~ Official Pokémon News Discussion Thread ~ [POST POKEMON NEWS HERE]

[Taodragon]

Honestly, with the way Pokémon Switch has been treated differently (I don't think any generation/new game was announced over a year beforehand) I can believe they're approaching this a different way. We do know that USUM merchandising is looking to be wrapped up this year, which implies that 2018 is still the aim, but we'll see as basically we're all just waiting for the actual announcement.

 

[BCVM22]

It doesn't imply that at all. I'm uncertain as to why it's difficult to believe they'd wrap up Generation VII this year with its final Pokémon and then shift to the Generation VIII hype early next year, as they've done with the past two new generations, almost to the letter.

 

[R_N]

Honestly, with the way Pokémon Switch has been treated differently (I don't think any generation/new game was announced over a year beforehand) I can believe they're approaching this a different way. We do know that USUM merchandising is looking to be wrapped up this year, which implies that 2018 is still the aim, but we'll see as basically we're all just waiting for the actual announcement.

Diamond & Pearl were announced i think prior to 2004 (with nothing being shown until Munchlax in 2004?) and did not release until 2006.



I think 2018's kind of a pipedream. Only way I'd see it working, marketing wise is if they decided on something weird. Like...the switch title is still what we'd consider a gen 7 game (no new pokemon, no new region) but that they'd consider "gen 8" in so far as it'd be a new game with new changes regardless of being a familiar setting (like a new kanto game (ALWAYS BE GEN 1 OR DIE, AM I RIGHT GAMEFREAK?) or sinnoh or w/e) on a new system.
But at that point it's more like being in the bargaining stage of grief to justify "no really!"

 

[Team Volt Grunt]

Where is the proof that it WILL be released this year?

You ask me that when I just said there isn’t any?

Every, and I do mean every indicator we have says that it's not coming out this year.

List EVERY one of these indicators and 1) prove that it’s every possible indicator and 2) prove to me they aren’t patterns from the past. Game Freak has been breaking all of their patterns for at least 5 years.

Even Black and White - the latest reveal ever for a generation-starting core title - was revealed by this point in its respective calendar year.

The latest reveal that was also an early release compared to the 3DS games; they released in September.

Every day that goes by is another nail in the coffin for this idea, and it isn't coincidence that X/Y and Sun/Moon were revealed early in their respective calendar years. If you're releasing games of this level of importance - and make no mistaken, the first Pokémon core titles for a home console are of that level - wouldn't you want as much of the year as possible to trickle out ALL of the new details?


It's possible that we see it this year only in the sense that it is not (yet) outright impossible. The odds are low and dropping more each day, and to claim it's still a realistic possibility is to ignore the common sense of the matter. It most decidedly is not a 50/50 coin flip at this point, in mid-April.

The truth is you don’t know better than anyone else whether we will get these games this year or not. There has been no official word released to the public on the development of Pokémon Switch except that it’s happening. You can’t use patterns from past releases because Game Freak is constantly breaking their own patterns and intentionally trying to be unpredictable.

Nobody can say anything that absolutely, 100%, indisputably proves that we aren't getting Pokemon Switch this year. Game Freak could throw a curveball and decide to give their big jump to consoles six or so months of pre-release (we're halfway through April as it is, so we probably wouldn't be getting seven months of pre-release even if they were to be announced tomorrow), despite two generations of using a model of giving the majority of the year to gradually unveiling almost everything the games have to offer. And only one that really broke away from that, with the two before it having longer (vastly so in DP's case, but that's a different issue altogether) cycles as well.


Point is, there's not exactly a whole lot of reason to still expect it at this point beyond that argument of, "Well, you never know." And that can apply to anything, to the point of being completely pointless as a supporting argument.


Or basically, what BCVM22 said. He managed to say it without getting distracted for twenty minutes mid-post.

I think there’s more than “well, you never know” on the side of a 2018 release, but you guys keep using that argument like it proves something. There is no proof on either side.

At least with BW we had Zorua and Zoroark revealed in February 2010. So we knew that new Pokemon games were going to come on that year despite no titles confirmed. Here we just got Zeraora revealed which is the final Gen VII Pokemon revealed and I'm sure they would rather market that Pokemon now before moving on to any new Gen VIII Pokemon/forms.


And as I previously mentioned in the past, I look at that "2018 or later" the same way as a TBA status lol.

And let's not forget that we already had Zorua and Zoroark revealed for about two months before BW were officially announced.

This is relying on patterns. Again, Game Freak has been breaking patterns for at least 5 years. You can hardly use this as proof. It’s an argument for, but not proof. Zygarde alone breaks that pattern.

 

[Taodragon]

Diamond & Pearl were announced i think prior to 2004 (with nothing being shown until Munchlax in 2004?) and did not release until 2006.



I think 2018's kind of a pipedream. Only way I'd see it working, marketing wise is if they decided on something weird. Like...the switch title is still what we'd consider a gen 7 game (no new pokemon, no new region) but that they'd consider "gen 8" in so far as it'd be a new game with new changes regardless of being a familiar setting (like a new kanto game (ALWAYS BE GEN 1 OR DIE, AM I RIGHT GAMEFREAK?) or sinnoh or w/e) on a new system.
But at that point it's more like being in the bargaining stage of grief to justify "no really!"

Well, nothing says that Pokémon Switch is Gen 8 aside from our pre-conceived patterns.

 

[BCVM22]

You ask me that when I just said there isn’t any?

Yes, because the primary argument FOR a 2018 release seems to be a lack of concrete disproval, which isn't an argument. "You can't say it won't happen so it COULD happen!" So again, I ask, where is YOUR proof of feasibility beyond that.

List EVERY one of these indicators and

1. No word from any official source.
2. No hints from any official source.
3. Generation VII still one critter short of being complete (to be finished this summer/fall)
4. It's already mid-April and complete zippo on the subject

You can’t use patterns from past releases because Game Freak is constantly breaking their own patterns and intentionally trying to be unpredictable.

That's using weasel words. "Breaking patterns," "trying to be unpredictable." And despite that, X/Y, OR/AS, Sun & Moon and US/UM were all unveiled between January and May (note the May was one occasion, and it was a remake) for a fall release. That takes us back all the way to 2013. Definitely a broken pattern.

I think there’s more than “well, you never know” on the side of a 2018 release, but you guys keep using that argument like it proves something. There is no proof on either side.

Again, it's simply not accurate to paint this as a coin flip at this late date. A few months ago? Maybe. But with several - most? - of the key opportunities gone by to make such an announcement, and none of them taken, not so much anymore.

Zygarde alone breaks that pattern.

And it couldn't be more clear that Zygarde was left over from a game that was planned at some stage but never saw finality, and there was no point in letting existing art and assets go to waste. That's an easily-explained anomaly, not a "broken pattern."

"Game Freak breaks patterns all the time!" is not accurate, and aside from that, it's another attempted way of saying "well it COULD happen" and is just as hollow.

 

[Bguy7]

I was beginning to write up a response, but then I realized that it looked like I was arguing solidly that it will be coming this year, and that was never my attention. I stand by my assertion that due to a mix unique circumstances it's still too early to rule a 2018 release out, no matter how unlikely it is, but I'm just going to bow out from this debate for now.

 

[Taodragon]

Accidentally skipped this one:

It doesn't imply that at all. I'm uncertain as to why it's difficult to believe they'd wrap up Generation VII this year with its final Pokémon and then shift to the Generation VIII hype early next year, as they've done with the past two new generations, almost to the letter.

Because they want something new to push for Pokémon. In general, when it comes to the franchise it likes having something to keep the sales going, and once it runs out of material that means they have to fill it with something to drive sales until the next big thing. TCPi doesn't want a dead period of nothing as that hurts their bottom line, so if they're cutting off USUM products by August of this year, then it stands to reason they have something else lined up past that point.

Regardless, I'm not really trying to start up another argument as we just end up going in circles, but I do feel that in this case adhering so strictly to patterns is going to get us burned. The way information is lining up behind the scenes gives me the impression that Pokémon Switch is not going to be a usual game in how it's handled, and I think we'll be surprised at what is to come.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

I would agree that it's too soon to rule out a 2018 release, but it's looking unlikely. E3 would be the absolute latest they could announce this game and still make the 2018 window.

 

[Team Volt Grunt]

I would agree that it's too soon to rule out a 2018 release, but it's looking unlikely. E3 would be the absolute latest they could announce this game and still make the 2018 window.

I agree, although I don’t expect E3 to be the big reveal. Either we’ll get a Pokémon Direct by/around E3, or I’ll agree that it isn’t coming in 2018.

Taodragon made a good point. I don’t know what the Pokémon Company plans to do once Zeraora and the movie-related products are done. Even the TCG is running out of reveals.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

I agree, although I don’t expect E3 to be the big reveal. Either we’ll get a Pokémon Direct by/around E3, or I’ll agree that it isn’t coming in 2018.

Taodragon made a good point. I don’t know what the Pokémon Company plans to do once Zeraora and the movie-related products are done. Even the TCG is running out of reveals.

IDK. This game doesn't seem to have a traditional marketing cycle and Pokemon's starting to become a factor in Nintendo's reveals. They teased this game last E3, a highly unusual move for the series considering that they've never talked about a new game that far away from release or before another game was out, and they also revealed USUM news in the September 2017 Nintendo Direct. It wouldn't surprise me to see this game at this year's E3. For that matter, I'm wondering if this game's marketing cycle is going to break another pattern and begin its marketing more than a year before release. It's a pretty common practice for console games, so maybe Pokemon will follow suit.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I think it’s more likely that the Switch game will come out in January or early February 2019. It gives Gen 7 enough time to put all the new Pokémon found in Alola into the TCG and people outside of Japan Zeroara.

 

[WhiteBlair]

Last quarter of 2019 is highly unlikely for me given the fact that every Pokemon core game boosts the console sales majorly, and I heavily doubt GameFreak and Nintendo would ever come to an agreement to delay the game for that long. Even Masuda mentioned not to expect much from the first installment of the series and at the same time to buy Switch, which I believe Nintendo is, also, pressuring GameFreak to release the game at the earliest possible date to score the win-win strategy for both companies. I'm anticipating a Q1/Q2 2019 release and a very slight hope for 2018 Q4.

 

[InfernapetheWise]

Last quarter of 2019 is highly unlikely for me given the fact that every Pokemon core game boosts the console sales majorly, and I heavily doubt GameFreak and Nintendo would ever come to an agreement to delay the game for that long. Even Masuda mentioned not to expect much from the first installment of the series and at the same time to buy Switch, which I believe Nintendo is, also, pressuring GameFreak to release the game at the earliest possible date to score the win-win strategy for both companies. I'm anticipating a Q1/Q2 2019 release and a very slight hope for 2018 Q4.

I can't see a Pokémon game releasing outside of holiday season, especially missing it by a mere few weeks.

 

[RileyXY1]

I can't see a Pokémon game releasing outside of holiday season, especially missing it by a mere few weeks.

A game doesn't need to release in the holidays in order to be successful. BOTW and the Switch itself released in March and those sold like hotcakes.

 

[Red and Blue]

So any idea what the codename "Beluga" could be referring to?

 

[Trainer Yusuf]

^The Beluga whale, which is only allowed to be hunted by Inuits in Alaska, though the name itself comes from Russia.

Pixelpar is trying to imply next region will be based on Alaska, though it is most likely his claims are fake.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

^The Beluga whale, which is only allowed to be hunted by Inuits in Alaska, though the name itself comes from Russia.

Pixelpar is trying to imply next region will be based on Alaska, though it is most likely his claims are fake.

An Alaska based region would be pretty interesting imo.

 

[Red and Blue]

^The Beluga whale, which is only allowed to be hunted by Inuits in Alaska, though the name itself comes from Russia.

Pixelpar is trying to imply next region will be based on Alaska, though it is most likely his claims are fake.

Interesting. I also found out that Beluga whales can also be found in the Canadian sea. And there is the whole thing with the France/Hawaii/Canada telescope.

Probably doesn't mean anything but it is still interesting to think about.

 

[Bguy7]

And there is the whole thing with the France/Hawaii/Canada telescope.

Please, let's not go back there.