The Wii is old and outdated now that the Wii U and Switch exist. The 3DS is still being produced and, unlike the Wii U, there's been no confirmation that the 3DS will be replaced.
Yes. Third versions are usually put off until several years after the original's release. If Stars existed, no one would buy SM because "why buy this 3DS game with lots of graphics problems when there's a better version for the Switch with no problems at all?"
The Wii came out in November 2006 and its last hurrah was the November 2011 release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (making the lifespan about 5 years).
For the record, Sun and Moon had sold 3.7 million in two weeks in America by the 30th of November. And that is just America. Who knows how many has been sold since then? :O
Whose to say it'll even get 7.5 million? Normal third versions can sell as low as 6 million, and with this not being a normal third version it could sell even lower. Especially when in this case you need to shell out hundreds of dollars to buy a Switch to get it, that's liable to cut into usual third version profits. Plus, how many people would buy Stars that would buy a Switch anyway for other games like 3D Mario, Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart, or Splatoon? For the purposes of bringing in new audiences, it's a definite risk. It's a new generation you want if you want to bring in a huge audience.
We do know that the Switch is not backwards compatible with 3DS. That alone is strong evidence that the 3DS cannot communicate wirelessly with the Switch. If it's not similar enough to emulate 3DS software why would it be similar enough to directly communicate data?
Yeah, the timing couldn't be worse for Stars. It's too soon for people to want to make another trip through Kalos and too far from the original release for them to catch enough of an audience that didn't buy SM. They're not going to have much of an audience for this thing, if they really wanted to draw in an audience for this thing SM should have been a launch title for the Switch, not Stars. Now that would be a compelling, if all of the things that SM did differently like the Trials and Poke Ride and Alola Forms and Ultra Beasts were things that you were experiencing for the first time on a brand new console that would make a strong argument for buying a Switch. But since all of that's been experienced by most of the Pokemon fanbase, it's not as much of a selling point for Stars. This all just leaves me question what was the rush in moving onto 7th gen in the first place? If we were just moving onto the Switch in 2017 in the first place there was no reason to end 6th gen that early, we've had 4 year, 3 game generations before.
6 million isn't bad sales for a game either. While not great by Pokémon standard, it is still high for games in general.
The Wii U could communicate with the 3DS, even though it can't run 3DS software (see Smash Bros.). The Wii could do the same with the DS (ex. WarioWare DIY). So... not really out of the question just because the system can't run Wii U/3DS software itself due to simple design contradictions.
I don't even think it'll get that much. I'd say 5 million or less.
Yes there is something to lose. They'll have lost money making higher-res models and graphics for Stars, as well as some of their install base. Putting it on the 3DS is a safer move because they'll be spending less money on a larger audience.
The 3DS and Wii U were also same generation consoles that were designed to communicate with one another. The Switch was designed much later than the 3DS, and likely with a different system architecture that would make BC impossible (system architecture is cited as one of the reasons why the Wii U didn't get a lot of third party support, so Nintendo has to change this if they want the Switch to get decent third party support).
You're right on all of this. Stars would be a huge risk and keeping all of Gen 7 on the 3DS would be the best option.
Oh please, a slight bump in graphics isn't going to do much for you. Maybe a few extra features, but that's about it, nothing game changing will come out of an engine port. If a 3DS version won't improve on SM it's because there isn't much to improve on to begin with, SM are fairly complete games that don't really need another version.
Disagree. Platinum was an improvement to DP and it was on the same handheld as DP. The 3DS can handle one more gen 7 game before gen 8. It can be either one of the handheld but the 3DS is better in my opinion.
Considering that we lost triple battles, horde battles, and rotation battles in Sun and Moon which were staples in X and Y as well as the Gen V games, we have most definitely reached the peak of the 3DS. I recall there were times where the game actually slows down to due to the graphic animation of some moves. This is not because of there isn't much to improve on to begin with, but rather because this is as far as Gamefreak could push the hardware of the 3DS.
The production of them would eat up development assets that could've gone to other things. Wasting assets on pretty graphics, as we seen before, is never a good idea.
There lies the fault in your thinking. There is much to improve on:
I've seen many game companies waste a lot of money on pretty graphics. And usually, those who do it are the ones who a lot of money to spare. Pokémon is a money making machine. Whatever high cost there is for GameFreak is going to be made up by merchandising, the profits made from the previous games, spin-offs, anime, manga, and the appeal of the brand.
Which is a blanket argument that can be applied to literally anything. But regardless, that doesn't explain how they will lose money. They can easily re-use any visual assets and models again, so to call them a loss goes against precedent.
Seen before on what? Which Pokémon games had negative reviews due to having "too good" graphics?
1. Multi and Double Battles lag all of the time, you'll never be able to get that quite right.
You're misunderstanding the argument. It's not about whether or not Pokemon should transition to the Switch, that's pretty much an inevitability. It's about whether or not Pokemon should transition to the Switch immediately at launch with a third version. Stars is coming too early to be able to make the call on whether or not it'll be a runaway smash hit.
Because they're inevitably going to have to improve on them with 8th gen. Do you think a port of a 3DS game is going to be an acceptable long term solution for the Switch? Of course not, for all of the potential Stars has there's much more in an engine designed from the ground up for Switch.