Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

Well I do, as another poster said, for Pokemon they said "at least a year to make" in June. December 2018 is 18 months from the initial announcement for both of them, so I don't know how anyone can not think that at LEAST one of the two games will be out before 2019

@rk3388 They never said ''at least one year to make'', that's way too short. They said the game may not release for more than a year. There was a year between gen 2 and 3, between gen 3 and 4, and between 6 and 7, plus a year with no new games isn't uncommon. I find it unlikely that they debuted gen 7 in 2016, release two sequels in 2017 and debut another generation in 2018. Additionally, they've talked about the challenges of a ''console'' Pokemon game, so I could understand if this game took longer to develop than any previous game.

Metroid Prime 4? Yeah, no, they barely started development. That's a 2019 or 2020 game.

@Octane Just like how XC2 was definitely not a 2017 game as said by so many.

I say it could happen, because anything CAN happen. Thats the thing. Theres no saying it wont until they confirm such, and there is no use saying it will as well.

Who's to say that development didn't start sooner. Just because they announce a game with no footage doesn't mean they haven't been working on it for a while. It was inevitable to move to the Switch so why not sooner then later.

@Spoony_Tech If Doom can just get flat out announced for Christmas, then I'm sure anything is on the table for next year as of now. Can't rule anything out.

@BLP_Software Sure, anything can happen. Maybe they release gen 8, 9 and 10 all within the same year; spring, summer and holiday. Anything CAN happen.

@Octane OK that's splitting hairs - either way he used over a year as a general timeline and not 2 or 3 years. I am just trying to be optimistic. Either way- I am 100% sure we will get at least one Nintendo heavy hitter next holiday and it won't be Yoshi.

@Octane Well within reason of course!

But you have to remember you cant prove something without compelling evidence but you also cant disprove either.

As it stands as its just as likely to happen as it isnt.

@rk3388 Of course, but there's plenty of time to reveal more games for 2018.

@BLP_Software But if you had to bet on it? 2018 or later? I'd bet on later for the reasons I mentioned. Pokemon skipping a year isn't uncommon, so that's possible. Two years for one generation is awfully short, and this new game will probably take longer to develop than previous entries. It's possible, but unlikely IMO.

Metroid and Pokemon sounded like "by the way, we're working on it" announcements to me. Like how Nintendo announced a new Zelda game in 2013, and it took them four years to release the actual game.

Funny how https://gonintendo.com/stories/290404-nintendo-says-portabili... says it's "Portability great games and publisher support" yet Reggie emphasizes "home-console experience".

Every year there's a Pokémon release. And usually every other year it's a remake or what have you. This year is the remake year. Next year will be a new release. If it was going to take them several years more, he wouldn't have specifically said "may take more than a year to release". I think holiday 2018 is their target release time because they always release Pokémon games in November. Only they know when they started development and only they know when it should be finished and if he says about a year, then giving them 18 months is more than sufficient. Without actual evidence to suggest it's going to take even longer than the 50% longer extended timeline already granted, I think we should base our assumptions that November 2018 is the target release date. That could change. They could hit development issues. Nothing is set in stone. But that seems to be when the actual developer indicated it would release. So let's go with that.

If by chance it doesn't make it for November 2018 then it's going to be delayed for an entire year because they only ever release Pokémon games in November. And because of that I believe they will simply bring on more staff at crunch time to ensure the game is released on time. But let's assume that they just absolutely positively cannot get the game out in a year and a half despite saying they need another a year... what will be our big late Oct/Nov holiday game for 2018? Fire Emblem? Can't be. It's a big franchise but it's not that big. Yoshi? No, and that's likely coming early 2018. A Smash port? They'd never stick a port in that holiday slot ( maybe they would for 3DS which is a dying platform but not for Switch). What other franchises does Nintendo have with the clout to take that spot? Animal Crossing? Maybe but it would have to actually be in development and exist and their target release would have to line up with next holiday...

@UmniKnight
Don't see anything funny about it. That's exactly what it is. You're getting full console games both on the TV as a home console, and on the go as a handheld/portable home console.

That's the beauty of the system. People can finally play full console games anywhere.

@JaxonH I've never had a Vita, but isn't that what that device was going for? And what I mean, is how it's funny that the site I've copy pasted felt the need to emphasize handheld. Does that require emphasis? You tell me.

@JaxonH If you're looking for a holiday game, there's Retro's project.

1996 - Green/Red, followed by Blue later that year
1997 - –
1998 - Yellow
1999 - Gold/Silver
2000 - Crystal
2001 - –
2002 - Ruby/Sapphire
2003 - –
2004 - FireRed/LeafGreen, followed by Emerald later that year
2005 - –
2006 - Diamond/Pearl
2007 - –
2008 - Platinum
2009 - HeartGold/SoulSilver
2010 - Black/White
2011 - –
2012 - Black 2/White 2
2013 - X/Y
2014 - Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire
2015 - –
2016 - Sun/Moon
2017 - Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
2018 - ???

New generation happens once every three/four years (bolded), and every generation has always had at least one year without a release. Two years is, again, awfully short for a generation. On top of that, next year's championships will be SM, with 2019 likely being USUM (since every entry has had at least represented the championships one year). That means 2020's championships will probably be the first to be centered around the new games, that also lines up with a 2019 release. Unless USUM is forgotten sooner than it seems.

@Tsurii
I classify US/UM in the remake/revision/ultimate version category. I certainly don't categorize them as new games. We don't know when they started development. All we know is what they tell us. And if they tell us another year then until proven otherwise I'm going to expect exactly that.

@Octane
You've got a fair point. And probably the best argument I've seen yet against a 2018 release. Nonetheless, taking what they said at face value, that could change with the next release. After all, there's a lot of things happening that have never happened before... such as Pokémon coming to a home console.

@UmniKnight
I think it does. It's the handheld portion of the console that makes it so special. That's why everybody loves it so much. It would be a fine system on its own as a home console because the games are great but, it's the duality that makes Switch what it is.

But people should stop trying to box it in with labels all the time, saying "it's just a home console" or "it's just a handheld" or "it's just a gaming tablet". No... it's all the above. And that's why it's so amazing

@JaxonH I've learned that PR talk is often just PR talk. When a company announces a game that's coming Q1 of the next year, they call it ''early [insert year]''. When it's a holiday title, they rarely say ''late [insert year]'', it's always just the year. Same applies to Pokemon, assuming it is a 2019 title, they're not going to say that, because it seems so far away. They will always leave you with the possibility that it's coming sooner, even though they already know that won't happen. That's why I don't read too much into what GameFreak said.

Generation 6 was pretty short too, with no ''third'' version. But they reused a lot of assets for Sun and Moon as a result. I find it unlikely that they can develop an HD Pokémon game in such a short amount of time. If two years is all they put into generation 8, I expect a lot of reused assets again.

''such as Pokémon coming to a home console.''

Well... let's not pretend it was their own idea to develop for a home console. The Switch is the next handheld, so they have little choice, and it just so happens to double as a home console. That was bound to happen!

@Octane Careful. Have you seen the film 'A Beautiful Mind'? You'll go nuts looking for patterns like that! Nothing stopping Pokémon releasing next year on Switch. If it doesn't happen it's because it's not ready ...not because the bloomin years didn't align lol.

@GrailUK Like BLP said, everything's possible within reason. A big HD Pokémon within two years after previous generation just doesn't sound reasonable to me. That's all I'm saying. There were three years between XY and SM, and those games reused a lot of assets. If there's only two years between SM and the next gen, I expect a similar situation. I just find it very unlikely.

And the new about patterns is, sometimes they exist, sometimes they don't. A new generation every three/four years is a pattern. Because it doesn't make any sense to drag out a generation for ten years, nor does it make any sense to release multiple generation within the same year, so it makes sense it happens every three/four years. Not because it's law, but because it's logical. Things happen within a frame of logic, and there's nothing wrong with using that for speculation.

And again, I don't think it's impossible, I just find it very unlikely that the new Pokémon game is ready by next year.