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Generation VI: The Future

What will it be?


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https://twitter.com/Junichi_Masuda/status/540091890784161792

So apparently Masuda is taking a trip to London. Hmm...

He always visits the next region's inspiration before they make the region, correct? So it looks like PokeBritain is in our future. And Britain is a quick trip across the English Channel away from France. Things are starting to become a bit more clear and I think we can now guess what "unique ways" Game Freak is using to tie up XY's story, it seems like they're planning on making a sequel that takes place in PokeBritain.

EDIT: Wait a minute. There was an Eon Ticket event in London on the 29th. He stayed there until the 4th. Simple sightseeing or is he researching for the next region? Legit question, I'm not sure now.
 
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EDIT: Wait a minute. There was an Eon Ticket event in London on the 29th. He stayed there until the 4th. Simple sightseeing or is he researching for the next region? Legit question, I'm not sure now.
He attended the event and was still promoting ORAS on the 2nd. I recommend not jumping to conclusions whenever Masuda says that he is traveling; if he were doing it for research purposes, he wouldn't be tweeting about it.

The Strange Souvenir foreshadows a region said to be far from Kalos, so I doubt that it's supposed to continue XY's plot.
 
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Alright, seeing as Masuda's latest interview ruled out Battle Fronteir DLC, and given Game Freak's current attitude towards DLC as a whole, it doesn't seem very likely that Gen. 6 will receive any sort of expansion that ties up the loose plot threads. What I'm more worried about though is Zygarde, and the fact that Game Freak will just forget about him due to not making Pokémon Z nor doing DLC surrounding it. However, I might have found a solution to all of this! ...at least as far as Zygarde and Kalos' unfinished lore goes.

Failing either a Pokémon Z third version or Episode Z DLC, I could see them using Zygarde for a tri-region plot involving AZ's war. I highly doubt that a huge conflict so influential to the Megaverse (what I'm calling the timeline/universe with Mega Evolution present) was just a Kalos-only civil war. If such a scenario does happen, I could see Zygarde as the Rayquaza to not just one, but three pairs of version mascots. Besides, if the event of Kalos didn't cause it to take any action, maybe all of the regions it was involved with being threatened will.

Now I know it's a huge stretch, and I'd much rather see Silktree's idea for an Episode Z that ties up Zygarde's role against Xerneas and Yveltal, but the evidence and the odds for that are stacked against us. Given Game Freak's interest with the New 3DS, and the fact that they might only have enough time to make one pair of main games for Gen. 7 before the next generation Nintendo handheld comes out, I think it'd best suit GF to tie in Kalos war with two other regions. This would be both for the sake of finishing Kalos' unfinished lore and prevent the next two generations of Pokémon games from also creating more unfinished plots that are never resolved.

Basically, I think that if GF absolutely refuses to use DLC for any reason, then extending one Legendary that got ignored across multiple regions isn't too unreasonable if we want any kind of closure. Besides, Masuda has always said he wanted to expand the lose plot thread in interesting ways, so why not have an overarching war between multiple regions?

If you think about it though, there may have been other byproducts from AZ's mess that made. It give GF the opportunity to create more battle-related mechanics that aren't Mega Evolution, although it could end up being somewhat similar. It wouldn't surprise me if the UW had different effects on different regions. What I'm trying to say is that there could be other mechanics besides Mega Evolution that could be explored as a byproduct of the same war.

Of course, all of this is just partially-baseless speculation on my part of what could happen should the worst-case scenario for Gen. 6 happen.
 
Kallyle said:
Alright, seeing as Masuda's latest interview ruled out Battle Fronteir DLC,
I thought that we had already agreed that he was just explaining why the Battle Frontier wasn't included in ORAS to begin with. In your own words: "Making the Battle Frontier either DLC or just a separate app akin to the ORAS Demo makes sense with Masuda's wording. Not everyone wants something like the Battle Frontier, but the references and him stating that there are people who don't ignore it mean that he cares about it being used, having optional DLC/a separate app akin to Pokémon Stadium would be good for the people who do want it. Even though it should have been in the games in the first place, and the fact that we might have to pay for said Battle Frontier add-on, it would be better than not having anything to breathe more life into the Gen. 6 games at all."

I sincerely hope that the next region's lore will not be tied to the ultimate weapon. I thought that it was a bad plot device in XY and ORAS haven't changed my mind.
 
Kallyle said:
Alright, seeing as Masuda's latest interview ruled out Battle Fronteir DLC,
I thought that we had already agreed that he was just explaining why the Battle Frontier wasn't included in ORAS to begin with. In your own words: "Making the Battle Frontier either DLC or just a separate app akin to the ORAS Demo makes sense with Masuda's wording. Not everyone wants something like the Battle Frontier, but the references and him stating that there are people who don't ignore it mean that he cares about it being used, having optional DLC/a separate app akin to Pokémon Stadium would be good for the people who do want it. Even though it should have been in the games in the first place, and the fact that we might have to pay for said Battle Frontier add-on, it would be better than not having anything to breathe more life into the Gen. 6 games at all."

I sincerely hope that the next region's lore will not be tied to the ultimate weapon. I thought that it was a bad plot device in XY and ORAS haven't changed my mind.

Regarding the Battle Frontier... While not everyone wants the Battle Facilities, countless people certainly liked that Smeargle cavern and that Sudowoodo... With that in mind, I'm sure that they could add interesting environments around an island for the Battle Frontier, enough to entice non-competitive players to be interested in a potential DLC. That there was a statement of an unprecedented manner of continuing something really does make me feel that DLC could be a thing. But its also possible that Game Freak may choose to invoke something that feels equally unprecedented in the world of DLC... An Expansion Pack. Those things from the 90's that saw their last hurrah with the release of Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.

I feel that the next region's lore could be handled well if tied into The Ultimate Weapon through a revelation of what Infinity Energy is. If the next region ends up being Gen VII, that can be tied into Gen IV remakes, and thus Infinity Energy as tied to the creation of the Universe itself could come into play, and I feel that might redeem the plot element of The Ultimate Weapon to some degree. As it stands though, I do agree that having something unrelated to the Ultimate Weapon directly is for the best.
 
An Expansion Pack. Those things from the 90's that saw their last hurrah with the release of Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.
I don't think that an expansion pack is a feasible option for a handheld game. Besides, how is an expansion pack more sensible than DLC these days? They can re-release the games with DLC included to lure new players.

I feel that the next region's lore could be handled well if tied into The Ultimate Weapon through a revelation of what Infinity Energy is. If the next region ends up being Gen VII, that can be tied into Gen IV remakes, and thus Infinity Energy as tied to the creation of the Universe itself could come into play, and I feel that might redeem the plot element of The Ultimate Weapon to some degree. As it stands though, I do agree that having something unrelated to the Ultimate Weapon directly is for the best.
I am not saying that they should abandon the ultimate weapon or Infinity Energy after this generation, but they should take a break from them for a while. I doubt that DP will be remade for the New 3DS; the gap between remakes has been at least 5 years and should stay that way for the sake of innovation.
 
I don't think that an expansion pack is a feasible option for a handheld game. Besides, how is an expansion pack more sensible than DLC these days? They can re-release the games with DLC included to lure new players.

I feel that the next region's lore could be handled well if tied into The Ultimate Weapon through a revelation of what Infinity Energy is. If the next region ends up being Gen VII, that can be tied into Gen IV remakes, and thus Infinity Energy as tied to the creation of the Universe itself could come into play, and I feel that might redeem the plot element of The Ultimate Weapon to some degree. As it stands though, I do agree that having something unrelated to the Ultimate Weapon directly is for the best.
I am not saying that they should abandon the ultimate weapon or Infinity Energy after this generation, but they should take a break from them for a while. I doubt that DP will be remade for the New 3DS; the gap between remakes has been at least 5 years and should stay that way for the sake of innovation.

I feel like an expansion pack is a bit more likely than we might expect, if only because the entirety of the art assets that make up the bulk of the data on our game cards are right there, on the game cards. And plenty of retail game card games have DLC. Combine this with the fact that every 3DS has been bundled with at least a 2GB SD card, and we get a scenario where the art assets, save for new stuff, are loaded off the cart, while the actual location data, map data, dialogue and event triggers are within some reasonably sized expansion pack. This is something that could even go to retail physically, in the manner of a game card that effectively installs itself to the SD Card, ala CD/DVD installation on PCs and modern home consoles. I feel like an expansion pack is more feasible than mere DLC because of the negative associations that DLC have. Nintendo have distanced themselves with the word, using "add-on content" instead for certain games. So... even if its just functionally DLC, I could see it being marketed as an expansion pack.

I do agree that we should have longer generations, but... In terms of International releases at least, we've seen a new game yearly since 2009. Platinum (2009), HGSS (2010), BW (2011), BW2 (2012), XY (2013), ORAS (2014). If Pokémon has truly become a yearly series, then I could see DPPt remakes as early as 2017, assuming that 2015 is used for an XY2 / XYORAS Expansion Pack while they prep Gen VII for 2016.
 
This is something that could even go to retail physically, in the manner of a game card that effectively installs itself to the SD Card, ala CD/DVD installation on PCs and modern home consoles.
You're just describing a retail form of DLC. A paid download card (for people worried about sending their digital card number online) should be enough for that, and most people will just download the content using e-Shop. Does it matter if it's called DLC or add-on content? Calling it an expansion pack would be a stretch, but semantics aren't important.

I do agree that we should have longer generations, but...
I actually never said that. I don't consider 3 years to be short; I'm against releasing third versions just to fill time as it usually doesn't mean allocating more resources to the next generation.

In terms of International releases at least, we've seen a new game yearly since 2009. Platinum (2009), HGSS (2010), BW (2011), BW2 (2012), XY (2013), ORAS (2014). If Pokémon has truly become a yearly series, then I could see DPPt remakes as early as 2017, assuming that 2015 is used for an XY2 / XYORAS Expansion Pack while they prep Gen VII for 2016.
International releases are irrelevant to Game Freak's development constraints. Besides, the gap between BW and B2W2 was still 19 months outside Japan, so it is inaccurate to treat it as a one-year gap. If you add 19 months to November 2014, that takes us to June 2016.

Also, I fully expect to see a new game in 2017 if there is a gap next year. Game Freak have shown that they can handle three consecutive releases (Yellow-GS-Crystal, RS-FRLG-Emerald, Platinum-HGSS-BW and B2W2-XY-ORAS), but not any more than that. I just don't see why DP remakes are a good idea for the New 3DS, especially given the franchise's 20th anniversary.
 
You're just describing a retail form of DLC. A paid download card (for people worried about sending their digital card number online) should be enough for that, and most people will just download the content using e-Shop. Does it matter if it's called DLC or add-on content? Calling it an expansion pack would be a stretch, but semantics aren't important.

I do agree that we should have longer generations, but...
I actually never said that. I don't consider 3 years to be short; I'm against releasing third versions just to fill time as it usually doesn't mean allocating more resources to the next generation.

In terms of International releases at least, we've seen a new game yearly since 2009. Platinum (2009), HGSS (2010), BW (2011), BW2 (2012), XY (2013), ORAS (2014). If Pokémon has truly become a yearly series, then I could see DPPt remakes as early as 2017, assuming that 2015 is used for an XY2 / XYORAS Expansion Pack while they prep Gen VII for 2016.
International releases are irrelevant to Game Freak's development constraints. Besides, the gap between BW and B2W2 was still 19 months outside Japan, so it is inaccurate to treat it as a one-year gap. If you add 19 months to November 2014, that takes us to June 2016.

Also, I fully expect to see a new game in 2017 if there is a gap next year. Game Freak have shown that they can handle three consecutive releases (Yellow-GS-Crystal, RS-FRLG-Emerald, Platinum-HGSS-BW and B2W2-XY-ORAS), but not any more than that. I just don't see why DP remakes are a good idea for the New 3DS, especially given the franchise's 20th anniversary.

That's basically all expansion packs ever were: retail DLC. Then digital expansion packs happened, and became smaller and we got to where we are today. Nintendo did do a retail release of Luigi U, so its possible it could happen again. But you're right, semantics are totally silly. I guess it just comes down to how Nintendo and Game Freak discuss things regarding whatever might come out in 2015.

And I agree entirely about the 3rd versions thing. I loved Black and White 2 because it wasn't really a third version in the normal way, and I'd be okay with seeing something like that again, especially if their goal with Gen VII is to have more than 70 new Pokémon. I brought up the International release dates because of what a cash-cow the series is for Nintendo itself, and how that could very well have been behind why X and Y seemed kind of rushed compared to BW1. As you brought up, there were a full 19 months before the releases in Japan, and that equates to 1.5ish years of dev time, intense QA for 2ish months before 1 month of printing and shipping. Which is what Game Freak is obviously used to. But then XY had considerably less development time. One year and four months from JP release of BW2 to release of XY. So, what I was trying to get across is that if for some reason it really has become a yearly series, I could see the projected path involving something more filler or third versiony to save on development time and resources for 2015, to keep the money flowing for Nintendo, whilst the main focus remains on whatever 20th Anniversary thing is planned.
 
Nintendo did do a retail release of Luigi U, so its possible it could happen again.
The retail Luigi U could be played independently of New Super Mario Bros U. The main release was still regular DLC, which was cheaper than the retail version. I can see XY being re-released with DLC, but I don't see how the DLC could be independent of XY without turning it into a third version.

and I'd be okay with seeing something like that again,
I'd rather see sequels for an old region, especially if the new region can be fleshed out to begin with or later on via DLC, not to mention that it's possible to connect the two stories (as XY and ORAS demonstrate to an extent).

But then XY had considerably less development time. One year and four months from JP release of BW2 to release of XY.
XY's development started in late 2010 according to interviews. Granted, the focus was on B2W2 for the first year, but I assume that the staff worked efficiently enough so that they weren't all working on a single project at the same time (which is not to say that there were separate development teams). XY definitely required more resources than B2W2 did despite the lacking post-game content.

So, what I was trying to get across is that if for some reason it really has become a yearly series, I could see the projected path involving something more filler or third versiony to save on development time and resources for 2015, to keep the money flowing for Nintendo, whilst the main focus remains on whatever 20th Anniversary thing is planned.
I can't imagine why Nintendo would push them to release a third version after they did the opposite in the last generation. I don't know about Game Freak, but Nintendo is completely fine with DLC at this point.
 
The retail Luigi U could be played independently of New Super Mario Bros U. The main release was still regular DLC, which was cheaper than the retail version. I can see XY being re-released with DLC, but I don't see how the DLC could be independent of XY without turning it into a third version.

I had no idea about that. I feel enlightened. And very much that are right here.

I'd rather see sequels for an old region, especially if the new region can be fleshed out to begin with or later on via DLC, not to mention that it's possible to connect the two stories (as XY and ORAS demonstrate to an extent).

Another remake might very well be preferred to me. I suppose that Gen III does have FRLG to remake, so... there's that. And yes, connecting stories through something like that seems viable.

XY's development started in late 2010 according to interviews. Granted, the focus was on B2W2 for the first year, but I assume that the staff worked efficiently enough so that they weren't all working on a single project at the same time (which is not to say that there were separate development teams). XY definitely required more resources than B2W2 did despite the lacking post-game content.

I wasn't aware that XY started so early. But... it feels odd that the game was so comparatively short having started development back then. The size of the studio and split resources might be why, I guess. Though, as you point out about resources... the amount of work on XY probably vastly dwarfed a lot of other things, given that entirely new assets had to be made for everything, rather than with Gen V re-using a lot of the sprites it saw animated.

I can't imagine why Nintendo would push them to release a third version after they did the opposite in the last generation. I don't know about Game Freak, but Nintendo is completely fine with DLC at this point.

Nintendo is definitely comfortable pushing DLC, but I seem to recall a statement from Game Freak that made them appear hesitant to use DLC in their main works.
 
Another remake might very well be preferred to me.
That is not what I am suggesting, though. Old regions can be given sequels, too, and in Kanto's case the idea is a lot more appealing than remaking the original games again.

given that entirely new assets had to be made for everything, rather than with Gen V re-using a lot of the sprites it saw animated.
That's one good thing about Generation VII most likely being released for the New 3DS while being playable on the 3DS. The New 3DS can enhance the games' graphics and gameplay, but the main improvements won't be related to graphics, which should be a relief after XY.

but I seem to recall a statement from Game Freak that made them appear hesitant to use DLC in their main works.
That was Masuda's statement a year ago. Sugimori made a much clearer comment that showed openness to the idea if executed fairly.

If Masuda had the final say about everything, B2W2 would be two third versions. Nintendo and Game Freak's board (which includes Tajiri and Sugimori) can veto his decisions. He himself said only two months ago that XY would be tied together in a more unique way than a sequel.
 
XY take so long to produce because they had to create the models of "everything", including the Pokemon. I think that the first 6-12 months of XY's development is actually "3DS development" where the only thing Gf did is testing the 3DS over and over and creating all the existing relevant data into the 3DS.

Apart o that semi off-topic...

I noticed that in Gen VI...
Game Freak can create new moves from scratch that aren't in previous game data. They haven't done before.

Game Freak can create new abilities from scratch that aren't in previous game data. They haven't done before.

In the next game...
Can Game Freak release "entirely new Pokemon" from scratch that aren't in the data of XY nor the data of OR/AS?

You can say "If they have "new Pokemon, this is a new gen".

Note: I'm going to give an example here:
But... what happens if Game Freak decides to create a (South?*) Kalos game that includes a duo/trio of legendaries (that Gen VI doesn't have), 2-5 new families, (a few evolutions?*), apart of a big group of new Mega Evolution in the next game?

In that case, it wouldn't be a new Generation. It would be more like Generation 6.1 rather than Generation 7.

*Things that i don't hold my breath happening even if a future Kalos game with new Pokemon actually happens.
 
You can say "If they have "new Pokemon, this is a new gen".
That's a fair assessment if Game Freak don't update XY. At least Mega Evolutions are optional (in that the Pokémon can be used without Mega Stones) and the Weather trio's moves can be deleted and re-learned.

But... what happens if Game Freak decides to create a (South?*) Kalos game that includes a duo/trio of legendaries (that Gen VI doesn't have), 2-5 new families, (a few evolutions?*), apart of a big group of new Mega Evolution in the next game?
What would be the point? Especially when XY foreshadow a new region that is far from Kalos.
 
That's a fair assessment if Game Freak don't update XY. At least Mega Evolutions are optional (in that the Pokémon can be used without Mega Stones) and the Weather trio's moves can be deleted and re-learned.
Game Freak doesn't care that Mega Evolutions are optional. What they care is that the new OR/AS game is going to have Mega Evolutions that you can only enjoy if you are buying OR/AS.

If actually new Pokemon appears in a Generation 6.1 game, said Pokemon wouldn't e able to trade to older games. Not only that, if Volcanion/Eternal Floette is going to be released in the games that include the new "Generation 6.1 Pokemon", I expect those cases being treated as "new species not present in XY" and not being able to trade. Even though the Lati@site exists in X/Y, those items can't be traded from OR/AS to X/Y and they are treated like the rest of OR/AS Mega Evolutions that doesn't have data in X/Y (the reason is because it would cause confusion if Lati@s are allowed but the rest aren't allowed).

What would be the point? Especially when XY foreshadow a new region that is far from Kalos.

I used (South?) Kalos as speculation because they are the main expected regions of the "Zygarde game", but I can apply to that supposed "Strange Souvenir region" as well.
 
I used (South?) Kalos as speculation because they are the main expected regions of the "Zygarde game", but I can apply to that supposed "Strange Souvenir region" as well.
If you do that then you definitely get a new generation, especially if the New 3DS is involved (considering that Masuda has said that games from the same generation should use the same hardware).
 
I had to make an account to chime in, but I think we may wind up at the end of VI sooner than later.

Consider this Starting with generation III: there were remakes of older games and a third version. This happened because the GBA having complication cause a cutoff point in migration, a factor that actually led to panic that Pokemon was getting rebooted starting with Hoenn. However now Gens 1 through 3 are remade and it is likely to be a standard.

However Gen V has no Gen III remakes; Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were released as part of gen VI. Meaning that Game Freak was willing to mess with a recent "tradition".

By the time we did get Gen III remakes it seems to be at a point where we can complete the pokedes if we have access to X, Y, aS and oR, (mainly because of the legendaries, then again the leftover legendaries seem to be in the remakes anyway and VI has a disproportionate scale with X/Y have about 7 and the remakes having 30+)

With all this in mind, do you think there will actually be a 3rd Kalos game? because I'm a little doubtful atm.
 
By the time we did get Gen III remakes it seems to be at a point where we can complete the pokedes if we have access to X, Y, aS and oR, (mainly because of the legendaries, then again the leftover legendaries seem to be in the remakes anyway and VI has a disproportionate scale with X/Y have about 7 and the remakes having 30+)

With all this in mind, do you think there will actually be a 3rd Kalos game? because I'm a little doubtful atm.
That's what we've been discussing for nearly two months now. It started with the observation that the National Pokédex can be completed using XY and ORAS alone, which is weird unless ORAS are the last games in this generation.
 
By the time we did get Gen III remakes it seems to be at a point where we can complete the pokedes if we have access to X, Y, aS and oR, (mainly because of the legendaries, then again the leftover legendaries seem to be in the remakes anyway and VI has a disproportionate scale with X/Y have about 7 and the remakes having 30+)

With all this in mind, do you think there will actually be a 3rd Kalos game? because I'm a little doubtful atm.
That's what we've been discussing for nearly two months now. It started with the observation that the National Pokédex can be completed using XY and ORAS alone, which is weird unless ORAS are the last games in this generation.

Oh well I apologize for restating such an obvious point, I only registered yesterday and only looked at the page linked form tvtropes (about the London thing) before registering, so I missed the rest of the discussion
 
Oh well I apologize for restating such an obvious point, I only registered yesterday and only looked at the page linked form tvtropes (about the London thing) before registering, so I missed the rest of the discussion
TV Tropes? Why was the London tweet referenced there? It really isn't a big deal.
 
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