Pokemon Virtual Reality closer than ever?

[Midori-Qih]

Discretion Advised: Might contain minor spoilers
Alright yes I know. Many old time pokemon players (like me) hate to see big changes being done to the game they practically grew up with. (I cheer for changes however, if the right ones.) But bear with me.

So lately, Virtual Reality games are on the rise. There are many different VR Headsets going around that you can buy. Some even for use with mobile phone. Think Shinecon. But also sets like Oculus Rift which now has a pack with VR controllers, which makes arm movement a reality! Why am I bringing this up here you might wonder...

Well, this is why!
Yesterday my pre order of Pokemon Let's Go! came in and I started to play right away. (naturally) The beginning of the game, the intro, you clearly see following Pikachu/Eevee to a tv, zooming in and then the screen whites out. After that the first you see again is you are looking around a room and then down at your hands, moving them as if surprised that they are there. This could easily be a nod to further developments being along the way where you can use a VR headset and controllers that would actually give this effect!

In a way the Pokeball Plus already incorporates this. The Pokeball Plus is a controller but also uses motion tracking to be able to throw a pokeball at the pokemon. Imagine this just a bit further where all the game would look like the intro and would make use of motion trackers. Or even fantasize for a moment, the usefulness of putting motion trackers on major joint locations. Wrists, elbows, knees. Then even full immersive is no longer scifi. Like, put motion trackers in pads inspired by rollerblades/skates protection pads or similar. Of course the sensors on the knee could be optional, for those that would like to exercise while playing (much like GO!) while the head (duh display), wrists and elbows are a constant input. The extra input for knees could be connected to a game pad on the ground that functions kind of like a treadmill, like the Wii had. What do you think about this? You think it might be closer than ever?

 

[colours]

Nobody should get their hopes up, imo.

I'm not entirely convinced that Virtual Reality is hitting the mainstream gaming market much for Nintendo to sink their teeth into it. It's definitely possible (and likely) that they've been experimenting with it just to see how it would perform, but I don't see something like VR Pokemon being a possibly for the next several years, if even that. If that's your definition of "closer than ever", then perhaps, but otherwise it's really not as if VR compatibility is going to be a thing within the next Pokemon game or two.

Idk if even the rumoured beefier Switch is going to support VR, although again, you shouldn't hold your breath. Nintendo's approach to VR has always been approaching the subject matter with caution because to them, it's not like your average family home has a VR headset casually laying around, so that's something for them to take into account.

tl;dr: While the idea isn't too far-fetched, we might be waiting for the next console release or two for the idea to even cross Game Freak's minds, let alone be in any sort of production whatsoever.