Look, I love my Nintendo Switch. It’s a great little device - hell, I might not have made it through the pandemic lockdowns with my sanity intact had it not been for the lovely, calming influence of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. So it’s fair to say that I’m interested in the Switch 2, but I won’t be getting one on launch day for one very simple reason.
Where’s my damn Pokémon launch title, Nintendo? With every new console generation, I sit and eagerly await the possibility that you’ve finally learned your lesson and decided to put a mainline Pokémon game in the launch lineup. And with every new console generation, I am disappointed.
The closest we’ve ever come was Pokémon Dash for the Nintendo DS, which was more of a glorified tech demo for the new handheld’s dual-screen mechanics than a fully-fledged game.
I’ll admit it, I’m that type of Pokémon fan who complains about how crap the modern games look and run, but then merrily presents my credit card whenever a new one comes out. Does that make me a hypocrite? Probably, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to both love something and also wish it were better. In any case, a Pokémon launch title for the Switch 2 would have me lining up to get my hands on the new console - but as it stands, I’m just not interested.
The launch title problem
If I can be frank for a moment here, the Switch 2 launch lineup is… pretty feeble, honestly. What do we have? A heap of triple-A third-party games are being re-released, but the unspectacular footage of Cyberpunk 2077 running on the new console hasn’t exactly lit a fire underneath me. Some OG Switch upgrades for an extra ten bucks - oh wow, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet doesn’t run like garbage now?
Great, I’m sooo impressed. We’ve got some smaller series titles and a smattering of first-party names headlining, but arguably none of the biggest franchises. Forgive me for not being uncontrollably excited about Puyo Pop Tetris 2S.
We’re getting a new Mario Kart, but no mainline Mario game. Super Mario Party Jamboree, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Pokémon Legends: Z-A are all inbound, but not for a few months - oh, and Z-A will be available on the Switch I already own, though it’ll probably look terrible.
A new Zelda game is nowhere in sight, and Metroid Prime 4 is, uh… well, it’s coming, but only Samus knows when. I’d like to take a moment to remind you that it’s been eight whole years since that game was originally announced - and it's also a Switch 1 game too. Very cool, Nintendo.
It’s something of a recurring theme for Nintendo, frankly. Launch lineups have rarely been impressive for the gaming giant’s consoles; almost half of the Wii launch titles were mediocre movie and TV show tie-ins, while the two biggest DS launch titles were both Nintendo 64 remakes (Mario and Rayman). To be clear, I’m not saying those remakes were bad, but come on.
Why does Pokémon get snubbed?
I’ve been trying to understand the logic behind Nintendo’s consistent refusal to include Pokémon - which, lest we forget, is the single biggest intellectual property on the planet, worth more than Call of Duty, Warcraft, and Grant Theft Auto combined - in the launches of its consoles. On paper, it makes zero sense.
I have some theories. First up is that Nintendo’s hardware development team simply doesn’t have the sway with the many-headed serpent of corporations that jointly manage the Pokémon franchise (Game Freak, The Pokemon Company, Creatures Inc.) to ensure that a new title is always ready for the relevant console launch. Another theory is that Nintendo intentionally uses new Pokémon releases to bump post-launch sales of its consoles, or spaces out those third-party games to prevent attention from being split by a new Zelda or Mario title.
I’d love to believe that the main reason is simply that Game Freak would rather spend a bit more time with the hardware to release a game that looks and runs great, but… well, let’s be honest, that seems unlikely. In truth, it’s probably a combination of all these factors and more, never to be properly understood by mere mortals like us.
All I can really say is this: Nintendo, if you had Pokémon Tides and Gales (or whatever it’s called) to launch with the Switch 2, it would sell better. Simple as that. I’d buy it immediately; I was one of the six people who bought both a Pokémon Mini. I’m not hard to please.
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