The Poké Ball Plus arrived as an accessory alongside the release of the Pokémon Let's Go games last year. It was created to enhance the overall experience of catching 'em all – by allowing players to take their pocket monsters with them on the go, and could also be used as a single-handed controller in both entries.
In Sword and Shield, the accessory can no longer be used as a controller, but you can still take your Pokémon for a walk and earn rewards. So, are there any future plans for this device? While there have been no formal announcements from Nintendo, according to Japanese Nintendo, the company recently applied for a total of five "new" game controller patents – all linked to the Poké Ball Plus. Here's the rundown:
The patents aim to properly arrange components in a spherical controller, to enable various operations using a game controller, to properly arrange components in a spherical controller, to improve the degree of freedom for a structure for light emission in a game controller, and to provide a game controller in which components are properly arranged in a substantially spherical game controller.
As usual, there's no guarantee anything new is necessarily on the way as these are just patents. It could simply be business as usual for Nintendo to ensure its designs remain protected.
What are your thoughts about this trademark? Have you used your Poké Ball Plus with Sword or Shield? Let us know!
[source japanesenintendo.com]
Comments (23)
I had one for Let's Go, was good fun and my daughter enjoyed the catching mechanic. Given it couldn't be used with Sword and Shield it was a bit of a gimmick and found its way to eBay...
Actually, this is a leaked patent for their own Death Star.
I really like my pokeball plus. Though it’s a bit weird when it comes to staying connected with Pokémon Go. I haven’t used it with shield yet, but I’ll make sure to see how it works there next time I empty it.
Ooooo, I bet Japan has used genetics and stuff to make real life pokemon! So, now they patent a Pokeball so we can catch them in real life! Yahoo!
@KoopaTheGamer I’m not prepared to witness the firepower of a fully armed and properly arranged spherical controller
@Eel It’s not compatible with Sword or Shield
@Supadav03 you just can’t use it as a controller. You can still take ur Pokémon for a walk
@Supadav03 yeah, it is compatible, just not as a controller.
I got one each for GO! but now I don't want to just spend $20 to get a mew from it. That is a waste of money now if they included more feature maybe but just to get a Mew is not a good deal.
@zoda_fett @Eel, sorry I misunderstood. I thought you were intending on using it as a controller.
That's just great, five more reasons for Nintendo to sue your balls off.
Looks like the patents were applied for in November 2018, so I guess this is just the patent finally coming through a year later.
Swap A & B buttons and let it work with all games.
How about one that captures actual animals inside of it?
Or a "stress release" version, for your actual pocket monster?
I really don't understand why it doesn't work with Pokémon Sword and Shield. They explicitly created a new 'casual controls' option which uses fewer buttons, surely they could have also supported the Poké Ball Plus as another 'casual controls' method?
@nintendoknife It doesn't really have enough buttons for that mode. Even in Let's Go you miss a few functions.
Though yeah it would've been nice to have the option.
Not sure why anyone would keep investing it this after how Nintendo burned everyone with the first one.
Obviously just a gimmick to milk the fan base.
@Agramonte burned whom? And what are you ranting about? Give some links to what your referring to?
Sword and Shield could have been hyped even more if they released other designs (e.g. master ball skin,..) of this pokeball and make it work with the game like the first one. It would have been a great collection to own each type of pokeball and showcase it.
Just dont think too hard about the actual logistics of throwing a ball at something and catching it. I guess its cooler than a Pokenet.
@SwitchForce You think selling a $49 ball controller that becomes a paperweight by the next game is not being burned 🙄
@Eel Most of Pokémon can be controlled with just the A and B buttons, and they could use A, B, A+B and even a shake as four different buttons. You're right, of course, just saying they could technically do it. A would do everything it normally does, B would do everything it normally does as well as open the menu, the bike could be toggled by selecting it in the bag old-school style, etc. Exotic functionality like whistling could just be dropped altogether. I guess some hacker will make this possible at some point.
@Agramonte your equating GO! usage which have plenty of uses for it unlike Shield/Sword to just getting Mew. And since one provides nothing in links that says about much.
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