News Round-Up 10/8/12

[Demelza]

Another day, another round-up of the latest Pokémon news for you all. The last couple of days has seen a number of interesting events take place, such as the Worlds C-Gear skin released, the anime short which was used as a trailer for Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 in Japan being dubbed and released, and for those of you with copies of Black 2 or White 2 the Genesect Wi-Fi event has now gone live in Japan. If you wish to know more, read on!

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[Doctor Oak]

The fact that Genesect is already being handed out (and, in fact, all three of the event Pokemon for B/W are being put out basically at the same time) makes it pretty clear to me that this Generation is being forcibly cut short to make way for a release of a new Generation on the 3DS within the next 12-18 months.

Which suits me absolutely fine, really. Honestly, I'd rather they went with it sooner than later, too. If we could get the new games out in Japan by next summer - and out here before the end of 2013 - I'd be pretty damn satisfied.

It's a pity that there's been such a mishandling of the situation higher up the chain, as this Generation should really have been the greatest yet. But it's always basically been overshadowed by the fact that the games were on previous generation hardware (at least outside of Japan, considering B/W launched alongside the 3DS here).

There are a lot of signs that any plans that GameFreak had for this Generation have been cut short purely because it's a completely untenable situation that they're still releasing games for the DS, and not the 3DS (which is rather sorely in need of a major Pokemon game).

 

[precita]

It kind of makes me think the 5th gen is going to be the most forgotten generation as time continues. It didn't get to debut on a new handheld and is going to be sandwiched inbetween all the other gens.

Between the 6th gen coming and Hoenn nostalgia starting to rear its head in the fandom, the unfortunate fact is that Black/White may truly become the most forgotten pokemon generation with overall fans.

Sometimes I honestly wonder if DP and BW should have been combined together, remember we only got like 100 new pokemon with DP and that gen was stretched over 4 years...

 

[Linkachu]

Sometimes I honestly wonder if DP and BW should have been combined together, remember we only got like 100 new pokemon with DP and that gen was stretched over 4 years...

I'd personally disagree there. I never felt that 100 new Pokemon was a small amount, especially when we already had so many to go around. The biggest drawback of D/P was the size of its PokeDex, not the amount of brand new critters. But even so, I feel Gen 4 was a great generation of games and don't see a need to lump it together with B/W. Everything would've been fine if B/W had held off a bit and been released on 3DS instead. Buuut that's a bit of a moot point now.

 

[Carmen Lopez]

I somewhat agree with Precita that BW could very well be the forgotten generation in the coming years. Gen V seemed to be wrapping up a little too quickly, but given what Alex said, that's honestly not surprising. I can see why they didn't release it for the 3DS because it was simply more profitable to release it on the DS/i. Buuuuuut, you look at the features of Black and White (and the sequels) and I ache for the fact they couldn't take full advantage of the 3DS's features.

Pokemon utilizing streetpass? Yes, yes please.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

Just because Genesect is being released and the Unova saga is finished doesn't mean Gen V is over or coming to a close. HGSS came out either after or around the same time they released Arceus IIRC so I think it's safe to assume that we'll be seeing a remake of RSE or at least an updated release of Hoenn in the next year or so before Gen V can officially close. Perhaps those game will be on the 3DS with updated featured much how HGSS made full use of the bottom screen compare to DPP.

 

[Doctor Oak]

I can see why they didn't release it for the 3DS because it was simply more profitable to release it on the DS/i.

In the case of B/W, it was clearly more a case of Nintendo being extremely quiet to even their own developers about the existence of the 3DS until it was too late. We know B/W was in active development since before Platinum came out - but we also know that even the very first Nintendo dev teams didn't get their hands on 3DS DevKits until months before the system's announcement at E3.

I'd say that it's pretty safe to assume that after D/P were done, GameFreak went to Nintendo and asked them about their plans for the next hardware. Nintendo spun them the DSi angle - and they worked with that in mind. During the time of Platinum and HG/SS's development for the DS, GameFreak will have been working on the pre-production of the new Generation (new Pokemon, world, characters, etc). By the time active development was ready, they'll have gone to Nintendo again - this time only months before the 3DS devkits will be in their hands - and Nintendo will have told them, no, there is no new handheld forthcoming. So, they piled right on ahead with the DSi angle instead.

How do I know that Nintendo would be this secretive, even to their biggest first party developer? Because even people running Nintendo (particularly in Europe) don't get to know this shit ahead of time. David Yarnton - Nintendo UK Boss at the time - was still spinning the "no DS Lite" routine the day before it was announced. The fact is, Nintendo trusts no-one with this kind of info, 'cos it invariably leaks out if they do.

In this case, however, they were so secretive about the 3DS's reveal that developers didn't have a chance to make any software for it - hence the absolute dearth of titles available for it within its launch period - and the reason why B/W released as DS titles at its launch.

Just because Genesect is being released and the Unova saga is finished doesn't mean Gen V is over or coming to a close. HGSS came out either after or around the same time they released Arceus IIRC so I think it's safe to assume that we'll be seeing a remake of RSE or at least an updated release of Hoenn in the next year or so before Gen V can officially close. Perhaps those game will be on the 3DS with updated featured much how HGSS made full use of the bottom screen compare to DPP.

At this point, I fully expect a R/S remake to be on the 3DS. I think we can now accept that B/W2 and Conquest will be the last Pokemon DS titles - because it's now beyond the point of ridiculousness for them to attempt to push out any more. Certainly not again this time next year, when the 3DS is entering its second year on the market with no real Pokemon title.

However, while it's definitely a possibility they'll use that as a stop-gap for the next Generation by putting it out for the 3DS first - I think Genesect's reveal now puts paid to that notion. It always has been the case that the final Pokemon to be revealed of a Generation marks the dwindling down of that Generation. Mew's reveal gave way to the second Generation, Celebi's to the third, Deoxys gave way to the fourth - albeit with an extra gap thanks to the delay of DP - and Arceus gave way to the fifth.

When there are no more Pokemon of a current Generation to reveal, they begin revealing the next. Notably, because Genesect and Meloetta have both been revealed right away - alongside this year's movie star, Keldeo - there hasn't been a sixth Generation Pokemon to go with that reveal. That really means that they can only begin doing so any time soon, and that can only mean that they'll be releasing a game starring those Pokemon sometime soon. The only time a final Pokemon of a Generation has been revealed and not led to a new Generation of games within the next year and a half is the aforementioned delay of D/P, giving us the anomaly of the 8th movie. When Arceus was revealed, yes, around the release of HG/SS, within a year Zorua and Zoroark were officially announced, and B/W were released months later.

My expectation is that before the end of this year, we will see the first 6th Generation Pokemon. Before the end of next, the new Generation will begin on the 3DS. If we're lucky, it'll be at as an advanced timescale as these event Pokemon giveaways have been.

 

[precita]

Doctor Oak, I think he meant R/S remakes on the 3DS. Sure it wouldn't be a new generation but it would still be new Pokemon games on the new handheld and buy them time to develop the 6th gen properly rather than rush it out.

Can't they do something like have Jirachi or Deoxys co-star the next movie with Genosect? Look at how both Mew and Celebi got a second movie appearance in Movie 8 and 13, wouldn't his pattern indicate the same might happen with Jirachi?

 

[Linkachu]

After giving it some thought, I wonder if this situation will go exactly as we expect it to. The Pokemon Company recently announced the rules for its next Japanese WiFi based tournament which will allow players to use ALL Unova Pokemon, including the four event legendaries. There's speculation that this rule set, or something similar, may end up being the 2013 Video Game Championship rules set, which would explain why they wanted to get Genesect out so quickly.

Maybe we will still see Gen VI pop up in Japan before the end of 2013, but I wonder now if the decision to release Genesect was done to push the franchise forward or for the sake of the tournaments.

 

[Doctor Oak]

for the sake of the tournaments.

I really doubt that to the be the case, to be honest. It'd not only be an unusual shift in priorities, but the fact is that there's a lot more driving the impetus to get a new series of games out on the 3DS than GameFreak's long-term plans for the series or fans. Quite simply, it's what Nintendo - the company that owns the franchise - needs to happen.

 

[Linkachu]

for the sake of the tournaments.

It'd not only be an unusual shift in priorities, but the fact is that there's a lot more driving the impetus to get a new series of games out on the 3DS than GameFreak's long-term plans for the series or fans. Quite simply, it's what Nintendo - the company that owns the franchise - needs to happen.

It really isn't that desperate for Nintendo to make the jump though. If they felt that way they would've pushed to have B2/W2 on 3DS. Instead they did the exact opposite and chose to leave them on DS because it'd make more monies.

Core RPGs on the 3DS are coming, it's inevitable, but it's doubtful that Nintendo's as concerned about the timing as you're implying. They're usually too busy patting themselves on the back while Mario games print money. ;p

 

[Doctor Oak]

It really isn't that desperate for Nintendo to make the jump though. If they felt that way they would've pushed to have B2/W2 on 3DS. Instead they did the exact opposite and chose to leave them on DS because it'd make more monies.

B/W2 could only ever have been on the DS. The whole point of those games (as is, essentially the point of any 'third' game - even if these don't exist in that traditional mould) is to take the original development of B/W and make a second game out basically the exact same assets. If Nintendo stepped in and told GameFreak they really must make their B/W sequel on the 3DS instead, it'd be less cost-effective the point of not being worth bothering.

However:

Core RPGs on the 3DS are coming, it's inevitable, but it's doubtful that Nintendo's as concerned about the timing as you're implying. They're usually too busy patting themselves on the back while Mario games print money. ;p

It's notable that one of the main things that Nintendo has been asked about B/W2's release is "why are these on the DS?" Its affected reviews of the games, affected marketing for the games in terms of press and really hasn't helped Nintendo give the image that the 3DS is not a system in trouble. The numbers for 3DS sales may be far more positive now than they were this time last year, but that hasn't shaken the stigma that the 3DS is not the success over the DS Nintendo were wanting/needing.

It really, really would be beyond the point of ludicrousness to release another major game on the DS within the next 12 months. I don't think anyone can really disagree with that. It's also pretty safe to say that there'll be another main series Pokemon game within the next 12-18 months. Therefore, the next game must be a 3DS title. The most likely outcome, then, is that within the next year and a half, they'll release the first 6th Generation titles - because the first games in a generation are always the ones to sell the best and the most likely to move hardware to boot.

Thus, the chances of R/S remakes leading the way on the 3DS - and not a completely new series - are not favourable. They'd also contradict the main development reason of making such games - the same as the 'third' game - they're meant to be cheap and quick. (However, one bonus to this would be that they'd be able to save time on the design aspect to the game by being able to fall back on the design work done for R/S - and I think that's the greatest strength this possibility has going for it).

The fact that Genesect is hitting gamers so early, though, gives me the impression that we'll actually be moving a lot quicker than I'd otherwise assume. Having all three event Pokemon given out over just one summer is kind of odd when they could just as easily wait for next year for Genesect at the very least. It indicates that there will be something to fill that void instead next summer - and for my money, it's either the first event Pokemon for the 6th Generation (ie: the games are out before next summer), or something along the lines of the Celebi/Legendary Beast distribution before B/W's release, unlocking content in the upcoming games (ie: the games are out towards the end of the year).