Pokemon and the Nintendo Switch
Bear with me, Trainers, this is going to be a bit of an opinion piece.
We’ve sure had a fun last couple of years in the Nintendo franchise.  We saw the 20th anniversary of the Pokemon games pass us by in 2016, along with a whole year of events and the release of Pokemon Go.  There was a limited showing around the U.S. of “The First Movie,” a Mythical Pokemon every month for the XYORAS games, and a whole new focus on the world that we know and love.  We saw the release of Sun and Moon, issuing a whole new generation of Pokemon to love - not to mention Alolan forms of some of the original species, and a nod to the original protagonist and rival of the RBY series, Red and Blue.
Cue the year 2017, and we know there’s another important 20th anniversary coming up -- the anniversary of the Pokemon anime, which began in Japan on April 1, 1997.  And this year, 20 years later, the film focuses on an apparent retelling of Ash’s first adventures with Pikachu. The concept of the movie has the Pokemon fandom in a bit of an uproar -- is this just a retelling in modern-style animation as a homage?  Is it just going to gloss over Ash’s original adventure to make the current child watching the XY/Sun and Moon anime series up to speed on his history?  Is it a true relaunching of the anime?
Also, today is March 3rd -- the release date of Nintendo’s new promising console, the Switch.
I only bring up the 20th anniversary of the games and anime to highlight a point that some people are quite adamant about (me included), and some are horribly against.
What would everyone think about revisiting the worlds of Red/Blue/Yellow and Gold/Silver/Crystal as combined HD 3D remakes on the Switch?
“But, Lacey,” I hear you argue, “RBY and GSC both got remakes already!”
I hear you.  But remember, Red and Blue were remade during the Game Boy Advance era -- Gen 3, the era of Ruby and Sapphire and Emerald, which has already been remade on the 3DS.  These games are 13 years old, having come out in 2004.  There is no current, accessible way to play Fire Red or Leaf Green unless you’re running an emulator.  The GSC remakes are not much better -- having come out on the original Nintendo DS in 2009 -- 8 years ago.  Also, keep in mind that Pokemon also focuses on kids, and kids in the target demographic were likely not even born or were too young to play when the remakes were released.
“But,” you say, “RBY came out for the Virtual Console last year.  GSC probably can, too.  So you can play those games.”
As much nostalgia as I enjoyed when I listened to the old Game Boy music and watched the dated pixels, children (and adults without nostalgia glasses) nowadays are less likely to be interested in the Virtual Console releases. Â The demographic here is clearly the people who played the original games on Game Boy in 1996+. Â
So you’ve got an entire two generations of Pokemon who have never received full 3D graphics, which have aged likely too much for Pokemon’s target demographic.
Let’s also keep in mind that Nintendo has everything to lose this console generation, and everything to prove.  The Wii was a success in itself, but the WiiU was a comparable failure.  It sold fewer units, and had a much smaller library.  Nintendo is clearly doubling down with the Nintendo Switch and the response by the community has already seemed fantastic with sold-out preorders and hyped midnight releases.  I haven’t heard much else from Day 1 Switch’ers, however, because I assume they’re all playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which got amazing reviews.
Even GameFreak stated, back when the Switch was still the fabled “NX,” that if the console was truly a home/portable hybrid, “We would absolutely make games for that system.”
A Few Reasons These Remakes Makes Sense:
Pokemon Go relaunched the franchise into general public, not just among gamers, anime watchers, or longtime fans.
Nostalgia is obviously a moving force that Nintendo heavily capitalizes on.
Pokemon sells consoles. Â
It seems like there’s an even split between the fandom, at least among vocal members, on loving or hating the idea of Kanto remakes on the Switch, based on the Pokemon subreddit communities.  The main argument against Kanto remakes themselves tend to be the following:
- Fire Red and Leaf Green exist (which I debated why this matters less, now)
- The Virtual Console games are out (again, more of a moot point)
- Kanto is poorly designed**
- I believe that GameFreak can only make so many games, and I don’t want them to remake a game I’ve played when they can make new content+
* Woah!  Let’s think about that for a second -- the world we know as Kanto as made in the simple engine of Pokemon Red/Blue and Yellow on the Game Boy is certainly simple.  Heck, your character doesn’t even move on the screen - the background actually moves around them.  This was an effort to save space during development.  Remember, the Game Boy is ancient in technology standards -- and the Game Boy Advance is still worlds away from the Switch’s power.  GameFreak can have all the creative license it wants to change up and add flavor to the region when especially technology limitations kept them back in the past.
** Again, see my above point -- Kanto is a product of its generation.
+ I can see this point, I really can.  However, Nintendo did something unprecedented when it came to its system -- they have now condensed the need for having essentially two development teams on separate handheld or home consoles -- they now have the one.  And yes, GameFreak isn’t necessarily a part of this, but certainly some equal ground must exist here.  Also, in developing the 3D engines in the first place, assets are more “recyclable” in this form than the old sprites, which needed to be redone EVERY. SINGLE. GAME.  Remember how often Assassin’s Creed games came out?  Call of Duty?  Madden and Fifa?  Why can’t GameFreak produce a steady stream of Pokemon games every year as they mostly have in the past?  Especially with Pokemon Bank, it becomes more valuable to have more and more iterations that touch different parts of the world and the PokeDex because the “generation gap” is not necessarily going to be more pronounced.  Collectors already pride themselves on having generation-specific movesets or rare Pokeballs on Pokemon -- this only adds more flavor as well and opens the games, past and present, to more individuals.
My proposition is to combine both Kanto and Johto into one (or two, if editions are made) games that gives you an option in which region to start. Â If you pick Kanto, you select from the Kanto starters, go through the Kanto storyline, with Johto post-game. Â If you pick Johto, you go through the GSC storyline, with Kanto post-game. Â Of course, plenty more features could be added to supplement perceived gaps in quality.
What do you think? Â Would you want to revisit Kanto and Johto on the Switch?
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