Julius

I haven’t seen anyone mention it yet, but a Reddit thread was posted the day before this was confirmed: Sony is not going to appear in E3 next year, Official Announcement tomorrow (what an apt title ). In it, the poster went on to detail a lot of things which I haven’t seen mentioned in many places, so I’ll quote the stuff that I found more interesting below. Standard = user questions, Bold = poster’s answers

THIS. LOOKS. AWESOME. Sprite-based action-JRPG? It’s only been teased to be coming to Switch (it’s already on PC — and actually has a free demo), but this really looks like it could be the next big Nindie. It also seems like it would be right up the alley of a lot of people here. Next year, maybe?

I’m curious to see how it does, because it really feels like something that could go either way. If by new mainline entries we’re referring to the initial offerings of each generation, precedent indicates that it won’t catch them — but these games, at this point in time, are anomalies when it comes down to it, and could well be anomalies in sales too. On the one hand, every Pokémon remake (read: not enhanced third versions) to this point has sold better than the last: FRLG sold 10 million units, HGSS sold 12 million units, and ORAS sold 13 million units. So, following this, there’s reason to believe that Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee will surpass FRLG’s 10 million units. Also in its favour is that every initial offering of a pair of Pokémon games considered to be core series games on a new device have ended up with lifetime sales of at least 15 million units — again, perhaps another indicator that it could cruise past FRLG’s 10 million units. Every core series title released to this point which has us start our journey in Kanto (i.e. Red & Blue, Yellow, and FireRed & LeafGreen) has also sold a minimum of 10 million units — and let me take a moment to outline that while Red & Blue sold 31 million units between them, Yellow has sold approximately 15 million units on its own, meaning that it has higher sales than every remake and other third version, and is also the highest-selling standalone (i.e. unpaired) core series Pokémon game to date — so a remake of that game could sell particularly well. It’s also worth noting that the most recent pair of remakes prior to these games, Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, sold approximately 13 million units — ~80% of the sales of the original Ruby & Sapphire. If we were to forecast figures from this amount, then, Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee would sell approximately 12 million units — and considering the particularly high attachment rate of games like Splatoon 2 (7.5 million) , Super Mario Odyssey (12.2 million) and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (10.3 million) on Switch (23 million), I don’t think that’s too far of a stretch for lifetime sales. There’s also the question of whether or not TPCi will have succeeded in their business goal for this game: to get more of the GO crowd onto the core series games on console. It’s also Christmas season, and Pokémon games have been selling well in this position consistently for the last few years. On the other hand, there’s a lot that we just simply don’t know, and some things which could go against it. This is the second time that we have been reintroduced to Gen I Kanto since, well, Gen I; this is the first remake of a third version of a core series Pokémon game; these are the first entries in the Let’s Go subseries of core series Pokémon games; it’s the final core series game of Gen VII, and the final core series game/s of each generation to this point has had the worst sales of their respective generation; and so on and so forth. There’s also the question of whether or not the GO players this game is primarily aimed at converting will actually be converted. The biggest thing going against it is probably that this is the first core series pair of Pokémon games to be announced and released with prior consumer knowledge that there is another game in the works for the next year — and, more importantly, that those games have previously been described as being closer to the typical core series Pokémon experience. It’s with this in mind that I recall Pokémon Sun & Moon’s sales, which are astounding, at 16 million units to date; however, I do think that Ultra Sun & Moon released the following year cannibalised the sales of those games, as it broke a number of sales records for Pokémon games, and was likely well on its way to being only the third pair of core series games to surpass 20 million units sold. The question is, is Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee a unique enough experience to coexist with the sales of the Gen VIII juggernaut next year, or will their sales be cut short by it’s coming? I think that one way to work around that would be to have Kanto-based Pokémon remain exclusive to Let’s Go for the foreseeable future, and transferrable to next year’s games only via Pokémon Bank, as this would give the games a similar USP to the one which saw X & Y’s sales numbers continue to grow long after the release of ORAS. It'll be very interesting to see how it performs, because I think it’s more a question of how well these games will sell more than it is a question of if they will.

Well, I mean, just speaking for myself and to my experience as a Pokémon fan: I am going to be miffed, at best, if the next time we see Sinnoh and Unova it’s in a Let’s Go game as opposed to a remake along the lines of FRLG, HGSS, and ORAS — and I know plenty of others that feel the same way. I’m 100% cool if we get a Let’s Go game set in Johto next and following that Hoenn, because we’ve already seen those be brought up to current standards at the time of their remakes — but I do think that Let’s Go remakes of games which have yet to be remade will be a bit of a slap in the face to fans of those generations, who are expecting a typical remake as they’ve seen previously. The Pokémon Company will do whatever they deem best, of course — perhaps Let’s Go is the future. But if a typical Sinnoh remake is sidelined and Let’s Go games go through remaking games in order of release, then we aren’t going to see Sinnoh remade for some time, and like I mentioned before, I’m not sure if TPCi would choose to leave it by the wayside for so long, as those are their third best-selling games. But I digress. This is probably a talk for another day, in another thread.

I remember popping in to GAME for the 20th Anniversary in 2016, and it was surprisingly packed — I could hardly walk in there. It was filled with people just picking up the VC versions of RBY, pre-ordering Sun and Moon, and picking up Mew codes. The counter was stacked that day, too: Pokémon amiibo, trading cards, t-shirts, posters, the whole lot. Same for when I went and picked up X back in 2013 — they had actually sold out of 2DSs that day, too, which was surprising given that I went in at 10:00! I’d have to imagine that Pokémon releases are some of their biggest. I don’t know that many people who actually only buy a digital copy when a new Pokémon game releases, which is probably great news for stores like this in a time when digital sales are only going up.

Here’s some awesome alternate box art, for anyone interested

You take that back I think that Let’s Go is an interesting route for the games to take, could serve as a great sub-core series game to bring back regions (for their third time), and certainly freshens things up going forwards — but I genuinely can’t (and don’t want to) see them deviating from the typical remake for the near future. Let’s Go seems like something of a sidestep from Sun and Moon from a technical and mechanical aspect (I’m sure some might even argue a step down, but I do think that Let’s Go could be worthy of becoming a regular fixture in the games — assuming that they sell well), and while there is nothing inherently wrong with that, this isn’t the direction that I’d necessarily like to see the rest of the franchise (i.e. future remakes of games that have yet to be remade, or the pair of games which kick off a new generation) take. The truth is, we’ve been stuck in a strange PS1-esque phase with Pokémon since the start of Generation VI: 3D assets in what are essentially games built around 2D principals. Going forwards, what I’d really like to see — starting in next year’s games — is 3D assets being fully realised in a truly 3D game. I want us to be able to control the camera, be intimidated by giant Pokémon (and adversely, have a laugh chasing small ones), and actually feel a greater sense of scale when we walk into a major city or first see the Pokémon League. And, if anything, I feel like Sinnoh and Unova have a lot of sites and locales which would be great to see in such a game — in particular, Sinnoh’s Mt. Coronet and Spear Pillar come to mind. Which is to say: I’d love to see the Let’s Go treatment given to games which have already been remade (so, at the moment: GSC and RSE), because I don’t think that long time fans of the franchise would be missing out on too much should they choose to skip these games as that is something that they’ve already experienced, and yet it is a great offering for new fans (or fans that do want to experience those adventures yet again). But I can already envisage people grabbing their pitchforks should Sinnoh next be seen returning for Let’s Go as opposed to in a previously typical Pokémon remake. Plus, I believe (?) Diamond and Pearl are the third best-selling opening pair of core series games to a Pokémon generation, after Gold and Silver and Red and Blue/Green, so I can’t imagine TPCi skipping the chance to cash in on that.

Well, that came out of nowhere. I think I saw the Xbox One S selling for ~£240 the other day, and I prefer physical media like @S.C.G so I’d probably get one of those over a disc-free version, but there’s definitely a place in the market for a games console with an RRP of below £200. It won’t help them catch up to Sony (this generation at least), by any means, but that’s a very aggressive way to push out Games Pass and have more gamers considering the Xbox One as a supplementary console to their PS4 and/or Switch. Plus, I suppose from a business perspective, this would help them to prepare manufacturing processes for a disc-free Scarlett, as well as probably better prepare employees at brick and mortar stores for the inevitable questions about a disc-free console/service such as Scarlett.

Pokémon. I will be shocked if Spyro outsells it this weekend. And no, that wasn’t a Pikachu reference

Absolutely. I also feel like having these games available would shore up the Switch’s catalogue considerably, especially in some places where a number of genres are somewhat underrepresented. Subjectively, as much as I do want a Switch, there are still probably only a handful of AAA games that I’m actually interested in purchasing the system for: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate when it releases next month. There are quite a few indies which have caught my eye too, and a few ports that I’m also interested in, but truth be told, I have tens of AAA games lined up for my PS4 and 3DS, so I’m in a good place when it comes to games for now. That’s why I don’t mind waiting a bit longer — though I’ll undoubtedly have purchased one by the time that next year’s Pokémon game is released But, case in point when it comes to all of this talk about legacy titles: the Wii eShop finally closes next March (I think?) — though you can already no longer fund your virtual wallet — I think that it’s crazy that once it closes, so too do the most recent, well-running releases of Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger on a home console. And that was in 2011. I think what I’m trying to say is...Square Enix, what the hell are you thinking?! Do you not like money?!

Wow, that came out of absolutely nowhere and developed very quickly. What an interesting decision! First no PSX next month, and now no E3 next summer... Honestly, I’m not even sure what to think at this point. I was starting to lean towards it coming next year funnily enough, and then this happens! On the one hand, I think that this all but confirms that they’ve (unsurprisingly) revealed all of the remaining big hitters for the PS4 — which surely means that the PS5 can’t be too far behind. And I really don’t know why you’d skip E3 if you were releasing a console that same year... ...but if the PS5 is a jump in the same way that the PS4 Pro was, and assuming it will have backwards compatibility and all of that up-ressing (yay, real 4K), could it be possible that they might be depending on cross-generation big hitters to actually begin the PS5’s life? I suppose that it wouldn’t exactly break any sales records if that was their plan, but it wouldn’t slow down the PS4’s sales numbers as much as such a radical shift in gear and marketing could. That’s not to say that I expect it next year — just spitballing over here That’s a great point. Though, this just seems really odd. Like, way, way too odd. This might be a bit crazy for me to suggest, but do you guys perhaps think that they might have seen how Nintendo dealt with the announcement-to-launch of the Switch? I feel like a reveal late next year, in the hypothetical release window of the Scarlet, at an earlier-than-usual PSX, could quickly turn things in their favour — and from PlayStation’s storied past, it’s clear that they’re not at all afraid of letting others go first. Not only that, but it wouldn’t give them the potential manufacturing and shipping problems that a Christmas release most likely would, and if the planned big hitters for PS4 are going to be utilised in the PS5 launch, it could give them the time that they need to really focus in on those games. So maybe a PS5 reveal late next year, and a launch in early 2020? I don’t think that would hurt them too much — assuming, as @Hero-of-Time said, that they won’t be getting bit in the ass with the quality of the PS5 if they are letting Microsoft make the first move. Yeah, still spitballing over here

From Stephen Totilo’s most recent interview with Reggie for Kotaku: I understand that Reggie wouldn’t come out here, of all places, to outright reveal the future of classic games on NSO, but it still strikes me as odd just how non-committal he and Nintendo remain to classic games from other legacy systems coming to the service, especially after the service was originally described as being home to some SNES titles, too. I don’t think that they can drip-feed NES games for too long, and would be genuinely surprised if we didn’t have some SNES games on the system by the end of next E3, but it’s this sort of language and quiet which results in consumers becoming heavily invested in the idea of, say, a Virtual Console type of service, and being disappointed if it doesn’t come to fruition. We’ve been saying it for a while now, but they can’t keep us waiting for news on this too much longer...right? Because I genuinely can’t think of too many good reasons (from a corporate perspective) to keep all of this under wraps.

From Stephen Totilo’s most interview with Reggie Fils-Aime for Kotaku:

A belated thanks for the name change

After over one hundred hours, my journey through Erdrea has finally come to an end. My first Dragon Quest game is complete. And I loved it. I absolutely loved it. I have a lot to say, but I’ll let it simmer in my mind a bit longer before I come out and say it. Did I mentioned that I loved it already? I actually want more. How strange is that? Over one hundred hours sunk into an epic JRPG and I still want more — is there any testament better than that as to just how much enjoyment I got out of Dragon Quest XI? So, wanting more...I just went ahead and ordered Dragon Quest VIII for 3DS

According to Variety, Pedro Pascal has been offered the lead role in The Mandalorian, with negotiations reportedly underway. This comes after weeks of him being rumoured for the role.

It grows on me the more that I watch the trailer, but Bulbasaur and Charmander are the two Pokémon that stand out to me in particular as having transferred very well into this art style from the trailer. I mean, look at these Bulbasaur. Just look at them. They look as good as I think they could in a live-action setting. Morelull actually looks quite good in this shot, too.

PUBG is coming to PS4 on December 7th:

While as a franchise it is a brilliant example of that @Glen-i, as someone who attempted to get into the competitive scene back in Gen VI — which, at least at the time, was viewed at the time as the easiest way to get into competitive battling — I do still think that there is a barrier to entry which is too high for most Pokémon players, and a large part of that barrier is time. After spending 20 - 50 hours completing the main game and post-game, the problem is that the Pokémon you used during your playthrough most likely aren’t viable in competitive battling — which, at least to me, comes across as disrespectful of a player’s time. Hours and hours of breeding, EV/IV training, etc., just isn’t a low enough barrier for most players. There are plenty of players in the competitive Pokémon scene, but there could easily be many more — honestly, who wouldn’t want to battle Pokémon competitively? — if TPCi and Game Freak further streamlined and reduced the barrier to entry. Of course, I know that conversations like that have been met with backlash elsewhere on the internet, because changing the system now would seem disrespectful of the time that veterans in the competitive space have already put in. With regards to Let’s GO, I think my only problem — if it really is a problem? — with it is that they seem to be going for an incredibly niche corner of the Pokémon community with these games. Sure, there are millions of Pokémon fans, but the core series games prior to this didn’t have the highest barrier of entry, and many joined/returned to the franchise’s core series games when GO first released over two years ago, so I still think that the games are stuck in some middle ground: most GO players will have played a core series game by now, so this is aimed at the extremely small minority of GO players that haven’t? Seems...an odd business decision. Regardless, I’m sure that it will sell incredibly well by the standards of a core series remake, and I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s reactions here (and gauging my own when I eventually get my hands on a Switch).

Those viewing numbers are strong, though are they really all that surprising? The first live-action Pokémon film — and a witty and high budget one at that — up against an entry in a franchise which wasn’t really asked for...and didn’t show much of anything in their teaser trailer. Toy Story 4 will likely pass $1 billion anyway when all is said and done, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves when it comes to Detective Pikachu. It could easily end up being the best performing video game movie (assuming that it is actually a good film in the first place) when all is said and done, and very well could end up surpassing $1 billion itself, but let’s not forget that it’s coming out in a prime time summer blockbuster spot: it releases one week after Avengers 4, two weeks before Aladdin, etc. And I hope your $1 billion [worldwide] opening weekend was hyperbole @Dcubed, because that’s currently an impossible feat if they do keep trailers coming out like this, and it critiques well, then I’m sure that it will end up performing great at the box office.

Gave me a chuckle:

That is a gorgeous poster. Totally with you on the nods to the games You might be right. I’m watching this on my phone, so it looks to me like there’s a bit of both - scales on his wings, and fur elsewhere - but I’m not too sure. And you're right about it being subjective. I imagine the redesigns/texturing will grow on some of us by the time that the film releases, it’s just that there’s an initial shock after decades of acclimatising to the designs as we see them in the anime/games; I think that that was going to happen regardless of art style (unless we got Sugimori-inspired art as part of a Who Framed Roger Rabbit-style live-action/2D animation hybrid).