Well, it happened again. The internet got all excited about something only to have their hopes and dreams dashed by the cold, harsh light of reality. Pokemon Stars had been rumored to exist pretty much everywhere. The release, which was supposed to be a new full Pokemon adventure for Nintendo Switch, had “leaked” screenshots, concept art, and a ton of other seemingly credible evidence that it was coming. Then Nintendo announced the Pokemon Direct and everyone prepared. But we didn’t get Pokemon Stars, we got Pokken Tournament DX, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon for 3DS, and Gold and Silver releases for Virtual Console. But could Pokemon Stars still be out there?
Right now, with the Nintendo Direct freshly in my mind, disappointment still pressing down on me, I want to say yes, if just to give me some hope that a full Pokemon game is coming to the Switch. But really, if the game was anywhere close to a reality right now, this was when it would have been announced. Well, this or during Nintendo’s E3 presentation.
So that’s the final test. Nintendo will have an hour long presentation before E3 begins. It would be odd for them to have generated this much hype around the Pokemon Direct, only to save the biggest announcement for later. But Nintendo does what Nintendo wants to do, and often that’s not what their fans expect of them. Could Pokemon Stars be sitting back, waiting for an announcement next week? Maybe, but it’s very unlikely right now.
Instead, I feel like this is all we’re getting out of the Pokemon series for the foreseeable future. And really, this is some good stuff. Pokken Tournament was great on Wii U, and moving it to the Switch will give it new life. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon look good, though we know very little about them so far. And we’re getting Gold and Silver for Virtual Console with Poke Bank functionality. The series is looking good for the rest of 2017.
Still, 2018 or 2019 had better have something big already underway. Pokemon Stars, or whatever they end up calling the next title in the series, could still be on the horizon. It’s not anywhere within eyesight just yet, but the Switch is the future of Nintendo. The 3DS is a tempting platform right now because it has a massive install base; one which gobbled up Sun and Moon in record numbers. To abandon them so quickly would be a little foolish. Hopefully these are the swan song for Pokemon on 3DS though, as I really want to see what this franchise can do on Switch.
