June2019
News Tweet Analysis Reveals Controversial Pokémon Cull Has Fans Evenly Split
Hard Pokéscience using AI, language processing and bar charts
Update: It appears that we misinterpreted this data in our original story, specifically the ‘sentiment’ analysis. After reviewing the findings again, the zero value tweets that display “no emotion at all” appear to include the #BringBackNationalPokedex example itself, which we...
News Nintendo, Creatures And Game Freak Apply For 'Dynamax Band' Trademark In Japan
Increase the size of your Pokémon
One of the new features in Pokémon Sword and Shield is the "dynamax" ability – allowing trainers to transform their pocket monsters into giants on the battlefield for a short period of time. There are also raids in the game where you can fight alongside other players to defeat these overly large Pokémon. With...
Soapbox Why Sword And Shield's Pokémon Purge Will Benefit Everyone
And how the cull draws focus from more significant issues
When you're trying to please a fanbase that's been around for over 20 years, any major change to the status quo will always divide opinion. Pokémon is a series that’s kept under heavy scrutiny by its loyal community, with each minute detail studied under a Silph Scope with no place for...
Hands On Pokémon Sword And Shield’s Dynamax Mode Has Us Shook
Adding a whole new dynamic to battling
As our first Galar stadium demo battle began – our on-screen character stepping into the crowded arena to a roar of cheers – the ground was quite literally shaking beneath our feet. No, that’s not a metaphor. Thanks to the subwoofers installed in our station at Nintendo’s E3 booth, and the more...
Random PETA Makes Woolly Statement About Sheep Pokémon Wooloo, Backlash Ensues
Trainers unite!
American animal rights organisation PETA is once again using a video game to make a controversial statement. This time the target is Pokémon Sword and Shield and its new sheep pocket monster Wooloo – which was revealed to the world during the most recent Pokémon Direct presentation. You see, Wooloo has wool and PETA doesn't...
Rumour Is The Grass-Type Gym Leader In Sword And Shield Teasing The Date Of The Next Pokémon Direct?
Some fans seem to think so
Remember the overly buff child-like gym leader featured in Nintendo's recent Pokémon Direct? In case you need reminding, we're talking about the Grass-type expert named Milo, who is one of the eight leaders you'll have to defeat on your path to the Galar Region's Pokémon League. Well, there appears to be a wild theory...
Watch Pokémon Direct June 2019 - New Details On Pokémon Sword And Shield Revealed!
Watch it right here, with added chatter!
Guess what? A brand-new Pokémon Direct is set to air today, Wednesday 5th June! The Direct will focus on the upcoming Pokémon Sword and Shield games for Nintendo Switch and will feature "roughly 15 minutes of new information" for us to devour with giddy excitement. <liveblog...
News Nintendo, Creatures Inc And Game Freak Apply For 'Pokegenic' Trademark In Japan
Gotta trademark 'em all
Update: Serebii.net webmaster Joe Merrick has explained what exactly the 'Pokegenic' trademark is linked to over on Twitter. It's being used to highlight the photo spots at this year's Pikachu festival in Yokohama. Earlier this week, The Pokémon Company made four major announcements during its 2019 press conference. If...
May2019
News Game Freak's Junichi Masuda Reflects On The Original Yoshi And Pokémon Games
A dose of nostalgia
Game Freak has shared a new video on its YouTube channel featuring director Junichi Masuda talking about the development of the original Pokémon games as well as the puzzle game Yoshi – also known as Mario & Yoshi in Europe and Yoshi's Egg in Japan. For starters, most people to this day still don't know the classic...
News Famitsu Shares New Screenshot Of The Battle System In Game Freak's Upcoming Switch RPG
Lovely stuff
Yesterday, we found out how Game Freak is attempting to create something "more exciting" than Pokémon in its upcoming Switch RPG, tentatively titled Town. Unfortunately, there's been little to no information about this new project since its
News Game Freak Is Trying To Create Something "More Exciting Than Pokémon"
Original projects taking priority to keep the team fresh
Game Freak, the makers of a little series of games known as Pokémon, is currently focusing on original projects rather than its flagship brand, according to game programmer and director Masayuki Onoue. Speaking with our friends over at Video Games Chronicle, Onoue gave details about how the...
News Pocket Card Jockey Dev Team Discuss The Chance Of A Sequel
Good odds
In 2016, Pokémon specialist Game Freak released Pocket Card Jockey on the 3DS. Beyond the cute graphics, the eShop title was a dangerously addictive combination of horse racing and solitaire. Here on Nintendo Life, we gave it seven out of ten stars and said it was worth a look. A series of interviews with the game's core members have now...
April2019
News Giga Wrecker Alt. Is Receiving A Limited Run Physical Release
Pre-orders open later this week
Limited Run has announced it will be handling the physical release of Game Freak's Giga Wrecker Alt. for the Nintendo Switch. Pre-orders go live on 12th of April (aka. this Friday). Below is the official announcement tweet along with a few extra details: The 2D action side-scroller first arrived on the Steam...
News Giga Wrecker Alt.'s Japanese Delay Won't Impact The Western Launch
Still coming to the west on May 2nd
After the Taiwan Digital Game Rating Committee revealed Giga Wrecker Alt. would be released on the Switch, it was then confirmed the Game Freak developed title would be arriving on Nintendo's hybrid platform on 2nd May 2019. Unfortunately, "due to various circumstances" the publisher Rising Star Games has now...
March2019
News Armoured Mewtwo Trademarked In Japan
Preparing for battle
Following the reveal of Pokémon Sword and Shield for the Nintendo Switch during last week's Pokémon Direct, it's been discovered Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures Inc. filed a trademark in Japan for Armoured Mewtwo earlier on in the same month. The trademark covers videogames, merchandising and events. If you keep up with...
News Nintendo Of America Deletes Tweet About The Gyms In Pokémon Sword And Shield
Whoops!
Nintendo of America appears to have accidentally shared new information about Pokémon Sword and Shield ahead of schedule. According to the Pokémon website Serebii.net, Nintendo of America published a tweet, confirming "once and for all" the stadiums found across the Galar region are in fact Gyms. While this may have already been evident...
News Sobble Voted Favourite Sword And Shield Starter Pokémon In Japanese Poll
Water-type wins
Following the reveal of Pokémon Sword and Shield last week, the official Pokémon Twitter account ran a poll aski
February2019
News Game Freak Thanks Pokémon Fans For Continued Support Over The Past 23 Years
"We as a company are deeply moved by this day"
The reveal of Pokémon Sword and Shield for the Nintendo Switch also marks 23 years since the release of Red and Green on the Game Boy in Japan. One company that's been along for the ride since the very beginning is Game Freak. Without it, who knows if the pocket monster franchise would have lasted for...
Video Our Extended Reaction To The New Pokémon Games On Switch
Exciting times
Now that you've seen the latest Pokémon Direct, viewed our complete breakdown of the trailer and slapped down a pre-order, it's time to listen to what our lovely video producer Alex Olney has to say about
Gallery A Complete Breakdown Of The Pokémon Sword And Shield Trailer
Time to arm up
Well, we finally got some solid information on the long-awaited next entry in the Pokémon series! It's now got a name; Pokémon Sword & Shield will be releasing this year (thank goodness) and we've got a breakdown below of the trailer from today's Pokémon Direct. Let's have a closer look at the details of the trailer... Things...
Rumour Pokémon News Coming Soon According To Leaker
Someone who predicted most of the last Direct
It's not even a week since the February Nintendo Direct dropped and finally kickstarted 2019 for Nintendo fans. Of course, the world of video games is fast-moving, and we all knew it wouldn't be long before the rumour mill began creaking and moving again. Our friends over at NintendoSoup have noticed...
News Prototype Red & Blue Data Sheds More Light On Pokémon's Origins
We could have been catching Capsule Monsters instead
Similar to the previously unearthed prototype designs for Pokémon Gold & Silver, further discoveries seem to have been made about original Pokémon Red & Blue monsters. A fresh batch of prototype assets has been published by Helix Chamber
News Pokémon: Let’s Go Demo Now Available From The Switch eShop
Try before you buy
A free demo for the recent Switch release Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! is now available to download from the eShop. If you haven't had the chance to experience these new entries yet, now is the chance to see what they're all about. The demo itself will introduce you to the game's unique gyro mechanics and...
News Multiple Nintendo Treehouse Q&A Sessions Scheduled For Pokémon Day
Is a surprise on the way?
27th February marks the day when Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green were first launched in Japan in 1996. Each year, Nintendo celebrates this special day with Pokémon Day. This year, the Nintendo New York store will once again be hosting activities throughout the week. Starting on 27th February, there’ll be events such as...
News Pokémon Sales Slump To All-Time Low In Japan, Despite Strong Worldwide Performance Of Let's Go
Gotta sell some more
Nintendo’s latest financial data has revealed Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! has now shifted around 10 million units worldwide. This places these latest entries in the series as the fifth best-selling games on the Nintendo Switch. It's quite an achievement. As rosy as it might sound for the new Pokémon...
