Generation VII confirmed!

[PurplePopplio]

I am on the side of Gen VIII. There's just too much pointing towards 2018 being the start of the next generation. I know it may feel too early for Gen VIII, but it all just fits together so beautifully.

 

[Soki]

I am on the side of Gen VIII. There's just too much pointing towards 2018 being the start of the next generation. I know it may feel too early for Gen VIII, but it all just fits together so beautifully.

What exactly is pointing towards 2018 being a new gen, except the Switch being a thing?

 

[PurplePopplio]

What exactly is pointing towards 2018 being a new gen, except the Switch being a thing?

- 2017 being Gen VII's break year
- Seemingly a lack of a third version and sequels (Granted it's too early to say about sequels)
- Remakes always being on the next handheld, so Gen IV remakes on the Switch
- Prequels don't seem to be a thing for Game Freak

 

[Bolt Strike]

8th gen being on Switch in 2018 makes sense, but not for 2017 to be a break year. There's no real point in taking a break year this year when they already took one in 2015, which means they'll have had plenty of time to work on two games at once, they could easily have worked on a second 7th gen game alongside SM in 2015 when they had nothing else going on. Plus what would even have been the point in having 7th gen on the 3DS only for it to be one game? That would defeat the purpose of a generation, generations are meant to span a relatively long period of time and mark completely new eras for the series, it'd be pointless to have one era that consists of only one game. They could've easily waited until the Switch for SM if they only wanted to make one more 3DS game, especially with 6th gen lacking a third version or sequel. Meanwhile, for the 8th gen game they've probably started to think about concepts for 8th gen in 2015 and as development on SM completes, they can turn their attention to 8th gen. And three games in a row is nothing new for them, in fact that's been the pattern for the last 8 years in fact. Worst case scenario they'll take a break in 2018 if they need more time, but they're not going to make only one 7th gen game.

- 2017 being Gen VII's break year

You have no proof of that either. All you have to go on is a pattern that could easily be broken.

- Seemingly a lack of a third version and sequels (Granted it's too early to say about sequels)
- Remakes always being on the next handheld, so Gen IV remakes on the Switch
- Prequels don't seem to be a thing for Game Freak

There's still several options for games in 2017 without needing a third version for SM. They could send us back to Kalos, greatly expanding on the region and throwing in 7th gen mechanics would make it feel like a very different experience and could be a surprising enough twist on the third version/sequel formula for them to consider it. Kanto could also get another game, perhaps a sequel, since Game Freak has been all in on Kanto nostalgia and the last Kanto game was several generations ago the timing is right for another Kanto game that makes some big changes. Those would make for good ways to close out 7th gen.

 

[Vyrron]

Why exactly does 2017 have to be a break year? They could easily release another Gen VII game in 2017 and take 2018 off before releasing Gen VIII in 2019. Like I've said before, they're not gonna dump the 3DS immediately after the Switch's release, just like they didn't dump the DS immediately after the 3DS's release or the Gameboy Advance after the DS's release.

Personally I'd like the DP remakes to be released on the 3DS. Gen IV was our first dual screen generation and the Poketch was created to take advantage of that. I kinda have a hard time imagining it remade on the Switch's single screen.

 

[PurplePopplio]

8th gen being on Switch in 2018 makes sense, but not for 2017 to be a break year. There's no real point in taking a break year this year when they already took one in 2015, which means they'll have had plenty of time to work on two games at once, they could easily have worked on a second 7th gen game alongside SM in 2015 when they had nothing else going on. Plus what would even have been the point in having 7th gen on the 3DS only for it to be one game? That would defeat the purpose of a generation, generations are meant to span a relatively long period of time and mark completely new eras for the series, it'd be pointless to have one era that consists of only one game. They could've easily waited until the Switch for SM if they only wanted to make one more 3DS game, especially with 6th gen lacking a third version or sequel. Meanwhile, for the 8th gen game they've probably started to think about concepts for 8th gen in 2015 and as development on SM completes, they can turn their attention to 8th gen. And three games in a row is nothing new for them, in fact that's been the pattern for the last 8 years in fact. Worst case scenario they'll take a break in 2018 if they need more time, but they're not going to make only one 7th gen game.

A break in 2017 makes perfect sense for 2018 to be Gen VIII. I don't know why it's so farfetched for a break to occur in 2017 when there was gap years in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007.

A generation can be any length. Just because it has always been 3 years at least, doesn't mean it will always be so. A generation can also be any amount of games. We've had 4 games, 3 games and 5 games per generation. So why would 2 games seem so farfetched?

 

[RileyXY1]

A break in 2017 makes perfect sense for 2018 to be Gen VIII. I don't know why it's so farfetched for a break to occur in 2017 when there was gap years in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007.

A generation can be any length. Just because it has always been 3 years at least, doesn't mean it will always be so. A generation can also be any amount of games. We've had 4 games, 3 games and 5 games per generation. So why would 2 games seem so farfetched?

Because generations are defined as eras of the franchise. It's weird to think about a generation only having one pair of games. GF isn't gonna dump the 3DS now. Look what happened in Gen V.

 

[PurplePopplio]

Because generations are defined as eras of the franchise. It's weird to think about a generation only having one pair of games. GF isn't gonna dump the 3DS now. Look what happened in Gen V.

It was weird to think that they'd drop third versions, look what happened.
It was weird to think that they'd leave Kalos as it is, look what happened.
It was weird to think that they'd drop Gyms, look what happened.

Game Freak loves making patterns and then breaks them at any time.

 

[RileyXY1]

Game Freak said they'll still make remakes, maybe a Gen IV remake is next?

 

[PurplePopplio]

Game Freak said they'll still make remakes, maybe a Gen IV remake is next?

Game Freak: We are interested in remakes.

Fans: Yay! Sinnoh remakes confirmed!

*Game Freak releases Kanto remakes*

 

[RileyXY1]

It was weird to think that they'd drop third versions, look what happened.
It was weird to think that they'd leave Kalos as it is, look what happened.
It was weird to think that they'd drop Gyms, look what happened.

Game Freak loves making patterns and then breaks them at any time.

Not all patterns must be broken.

 

[RileyXY1]

I don't think it's time to move to the Switch. Game Freak usually does not release new games for a console until a few years after its release, when it has a dedicated player base. Rushing Gen VIII just to get onto a new console will do more harm than good, as it would have not have good sales because most people can't afford a Switch.

 

[Kallyle]

I don't think it's time to move to the Switch. Game Freak usually does not release new games for a console until a few years after its release, when it has a dedicated player base. Rushing Gen VIII just to get onto a new console will do more harm than good, as it would have not have good sales because most people can't afford a Switch.

Exactly. Moving onto the Switch would not only have fans cry out that Gen VII was too short, but I don't think that Game Freak could finish adapting their dual-screen battle interface, story/region design, Pokémon design and models, etc. onto the Switch without making Gen VIII feel like a rush job. You need to take into account that a lot of work was put into Sun and Moon, so expecting them to start promoting Gen VIII one year after Sun and Moon and then releasing it when Game Freak is likely only in the preliminary stages of Gen VIII at this point is a bit unrealistic. That would only give people about a year to really enjoy Sun and Moon. I know some people are going to argue that Game Freak could have been developing Gen VIII for the Switch alongside Pokémon Sun and Moon, but with the amount of effort put into Sun and Moon, such a scenario makes it more likely that Gen VIII would be half-baked in terms of quality and content due to their priority being Sun and Moon.

Sure, Game Freak wants to make money, and primary pairs usually sell more than the remakes/third versions/sequels do. However, there has to be a point where Game Freak realizes that sometimes, you just need to make an additional installment for a region at the risk of being repetitive. Otherwise, the fanbase will get Pokémon'd out and the amount of half-baked content for the sake of more money increases.I know Game Freak is a business but they also need to do something to stall for more time in order to make the next generation a quality product. Only releasing generation after generation will not only wear the fans out, but would also put a strain on Game Freak's creativity due to having to come up with a new region and new Pokémon every one or two years.

I think that, even at the risk of being predictable, Game Freak should not move on to the Switch for a new generation just yet. There are just too many things that could go wrong with such a move. The only way I could see them moving onto Gen VIII with only one pair of Gen VII games is if they start making more non-Pokémon games to stall for enough time, which I highly doubt.

 

[The Outrage]

Not all patterns must be broken.

That's kind of a non-statement.

 

[Soki]

- 2017 being Gen VII's break year

We don't know that yet.

- Seemingly a lack of a third version and sequels (Granted it's too early to say about sequels)

We don't know that yet.

- Remakes always being on the next handheld, so Gen IV remakes on the Switch

Nothing points towards that happening in 2018 and it's a pattern that can be broken. I agree with Vinx that with the Pokétch being a thing, it's weird to imagine DPPt remakes being on a device with a single screen.

- Prequels don't seem to be a thing for Game Freak

Just because it's never happened, doesn't mean it's not going to happen now?

So all in all, there pretty much nothing pointing towards the next gen starting in 2018. It could happen, but it's nothing more than a guess.

 

[PurplePopplio]

Let's just wait till Sun and Moon releases, enjoy the games and then speculate about the future. That will be the best option for now.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

I probably have to get a new 3DS when my physical copy. I only got about 6,420 blocks in the software thing that I checked in System Settings. One reason I doubt gen 8 is directly after SM is that it is like the gen 6.5 that was spread around. It just sounds too farfetch'd and it is making SM out to be the best games ever when they could have some stuff they need to improve on.

 

[Bolt Strike]

A break in 2017 makes perfect sense for 2018 to be Gen VIII. I don't know why it's so farfetched for a break to occur in 2017 when there was gap years in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007.

The last game in that pattern was 9 years ago. Not saying it can't happen, but that pattern isn't exactly relevant at this point.

A generation can be any length. Just because it has always been 3 years at least, doesn't mean it will always be so. A generation can also be any amount of games. We've had 4 games, 3 games and 5 games per generation. So why would 2 games seem so farfetched?

Counting by version doesn't tell the full story, multiple versions inflates things. It's better to think of a pair as one game, because that's more reflective of development patterns. So we've only ever had generations consisting of 2 games or 3 games. 1 pair of games doesn't make sense because it's too self-contained, a generation is supposed to represent an era of time and 1 game doesn't really fit that definition. Plus like @Kallyle said, Game Freak would have problems developing a completely new region each gen in a reasonable period of time, so it makes more business sense for them to reuse the engine for an existing region to fill the gap that we would have otherwise.

 

[RileyXY1]

The last game in that pattern was 9 years ago. Not saying it can't happen, but that pattern isn't exactly relevant at this point.



Counting by version doesn't tell the full story, multiple versions inflates things. It's better to think of a pair as one game, because that's more reflective of development patterns. So we've only ever had generations consisting of 2 games or 3 games. 1 pair of games doesn't make sense because it's too self-contained, a generation is supposed to represent an era of time and 1 game doesn't really fit that definition. Plus like @Kallyle said, Game Freak would have problems developing a completely new region each gen in a reasonable period of time, so it makes more business sense for them to reuse the engine for an existing region to fill the gap that we would have otherwise.

Thank God someone agrees with me that Gen VII should be more than Sun and Moon.

 

[tioeduardo27]

2017 won't be a gap year. They will release GSC on Virtual Console.
Remember Pokémon GO will be releasing 2nd gen to be releases in May 2017, GF will probably jump on that.

I'm 100% sure (but I could be wrong haha)