Guess we'll have to agree to disagree on some points there. (Not the mobile gaming one, I agree there, although I don't believe I mentioned mobile gaming). I also agree the 3DS has done very well and is still doing so, and as mentioned given the software sales projection for the next year I can easily see another 7th gen game happening.
People often throw the "mobile gaming" thing whenever talk about the future of handhelds comes into play; call that a pre-emptive counter for anyone who might have, haha.
The problem with using sales figures as a gauge for new releases is that Pokemon titles have always done well. X and Y didn't do terribly, but we never saw another new Gen VI title, instead being saddled with ORAS. I suppose that leaves the much desired DPPt remakes, but I'm very hesitant to trust in that being the next thing entirely, given that GF did a new game then a remake last generation and they've made a point of not repeating themselves since Gen V, so if they intend to keep shaking things up, we should see something else. I somehow doubt it'll be an entirely new game, even though that would be the next logical step if repetition of the past is out of the question.
Maybe I'm putting too much thought into it. But people are always assuming GF will do the predictable thing - Pokemon Grey, Pokemon Z, or X2/Y2 - and it's just not happening. I can see another Gen VII game coming, but I wouldn't like to bet money on what form it would take.
I also don't personally see Pokemon moving off the 3DS this generation. I'd be quite surprised if it even does a both-3DS-and-Switch title mid-gen. But I felt it was still worth mentioning the possibility, especially in the face of a certain rumour (which I may also have joked about :V).
I wouldn't be
too surprised, given the desperate need for Switch games. It always takes a year or two for any console to build up a library of games, but if a core Pokemon title was put on the Switch it would sell insane amounts...and reusing Sun and Moon's assets, whilst horrendously lazy and not even close to what the Switch is capable of, would serve as a good stop-gap, much as XY were a stopgap themselves for Sun and Moon, at least in terms of fully utilising the hardware.
...that said, given Nintendo's way with stock, I don't think they feel the urgency they should to get some noteworthy titles (that are not ports of past-generation games) on the Switch. The lack of a Virtual Console and the rather lackluster eShop suggests that their priorities are elsewhere for the moment as well.
Hadn't the GB Micro been released as a sort of niche version of the GBA within a year of the Nintendo DS' release? May well be history repeating itself - Nintendo releasing a weird cheap model after the successor console. Granted, their intention now (and maybe then too!) may be a 'just in case the next one fails we keep with the current thing that works' with the n2DS XL release, but I an sceptical gen 8 will be on the 3DS. I see that happening if the Switch tanks, and early signs for it give cause for optimism.
Possibly, but then why the talk of a successor to the 3DS? Granted it was only one incident, but Nintendo must recognise the need for a dedicated handheld system on the market still. They own the handheld market, or as good as. Conversely, they can barely make a dent in the console market - as well as the Switch is doing, I can't see it ever outstripping the PS4. Not with the way they release their major IPs, or manage their online store, or just in terms of hardware capability.
That could be why they're covering themselves (if they are) with the 2DS, and doing their utmost to push the Switch's portable capabilities, but...I just can't see a handheld series making its way to a console. Even if you want to see the Switch as a hybrid, it's still got a console's potential, so any game on it is going to be expected to be of that kind of quality. There has been talk of a console core Pokemon game for ages, and I don't think Nintendo are any more willing to commit to a project of that scale now than they were back in the days of the Gamecube...or the N64, even. If Nintendo move Pokemon to the Switch, we're going to see longer development times for the games, and I'm not entirely sure they can afford to bring the series away from its (mostly) annual release pattern. Which would definitely happen if it made the jump to Switch. We'd be lucky to get a new game every three years.
I also disagree that 3 years is a long time for a generation, especially as it makes sense for tPC/Game Freak to reuse the same assets to a great extent of what is in the first pair of games for the generation, rather than redo everything - and make a region, Pokemon designs, etc. Sales of remakes and third versions/sequels have always done pretty well after all.
Perhaps, but they're running out of games to remake, unless they plan on going back to the beginning again. Strictly speaking Gen IV and V don't need remakes, since you can play them on 3DS consoles. That won't stop them in all probability, but if they stick to this pattern then Gen VIII would be the last set of remakes we'd get. What comes after that, I wonder?
A realistic view is that Nintendo won't want to tell investors they are giving up on the console that has done well until they are sure the new one (in this case the Switch) is well on its way to being the secure future for the company.
Fixed it for ya. xD
This does seem very likely; I'm just not entirely sure how likely, given that Nintendo gave up on the Wii U almost immediately. But then, the Wii U is not the 3DS, and the 3DS is massively successful and will continue to be so even though it's masively outdated hardware at this point. But then, how long will it take for the Switch to be enough of a success? We could easily see Generation VIII on the 3DS in that time frame, I think. Depending on the life cycle of Gen VII. But if Marshadow's reveal signifies an end to Gen VII, and Gen VIII is released next year, I can't see it being on the Switch. If a 3DS successor becomes a reality - which I think is very likely - I can't see the core games ever making it to the Switch at all.
So many variables...
