2 is coming out the same year as in Japan (which never happens with main games) and they have already revealed Keldeo, Meloeta and Genesect which to me feels like Gamefreak wants to move on to the 3DS with a new generation and not focus on any more games this generation. I think Gemafreak said the 3DS i going to be a challenge for them, so i wouldn't be suprised if they need some extra time with it. My guess is that it won't be any remakes this generation but rather in the 6:th generation.

@Xilef That's kinda what I was thinking too. I'd actually prefer if they just focused on the next generation on 3DS, which I still think would come around 2014-2015. With the greater power of the 3DS and the 3D effect itself, GameFreak has some work ahead of them. Most people will probably expect a full 3D Pokemon game now with 3D battle animations at the very least. It will be interesting to see what direction they go with the graphics.

@Radixxs I wouldn't be to suprised is the character models in Pokedex 3D Pro en up being some kind of preperation for Gen 6. I think with the older consoles they really didn't have enough memory to create good looking 3D models for all the pokemon and attacks in addition to all the features in the game. The 3DS, however, is a different story...

True. But I'm torn, I still love the 2D look I grew up with, but it is probably time to move on. I wonder if it has enough power to render a full 3D world environment and 3D models of each Pokemon...