The Pokemon Switch Version

[PurplePopplio]

What if development started actually earlier than 2015, say 2013 or 2014? Would people then be less concern if it is Gen VIII?

 

[Bolt Strike]

What if development started actually earlier than 2015, say 2013 or 2014? Would people then be less concern if it is Gen VIII?

In theory, yes. The issue is that Pokemon's in the big leagues now, it's on a console environment where people are going to be expecting console scale games, and that means larger and meatier games that you could play for hours and hours and hours without getting bored. There's a reason why you see people constantly ask for games like Zelda, sandbox Mario games (i.e. like 64/Sunshine/Galaxy/Odyssey and not like 3D Land/3D World), and Metroid Prime, it's because those are the types of experiences that the console market is buying them for, so they can sit down at a TV and get immersed in large game worlds they can play around in for hours at a time. Hell, this was precisely the issue that caused controversy in the Mario fanbase with 3D World, if you look around the internet you'll see a lot of people disappointed with 3D World because they expected a sandbox game on the Wii U instead of a linear platformer. So yeah, this whole philosophy of "let's design this game for casuals who don't want to spend time on anything" is not going to fly anymore because half of the Switch's market is going to be expecting the exact opposite design philosophy out of a Switch Pokemon game.

All that being said, Meta Boss is right, it's physically impossible for it to have started before 2015, and more likely not until 2016. Any earlier than that and it would've interfered with SM and USUM's development too much.

 

[Boss1708]

Yeah, Ohmori only started directing SM when he finished ORAS, so late 2014 early 2015 at the earliest.

He then completed SM 2016, so that is the earliest he would have started Switch version if he is the director.

 

[Aulos]

In theory, yes. The issue is that Pokemon's in the big leagues now, it's on a console environment where people are going to be expecting console scale games, and that means larger and meatier games that you could play for hours and hours and hours without getting bored. There's a reason why you see people constantly ask for games like Zelda, sandbox Mario games (i.e. like 64/Sunshine/Galaxy/Odyssey and not like 3D Land/3D World), and Metroid Prime, it's because those are the types of experiences that the console market is buying them for, so they can sit down at a TV and get immersed in large game worlds they can play around in for hours at a time. Hell, this was precisely the issue that caused controversy in the Mario fanbase with 3D World, if you look around the internet you'll see a lot of people disappointed with 3D World because they expected a sandbox game on the Wii U instead of a linear platformer. So yeah, this whole philosophy of "let's design this game for casuals who don't want to spend time on anything" is not going to fly anymore because half of the Switch's market is going to be expecting the exact opposite design philosophy out of a Switch Pokemon game.

All that being said, Meta Boss is right, it's physically impossible for it to have started before 2015, and more likely not until 2016. Any earlier than that and it would've interfered with SM and USUM's development too much.

I do have to correct you on one thing (and note that Nintendo has even officially made this distinction themselves with advertising Super Mario Odyssey) - Super Mario Galaxy 1&2 are more along the lines of the linear 3D Land/World than they are 64/Sunshine/Odyssey.

So I've been disappointed with the 3D Mario series for a very long time now. I think it got worse with 3D World because it was a sequel to a 3DS game and didn't even have a new theme, which was unprecedented for a 3D Mario on a console. At the end of the day, the Wii U didn't really get its own unique 3D Mario, it just got a sequel to a 3DS game.

But not to push aside your point. I 100% agree that if Gamefreak tries to pull anything like porting the Sun/Moon engine and style of graphics to the Switch it simply isn't going to cut it. Sun/Moon may look nice with HD graphics, but they're not amazing, they're not what I'd expect from a Switch Pokemon. Plus, Sun/Moon and its environments feel way too limited. They need to move as far away from Sun/Moon as possible for the Switch game, IMO. It needs to be built from the ground up.

 

[StandbyForBattle]

If they start developing Gen VIII along with Sun/Moon in 2015 (at least 2015, was a break year to develop Sun/Moon), at least we'll see Gen VIII in 2018, but I'm still having my doubts on that, I'm still expecting Gen VIII in 2020, which will have about 4.5 or 5 years to develop.

 

[PurplePopplio]

If they start developing Gen VIII along with Sun/Moon in 2015 (at least 2015, was a break year to develop Sun/Moon), at least we'll see Gen VIII in 2018, but I'm still having my doubts on that, I'm still expecting Gen VIII in 2020, which will have about 4.5 or 5 years to develop.

That would be wise. So Kanto sequels or sequel for the Switch for 2018!

 

[Bolt Strike]

I do have to correct you on one thing (and note that Nintendo has even officially made this distinction themselves with advertising Super Mario Odyssey) - Super Mario Galaxy 1&2 are more along the lines of the linear 3D Land/World than they are 64/Sunshine/Odyssey.

So I've been disappointed with the 3D Mario series for a very long time now. I think it got worse with 3D World because it was a sequel to a 3DS game and didn't even have a new theme, which was unprecedented for a 3D Mario on a console. At the end of the day, the Wii U didn't really get its own unique 3D Mario, it just got a sequel to a 3DS game.

But not to push aside your point. I 100% agree that if Gamefreak tries to pull anything like porting the Sun/Moon engine and style of graphics to the Switch it simply isn't going to cut it. Sun/Moon may look nice with HD graphics, but they're not amazing, they're not what I'd expect from a Switch Pokemon. Plus, Sun/Moon and its environments feel way too limited. They need to move as far away from Sun/Moon as possible for the Switch game, IMO. It needs to be built from the ground up.

Well technically Galaxy is a sort of hybrid of the two styles, but fans typically associate Galaxy more with the sandbox games despite its linearity, a lot of conventions of the sandbox games such as star collecting, having multiple levels to choose from, and themed gameplay. Had Galaxy not retained those things it would've seen more complaints.

Nevertheless, 3D World's criticism really shows what people expect from console games, and porting SM's engine and keeping with the same design philosophy would draw some of those same criticisms. So a game designed from the ground up would be for the best.

 

[DoctorWhy]

What if development started actually earlier than 2015, say 2013 or 2014? Would people then be less concern if it is Gen VIII?

Problem here is that Switch dev kits were not even going out until 2016 (late 2015 at the earliest, which is possible for GF). That means if GF releases a game in late 2018 as anticipated, it could've only had about 2.5 years of dev time.

EDIT: And as others have said, that would've interfered with SM.

 

[PartTimePokemonMaster]

Problem here is that Switch dev kits were not even going out until 2016 (late 2015 at the earliest, which is possible for GF). That means if GF releases a game in late 2018 as anticipated, it could've only had about 2.5 years of dev time.

EDIT: And as others have said, that would've interfered with SM.

Conspiracy Theory: What if it did? What if Nintendo pressured GF to start on a game for the NX, which impaired their ability to flesh out SM? Perhaps, USUM is the game they wanted to initially release but they couldn't meet the original deadline of the 20th anniversary. What if they had already began designing and conceptualizing the games a while ago and now are going to spend the next year and a half graphically programming the games??? *takes off tinfoil hat*

I do think they only recently begun the brunt of the work on the switch titles, but I also think they could wait until 2019 for a release. At the same time, I understand that Nintendo wants a strong 1st party line up for the early years of the switch until there is more 3rd party support. They are probably aiming for 2018.

 

[Kisu]

Conspiracy Theory: What if it did? What if Nintendo pressured GF to start on a game for the NX, which impaired their ability to flesh out SM? Perhaps, USUM is the game they wanted to initially release but they couldn't meet the original deadline of the 20th anniversary. What if they had already began designing and conceptualizing the games a while ago and now are going to spend the next year and a half graphically programming the games??? *takes off tinfoil hat*

I do think they only recently begun the brunt of the work on the switch titles, but I also think they could wait until 2019 for a release. At the same time, I understand that Nintendo wants a strong 1st party line up for the early years of the switch until there is more 3rd party support. They are probably aiming for 2018.

GF has a history of not fleshing out games to make 3rd versions.

I do agree that they most likely started considering a switch game whenever Nintendo first showed them the console.

And now with public demand they were pressured to to go forward with it.

 

[Dr. Turtwig MT]

I wouldn't be surprised if they did have dev kits for the switch or at least had an idea of what the switch was going to be. In addition to that I remember how a lot of people were talking about how little Sun and Moon used the bottom screen of the 3ds and how it seemed more made for a system with one screen.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I wouldn't be surprised if they did have dev kits for the switch or at least had an idea of what the switch was going to be. In addition to that I remember how a lot of people were talking about how little Sun and Moon used the bottom screen of the 3ds and how it seemed more made for a system with one screen.

When did people say that about Sun/Moon? That didn't really stand out to me when playing the game. They still used the bottom screen for features like Pokemon Refresh, Poke Pelago and the Festival Plaza. At the very least, it didn't give me the impression that the games were made for a system with one screen while playing the game. If anything, I'm actually kind of worried/curious how they'll develop main series games for a system that relies on one screen again. They did that for the first three generations because those systems had one screen, but they have relied on the duel screens of the DS and 3DS systems for their features for quite some time too. They'd probably be able to make it work on the Switch easier than I think it is, but it's something that I've thought about since the Switch announcement was made.

 

[Bolt Strike]

When did people say that about Sun/Moon? That didn't really stand out to me when playing the game. They still used the bottom screen for features like Pokemon Refresh, Poke Pelago and the Festival Plaza. At the very least, it didn't give me the impression that the games were made for a system with one screen while playing the game. If anything, I'm actually kind of worried/curious how they'll develop main series games for a system that relies on one screen again. They did that for the first three generations because those systems had one screen, but they have relied on the duel screens of the DS and 3DS systems for their features for quite some time too. They'd probably be able to make it work on the Switch easier than I think it is, but it's something that I've thought about since the Switch announcement was made.

That was one of the arguments in favor of Stars, I definitely remember people saying that when the Stars rumor was floating around.

As for how they can utilize one screen, my guess is they'll have menus or buttons to perform certain actions that would normally use the touch screen.

 

[Kisu]

Utilizing one screen really isn't a problem,most console games are way more complicated than pokemon and one screen is fine.

I'm more interested if it's gonna be a full scale console sized pokemon game or just a 3ds quality game on the switch

 

[SUP3RN0VA]

Utilizing one screen really isn't a problem,most console games are way more complicated than pokemon and one screen is fine.

I'm more interested if it's gonna be a full scale console sized pokemon game or just a 3ds quality game on the switch

Hopefully the former, however, as it is their first Pokémon game on a home console, I won't have my hopes raised on the idea of them going all out right away. I'm sure the first Switch game will be better than 3DS quality though. If the first games on Switch looked similar to Pokémon Colosseum/Pokemon XD (with HD graphics), then I would be quite pleased.

 

[Bolt Strike]

Hopefully the former, however, as it is their first Pokémon game on a home console, I won't have my hopes raised on the idea of them going all out right away. I'm sure the first Switch game will be better than 3DS quality though. If the first games on Switch looked similar to Pokémon Colosseum/Pokemon XD (with HD graphics), then I would be quite pleased.

I mean, what are HD graphics really going to get us? Graphics really haven't done much to improve the quality of the games recently, it's mainly come down to game mechanics and level design.

If a full console scale world is impossible, I would at the very least want the level design to start trending in that direction and make the game larger and more open than the 3DS games. If we just get a game designed like the 3DS games in HD, that's not going to do me any good because all of my issues are with the game's design philosophy, not how it looks.

 

[SUP3RN0VA]

I mean, what are HD graphics really going to get us? Graphics really haven't done much to improve the quality of the games recently, it's mainly come down to game mechanics and level design.

If a full console scale world is impossible, I would at the very least want the level design to start trending in that direction and make the game larger and more open than the 3DS games. If we just get a game designed like the 3DS games in HD, that's not going to do me any good because all of my issues are with the game's design philosophy, not how it looks.

I used HD Graphics as a safety net, in the event that some people may have assumed I was just expecting Gamecube level graphics for whatever reason. The Switch games having HD graphics should be a given. My main point is that I'd be pleased if the Pokémon Games on Switch started out with a look similar to Colosseum and XD, which probably shouldn't be too difficult for them to achieve, even for their first Switch titles.

 

[omahanime]

Nintendo announces updated 3DS and Switch release schedules

 

[PurplePopplio]

Nintendo announces updated 3DS and Switch release schedules

Again, seems like a 2018 target. But we shouldn't be disappointed if it's not.

 

[Scarftail]

It looks like they're just trying to avoid giving a concrete year since they're still mid-development.