Nintendo unveils 2 Pokemon games
Firm aims to capitalize on success of Pokemon Go and Switch tablet.
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 Wednesday. 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 $55 apiece.
Along with a new Switch controller in the shape of a Poke Ball, the variety of gaming scenarios involving the various 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 as much as 3.6 percent.
“Chances are that Nintendo will dominate holiday sales not only this year, but also next year,” said Serkan Toto, founder of Tokyobased games consultancy Kantan Games Inc.
The Pokemon franchise has been around for two decades, and includes trading cards, arcade games, anime and manga series, as well as titles for Nintendo’s handheld games and consoles. Nintendo’s partnership with Pokemon is deep. The firm behind the franchise, Pokemon Co., is partly owned by Nintendo, game developer Game Freak Inc. and another company called Creatures Inc., which all own the rights to the brand.
More than 800 million people have downloaded the Pokemon Go smartphone app and 65 million play it monthly, while 17.8 million Switch units have been sold since it went on sale in 2017. Switch sales will probably benefit, and analysts are predicting Nintendo will surpass its target of selling 20 million consoles through March 2019.
Nintendo also unveiled the 4,980yen Poke Ball Plus, a controller for the Switch that vibrates and lights up in the same way that Poke Balls behave in the Pokemon world, where the spheres are used to store Pocket Monsters. They’re designed to be used during gameplay, and so people can carry their Pokemon around with them. The gadget will initially be sold only in Japan.
“As developers of Pokemon games, we had a strong feeling and responsibility of trying our hand at the new Switch hardware and make it succeed,” said Tsunekazu Ishihara, chief executive officer of Pokemon Co.