POWER OF POKEMON
Nintendo hopes popularity of recent games continues with its two new titles,
TOKYO— Nintendo Co. is bringing together the magnetic appeal of Pokemon, smartphones and the Switch console into an interlinked gaming experience. Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee were unveiled by the Kyoto-based video-game maker on Wednes- day. They’re designed to capitalize on the blockbuster success of the Pokemon Go smartphone game and a solid year of sales for the Switch tablet-hybrid gaming machine. The two new games go on sale Nov. 16 at $70 (U.S.) apiece.
Nintendo is betting it can entice mobile gamers to buy Switch consoles and continue strong sales of the tablet-hybrid gaming machine into its second year.
Along with a new Switch controller in the shape of a Poke Ball, the variety of gaming scenarios involving different gadgets and games might risk befuddling many adults, but will make perfect sense to kids and Pokemon-generation gamers.
The unified gaming experience is straight out of Nintendo’s playbook, encouraging people to move around and get physical. Investors cheered the news, sending the shares up 4.3 per cent in Tokyo.
“It’s right for Nintendo to aim to connect smartphone and Switch Pokemon players,” said Piers Harding-Rolls, head of games research at IHS Markit.
“Inevitably some prospective buyers will be put off by the price, but I still expect this to drive sales over the holiday season.”
The two new titles are based on a Pokemon game released for the Nintendo Game Boy in the late 1990s. Players can catch and train Pokemon then transfer them between the Switch and Pokemon Go on their phones.
More than 800 million people have downloaded the Pokemon Gosmartphone app and 65 million play it monthly, while 17.8 million Switch units have been sold since it went on sale in 2017.