As I write this on Tuesday, a new Pokémon Direct has just been aired, filled with eight minutes of Pokémon goodness – or was it?
Kicking it off The Pokémon Company talked about the Nintendo Switch and how it was released in March this year, immediately whipping up all hope that now, this was FINALLY the time in which Pokémon was going to be on the latest Nintendo handheld/console hybrid and a full, ‘proper’ (apparently Colosseum and XD do not count) Pokémon adventure was going to be on a console.
Then came the announcement of… Pokkén Tournament DX. Sigh, Nintendo you’ve done it again.
Later on in the trailer the nice man who has been playing Pokkén on his wonderful journey to see his brother slapped down on the desk two covered-up Pokémon games for his (presumably) nephews and the boxes looked suspiciously non-Switch shaped and lo and behold they are 3DS games: Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
Overall, I felt underwhelmed by these announcements. Sure, Pokkén is a cool fighting game that we never really got on the Wii U and Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will breathe new life into the already flagging Sun and Moon games (how different the Ultra versions are, as of writing we do not know).
However, even if Nintendo didn’t upgrade the graphics in any way, shape or form (which would have been lazy, but who would care?) they should have ported the Ultra versions onto the Switch just for the sake of it. Just to say that there was a Pokémon game on the Switch. A full-fledged adventure that can be played on the go or on the TV.
This then wouldn’t have excluded the 3DS owners who would be getting the same game, nor would it have frightened off anybody for whom their only Nintendo console is the Switch. It would have been the best of both worlds.
Then came the announcement of Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver… on the 3DS Virtual Console. A nice little touch which will help tide 3DS owners over until Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. As the Switch currently does not have any Virtual Console offering though (here is hoping that they will remedy this at E3) Gold and Silver cannot come out on the Switch – another missed opportunity.
Whilst we are on the topic of E3, Nintendo needs to start listening to their fans. We know Super Mario Odyssey will be shown, which will help boost hype for the system ten-fold, but what about the rumoured Smash Bros. game?
If they are putting Pokkén on the Switch then it seems reasonably likely that Smash Bros. will get a port too, but certainly not this year. With Pokkén coming out in September, the last few months of the year will be too crowded for another fighting game.
Come E3 Nintendo needs to focus solely on the Switch and bring some heavy-hitters out to show, otherwise year two for the Switch will almost certainly not be as fruitful as the first.
By reader Riku de Chocobo (gamertag)
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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