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Japan don't use the term "Shiny Pokémon" for Shiny Pokémon, so I doubt it's anything to do with that particular aspect.

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32 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Japan don't use the term "Shiny Pokémon" for Shiny Pokémon, so I doubt it's anything to do with that particular aspect.

Yeah, I saw that a few hours after I put it up, what they say is literally “different colour” or “recoloured”, right?

I have to admit, though, that makes me a little nervous that they’re literally talking about Pokémon that are actually shiny. 

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1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

Japan don't use the term "Shiny Pokémon" for Shiny Pokémon, so I doubt it's anything to do with that particular aspect.

I was thinking shinies...like stickers (and then consequently Pokémon cards).  Don't tell me Panini sticker albums aren't all the rage on the streets of Shibuya!?!?

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If we're to learn anything substantial about the game/s prior to the typical E3 news window, this week would seem the most likely week for it to drop, given that Nintendo has an investor's meeting coming up on Thursday. At the very least, it is expected that the "2018 or later" window for the game will be updated. 

Edited by Julius Caesar

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43 minutes ago, Julius Caesar said:

If we're to learn anything substantial about the game/s prior to the typical E3 news window, this week would seem the most likely week for it to drop, given that Nintendo has an investor's meeting coming up on Thursday. At the very least, it is expected that the "2018 or later" window for the game will be updated. 

I'd actually probably agree.  Pokemon games always get announced prior to E3 and now seems like the best time to do so; especially considering Labo's launch (and it sharing the same target audience as Pokemon).

 

ORAS was announced in early May, so we're not far off it now; but given its proximity to Labo and the Investor's Meeting? This week seems like the most sensible time if it's gonna happen this year...

 

... unless it's gonna be the first time we ever see a Pokemon game unveiled at E3...

Edited by Dcubed

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42 minutes ago, Julius Caesar said:

If we're to learn anything substantial about the game/s prior to the typical E3 news window, this week would seem the most likely week for it to drop, given that Nintendo has an investor's meeting coming up on Thursday. At the very least, it is expected that the "2018 or later" window for the game will be updated. 

Hopefully to 2019, anything to stop Game Freak from rushing it out. Let it cook, damnit! Don't pull a Sun/Moon and have blatantly missing content that gets released in the third version.

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43 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

 

... unless it's gonna be the first time we ever see a Pokemon game unveiled at E3...

That was last year

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42 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Hopefully to 2019, anything to stop Game Freak from rushing it out. Let it cook, damnit! Don't pull a Sun/Moon and have blatantly missing content that gets released in the third version.

I'm not too sure if it releasing this year would necessarily mean that it was rushed, though I do think it coming this year is decided almost entirely by how much of a departure it is from what we saw in Gen VII. If it is just reusing Gen VII's engine and assets, with the only difference being that is isn't pared back and is a crispy 1080p docked/720p undocked, then I can't fathom why we wouldn't be getting them this year; but, if it's a new engine, then next year would seem more likely. 

The NX was announced way back in March 2015 if I recall correctly (?), and I have to imagine that Game Freak was one of the earliest developers to get their hands on it, so I'd imagine that they're well into development by now. I do think that Ishihara's statement at E3 last year - which was reiterated with the "2018 or later" window in their financials - offers some hope that we could see the games this year. I do think that Nintendo needs at least one killer single player title at the end of this year to go along with Smash, and I think that Nintendo would much rather be putting Pokémon Switch out into the wild than, say, Animal Crossing. 

But, of course, if they aren't as far along as I would like to believe or have run into some hiccups along the way, then I completely agree: they should let it cook. 

As for the Sun & Moon situation, I'm still gutted that Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon were ever actually released, partially because the former games were well on track to be the first game in the series  to pass 20m units sold since Gold & Silver, but mainly because I really enjoyed Sun & Moon, and there were more story/character threads and hints than that a third/enhanced version seemed off the table, at least to me.

Edited by Julius Caesar
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8 minutes ago, Serebii said:

That was last year

I think @Dcubed meant with regards to the games' titles and content. Last year's E3 announcement seemed too early to me, and was likely cobbled together only as a reaction to the outcry of fans after that Pokémon Direct which revealed Pokkén Tournament DX and Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon (the week before the E3 Spotlight, iirc?). 

I do think that last year's E3 announcement sets up the possibility of seeing/hearing more about the games this E3, as opposed to in a Pokémon Direct, because of how accessible the event has become online.

Edited by Julius Caesar

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12 minutes ago, Serebii said:

That was last year

No it wasn't.  It was announced during the 2017 Pokemon Direct, which took place a week before the E3 2017 Showcase.

 

Granted, that's the closest we've ever gotten to having Pokemon announced at E3, but that Direct wasn't exclusively for US/UM, but also for Pokken DX, Pokemon G/S VC and Pokemon Gen 8 coming to Switch; so it's not quite the same situation...

 

It's not impossible that they might go ahead and unveil it during E3 for the first time this year, but I'm erring on the side of history on this one. TPC doesn't usually really factor E3 into their plans for the brand, but rather, they usually announce new mainline games some months before E3.  Now would be about the time I'd expect an announcement if Gen 8 is indeed coming out this year.

Edited by Dcubed

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8 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

No it wasn't.  It was announced during the 2017 Pokemon Direct, which took place a week before the E3 2017 Showcase.

 

Granted, that's the closest we've ever gotten to having Pokemon announced at E3, but that Direct wasn't exclusively for US/UM, but also for Pokken DX, Pokemon G/S VC and Pokemon Gen 8 coming to Switch; so it's not quite the same situation...

 

It's not impossible that they might go ahead and unveil it during E3 for the first time this year, but I'm erring on the side of history on this one. TPC doesn't usually really factor E3 into their plans for the brand.

No, it was announced at last year's E3 Spotlight... :p (I've timestamped the announcement in the video below)

It was almost certainly a reactionary announcement to the outcry of fans the week before (because of the lack of a reveal/announcement during the Pokémon Direct in the week prior), but Pokémon has slowly been working its way into E3 over the last couple of years; if I recall correctly, Sun & Moon were demoed during Treehouse in 2016. 

@Serebii how likely do you think a 2018 release would be as opposed to a 2019 release? I know there's very little information going around at the moment (with regards to official information or job listings), but I'm just curious, because the lack of information is driving fans nuts and meaning that a lot of them attach their ideas to rumours and speculation, which, I have to imagine, is taking some sort of toll on you as the go-to for all things Pokémon?

Edited by Julius Caesar
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16 minutes ago, Julius Caesar said:

No, it was announced at last year's E3 Spotlight... :p 

 

Heh, ok, fine :p that's where they "announced" Pokemon Gen 8, but they didn't unveil it there.  We haven't seen anything about the game itself yet as they've yet to unveil anything.

 

Pokemon US/UM was unveiled the week before though

 

 

So if they did unveil Gen 8 at E3, it would be a first.

 

Last year's E3 was basically all about future promises for Switch, so they basically had to confirm where the Pokemon series was going to be headed next, to basically tell fans to go buy a Switch now and feel confident that Pokemon is heading there.  I wouldn't expect our first glimpse of Gen 8 to be at E3 itself, but instead beforehand.

 

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how likely do you think a 2018 release would be as opposed to a 2019 release?

I think 2018 is a ridiculous target, given that S/M only came out in 2016, but everything I've heard is saying that it's happening this year.  I can't see how Game Freak could pull it off (even with outside help from someone like Namco or Monolith Soft), but that's the date that's making the rounds so...

Edited by Dcubed
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18 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

That's where they "announced" Pokemon Gen 8, but they didn't unveil it there.  We haven't seen anything about the game itself yet as they've yet to unveil anything.

 

Pokemon US/UM was unveiled the week before though

 

 

So if they did unveil Gen 8 at E3, it would be a first.

 

Last year's E3 was basically all about future promises for Switch, so they basically had to confirm where the Pokemon series was going to be headed next, to basically tell fans to go buy a Switch now and feel confident that Pokemon is heading there.

Oh, I know. I thought that's where you were going with it originally (as I said above, I think?), but just wanted to clear things up as "unveiled" and "announced" are interchangeable? :) 

I do hope that when we learn more about the game, and see it for the first time, that it is prior to E3. I don't have the greatest of expectations for the games, honestly, but I know that many want to see some sprawling open world on a massive scale, and I think many - especially more casual fans who aren't fully aware of why this is so unlikely - will find themselves disappointed, and that will likely only be compounded when we're learning and seeing more about games like SmashFire Emblem, etc., this June. Then again, being amidst everything else could also cover up some fan disappointment, so ::shrug:

 

Edited by Julius Caesar
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50 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

I think 2018 is a ridiculous target, given that S/M only came out in 2016, but everything I've heard is saying that it's happening this year.  I can't see how Game Freak could pull it off (even with outside help from someone like Namco or Monolith Soft), but that's the date that's making the rounds so...

I've remained optimistic about a 2018 release date since it was announced, but, because the more experienced Game Freak team has likely been working on this since SM, I almost feel resigned to it being made with the Gen VII engine at this point, the only big and worthwhile differences from the last generation being that it's in full HD when docked, and potentially sees the return of walking partner Pokémon (something which never particularly excited me). I do think it's possible that some work was completed by the more experienced team when they first got their hands on an NX devkit (probably late 2014/early 2015), but it doesn't seem possible that they could have completed a substantial amount prior to their attention returning to SM.

Returning to the Gen VII engine won't necessarily be a bad thing, of course, and assuming that the game was developed in that engine (and assuming that engine was compatible with the Switch from its inception) and that work only began in earnest in late 2016, we could still see a considerable amount of new features added to the game that I've spoken about before, which I think would be worthwhile additions to the game: a fully controllable camera, Pokémon roaming in the overworld, in-battle evolutions, a better story (which seems to be their focus vs. an open world), etc. 

Gen VIII isn't stacking up to be the technological step forwards that many might have wanted, but I do think that it could still see the franchise evolve in some very key ways fundamentally that I'd be all for. And, with the second and less experienced team at Game Freak only becoming more experienced as the years fly by, they should be capable of spearheading any sequels or remakes that come in Gen VIII beyond the opening pair of games, which could free up the veterans to learn more about how they might evolve the franchise (be it an open world or something else) from other developers in the industry, which could position Gen IX as the generation where we get that sort of technological leap with regards to the engine. 

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On 23/04/2018 at 4:59 PM, Julius Caesar said:

which I think would be worthwhile additions to the game: a fully controllable camera, Pokémon roaming in the overworld, in-battle evolutions, a better story

Is this a thing people want? What would it actually add? Are you that impatient that you can't wait until the end of a battle for your Pokémon to evolve? What if you want to cancel evolution? Are you gonna have to press B every time a Pokémon gets experience?

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38 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Is this a thing people want?

No idea. It’s something that I think would be interesting to see, but I imagine it would have its fair share of both proponents and critics.

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What would it actually add? Are you that impatient that you can't wait until the end of a battle for your Pokémon to evolve? 

I think it could make battles a bit more dynamic, and I think it has the potential to be quite interesting if some battles were set up so that if the opposing trainer defeats one of your Pokémon, theirs evolves. It would also mean that a move accessible through evolution, such as Blaze Kick for when Combusken evolves into Blaziken, could be used when the move first becomes available (i.e. when Combusken reaches Lv. 36 and evolves), as opposed to having to wait until the end of the battle. 

I’m not impatient, but I do think it would help to streamline the gameplay experience, and would offer Game Freak a unique mechanic to play around with; I’d much rather see something as relatively simple as this than, say, another Mega Evolution or Z-Move mechanic, which comes a bit out of left field and drastically alters gameplay (though, I suppose, in the same vein, those are both in-battle mechanics). 

If this is a faster way to have a Pokémon evolve by levelling up when compared to the current system in place, then I struggle to see the downside to it. 

Quote

What if you want to cancel evolution? Are you gonna have to press B every time a Pokémon gets experience?

Sure, why not press B when they level up? Have an animation begin to play out (like Mega Evolution or a Z-move) which can be cancelled with the B button during battle?

I don’t know why you’d have to press B every time a Pokémon got experience.

Though I think it could be interesting to see how it could be incorporated into the games, it’s not the mechanic I would be most excited for out of those that I mentioned. 

Edited by Julius Caesar

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13 hours ago, Julius Caesar said:

No idea. It’s something that I think would be interesting to see, but I imagine it would have its fair share of both proponents and critics.

I think it could make battles a bit more dynamic, and I think it has the potential to be quite interesting if some battles were set up so that if the opposing trainer defeats one of your Pokémon, theirs evolves. It would also mean that a move accessible through evolution, such as Blaze Kick for when Combusken evolves into Blaziken, could be used when the move first becomes available (i.e. when Combusken reaches Lv. 36 and evolves), as opposed to having to wait until the end of the battle. 

That's not a bad idea, in fact. It's so good that Mystery Dungeon already did it back in Gen 5. In those games, it serves as punishment for letting a Pokémon faint, due to enemies getting an obscene stat boost if they evolve.

I can't help but feel that a similar mechanic would only be prevalent in the beginning/mid game during a mainline game. Sooner or later, computer trainers will have fully evolved Pokémon and it might feel easier in comparison because there's no threat of the opponent evolving.

BTW, at the risk of making myself look even nerdier than I already am. Blaziken no longer learns Blaze Kick at Level 36. Now it can evolve at any level and it'll still learn the move. A lot of similar Pokémon had this tweak in Gen 7.

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35 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

That's not a bad idea, in fact. It's so good that Mystery Dungeon already did it back in Gen 5. In those games, it serves as punishment for letting a Pokémon faint, due to enemies getting an obscene stat boost if they evolve.

I can't help but feel that a similar mechanic would only be prevalent in the beginning/mid game during a mainline game. Sooner or later, computer trainers will have fully evolved Pokémon and it might feel easier in comparison because there's no threat of the opponent evolving.

BTW, at the risk of making myself look even nerdier than I already am. Blaziken no longer learns Blaze Kick at Level 36. Now it can evolve at any level and it'll still learn the move. A lot of similar Pokémon had this tweak in Gen 7.

Oh yeah, I think I actually heard about that. Was it in Gates to Infinity

And yeah, I get what you mean, it probably would end up being a bit frontloaded in that regard. 

I think I get what you mean with that last part, but did they really only just alter that code for evolutions in Gen VII? That seems...an odd thing to change so relatively late on. I probably didn’t mean to be as specific as I did (honestly, I just meant when Combusken evolves into Blaziken), but that’s nice to know: I wasn’t aware that they had moves learned by evolution coded in that way before :D

Edited by Julius Caesar

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On another note, do you think they will still release 2 versions? I don't know why, but I have a feeling that since they are now shifting to the "home console" they will drop the 2 versions approach. It would also make sense, with online trading nullifying the effect of version exclusives.

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Just now, Vileplume2000 said:

On another note, do you think they will still release 2 versions? I don't know why, but I have a feeling that since they are now shifting to the "home console" they will drop the 2 versions approach. It would also make sense, with online trading nullifying the effect of version exclusives.

I doubt it. It's still a good way to fleece gamers out of their money.

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35 minutes ago, Vileplume2000 said:

On another note, do you think they will still release 2 versions? I don't know why, but I have a feeling that since they are now shifting to the "home console" they will drop the 2 versions approach. It would also make sense, with online trading nullifying the effect of version exclusives.

I think I agree with @Hero-of-Time that they’ll continue to release two versions. It’s been such a large part of Pokémon’s success, and I think that Pokémon GO in particular highlighted that the social aspect of the game is still something that they’re interested in having players engage in. Box art legendary Pokémon often sell a particular version to a consumer, so narrowing down the option to choose, I think, could only be to their own detriment. Plus, they’ve been designing these games to have two versions for over twenty years (either through intricacies in location or Pokémon available, for example), and I don’t see them wanting to sway from that particular approach.

For me, personally, I think the more pressing question would be if we’re going to be able to have multiple save files (either in-game or through the use of multiple system user accounts). And I think that the answer will probably be no, and that the game will be saved locally to the cartridge.

Edited by Julius Caesar

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8 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I doubt it. It's still a good way to fleece gamers out of their money.

Only dopes buy both versions for one person. Online trading means there's absolutely no need to do so if you want to complete the Pokédex.

Kill the version exclusives and you kill most of the incentive to trade.

8 hours ago, Julius Caesar said:

Oh yeah, I think I actually heard about that. Was it in Gates to Infinity

And yeah, I get what you mean, it probably would end up being a bit frontloaded in that regard. 

I think I get what you mean with that last part, but did they really only just alter that code for evolutions in Gen VII? That seems...an odd thing to change so relatively late on. I probably didn’t mean to be as specific as I did (honestly, I just meant when Combusken evolves into Blaziken), but that’s nice to know: I wasn’t aware that they had moves learned by evolution coded in that way before :D

Yep, that's right. Gates to Infinity.

I rip on Sun/Moon for it's lack of exploration, obviously missing content and it's lopsided on Pokémon from Gen 1, but I can't give it enough credit for the small and numerous QoL improvements throughout.

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Still listed as “2018 or later” in Nintendo’s financials. 

It makes me a little nervous that they really are just trying to rush something out if they’re not sure when it’s coming out by this point, but yeah, the official aim still seems to be to have it out by the end of 2018. 

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2 hours ago, Dcubed said:

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/04/nintendo_and_game_freaks_latest_patent_hints_at_a_new_direction_for_pokemon_on_switch

 

original.jpg

 

Well this is interesting! Could we be looking at the new main gimmick of Pokemon Gen 8? TCG become Amiibo cards? A merging of the TCG and the mainline games?

That's literally the top screen of Pokémon Sun/Moon.

CnNRlCvUMAEOIKX.jpg

Y'all need to read your Pokédex more.

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