If you could change Pokemon‘s release schedule, what would you do?

[PageEmp]

Disclaimer: This is purely a thread made for fun. I'm sure there are some people who'll be like "but if what x user suggests happens, then that would KILL the franchise!" and I'm just gonna say this: do not take this thread seriously. In general I am not expecting many people to post in this thread. Please do not attack other users over a thread that is solely meant for entertainment.

So what the thread says! If you could change something in how the company releases the games, like have a game or generation be delayed or maybe even released earlier, what would you prefer to see? Again, this thread is more or less meant to be fun, and solely to think of interesting scenarios. As I repeat, don't take this discussion too seriously, and don't be like "but that would be a bad business scenario". This is a thread made solely for fun!

As for me… I'd say ORAS should have come out earlier, and XY gets delayed a year later. I mean on one hand making the first 3DS games not a new generation could raise some questions for back then… but alternatively we could make those remakes come out on the DS, and that way, the DS would have the record of hosting all 5 regions at the time! Since HGSS had two regions.

And yes I know older models of the DS could play GBA games as well and therefore you could potentially play the originals and remakes on the same console… but the later models don't have that luxury so I think it's fine. Although wroting this made me realise my 3DS that still works is over a decade old.

 

[Nah]

All I'd really do is make everything from XY onwards release later than they did. No more (roughly) yearly releases, the games come out when they're ready and polished

 

[ReKoil]

I'd scrap the schedule entirely and just release everything 'when it's done'.

 

[Adam Levine]

I hear Pikachu's voice in my head. And we're going to keep developing until Pikachu says it's a good game. totally not a reference to a quote morio kishimoto made regarding sonic and the black knight

I'd make the games release just one year later than they do now. If Tears of the Kingdom is anything to go by, that sounds effective. Hell, maybe even more than a year, because it's somewhat concerning that fans frequently get confused on which new Pokémon come from which generation.

 

[_confused_piplup_]

Yeah, I agree with the people above. In general, I would say that a game every two years is pretty good. Obviously, I guess that it will never be done because there's less profit. But, anyway, I would say that if in one year they manage to come up with the games we have, they can do way better in 2 years.

If I look back at Pokémon history, yeah I would make some changes and it includes the two generations I liked less: gen 6 and gen 7.
I would release Pokemon Z, as it would solve some issues in Pokémon X and Y and it wouldn't force gen7 to have the Zygarde part and it could have potentially changed gen7 plot.

 

[Sheep]

One mainline game every 4-5 years is good to me, with a spinoff or two in between provided there are enough resources. Ideally getting another company to work on said spinoffs while Game Freak works on mainline games. If there is DLC for a mainline game, it can come out (in bits I suppose) from 6 months to a year later, so not too different than how that is now. And of course, they should delay the game if they don't feel it's ready - like Tears of the Kingdom. The difference in quality and visuals are like night and day, partly because they were actually able to take their time and iron out issues. Such massive performance and quality issues would not pass for any other series, but we simply love Pokémon too much.

 

[Lunastra]

I think it would really depend on the size of the team, the scope of the project, and the current hardware and release schedule. It's all well and good to say a game can be released every x number of years, but if there's new hardware coming out during that time - and given how old the Switch is now there really should be! - then delaying a game so that it launches alongside that, or there is a version optimised to run on that, makes sense. A smaller team will necessitate a longer development time, as will a larger scope if I want to do it justice and not just cut all the meaningful content and sell it back to the consumer as DLC at a later date. But if I have access to, say, Monolith Soft's team as a resource, that can move things forward a bit. But if I'm stuck with a tiny team who likes to spend months arguing about grass physics, that's going to add a few months onto development time.

But that said I think a new game every two years at minimum would be the goal, because Pokemon should have the resources to manage a good quality game in that sort of timeframe. Two teams, one working on the next big title, the other working on a remake or spinoff, with two years between them, so they actually have four years to make each game. Ensures a steady release schedule but allows sufficient time to have those games not be rushed garbage. In theory. With flexibility to allow for polishing of bugs and glitches that pop up, Nintendo's other releases - because god knows a new Pokemon game should NOT launch alongside a major first-party release - and...well, anything else.

 

[Palamon]

I'm fine with maybe a release every other year instead of every year, that's all I'd change. I feel like since introducing DLC that's sort of been how it is, a bit. Major game, dlc, remake of an old game, something else, then major game again.

So, maybe one major release every other year.

Although, honestly... with the one exception that was generation 3 to 4, all generations have always been... a 3 year gap? Not sure why people act like it was never like this before...

 

[Adamabbafan]

What many fans seem to forget is that its not always been 3 years between generations

Japan release dates 4 years between generations

Gen 3 - 2002
Gen 4 - 2006
Gen 5 - 2010

Gen 5 and 6 had a 2 year release gap in America and Europe I always go with the UK release years.

Gen 3 was released in 2003 internationally and Gen 4 was released in 2007 that is a 4 year gap and Gen 5 was released in 2011 (again 4 years) then gen 6 came in 2013 (2 years since Gen 5) its only from Gen 7 onwards its been 3 years.

I will forever say that Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire are the best Pokemon games ever made.

UK release years for the games

Ruby & Sapphire - 2003
FireRed, LeafGreen & Colosseum - 2004
Emerald & XD: Gale of Darkness - 2005
Diamond & Pearl - 2007
Battle Revolution - 2008
Platinum - 2009
HeartGold & SoulSilver - 2010
Black & White - 2011
Black 2 & White 2 - 2012
X & Y - 2013
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - 2014
Sun & Moon - 2016
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - 2017
Let's Go Pikachu & Let's Go Eevee - 2018
Sword & Shield - 2019
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - 2021
Legends Arceus, Scarlet & Violet - 2022