The Nintendo Switch has certainly done well for itself ever since it was released earlier this year, and it looks like it is in need of a little bit of Pokemon power to help keep interest in the console flying high. Pokkén Tournament DX has been set for a September 22, 2017 release, and you can be sure that slapping any title with the name ‘Pokemon’ on it will most probably be able to guarantee blockbuster sales figures, even if it is for just a few months. This has always been the general formula that Nintendo has followed over the years, and it has worked largely because: One, it is Pokemon that we are talking about and two, Nintendo does churn out some stunning game ideas in engaging titles that simply work. It looks like Nintendo will continue to ensure that the Pokemon gravy train continues to run for many more years to come.
The Nintendo 3DS, for instance, will be receiving Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Just before you check yourself, wondering why these names sound awfully familiar, that is because it was just last year that Nintendo unveiled Pokémon Sun and Moon games for the Nintendo 3DS. These are revamped versions of the roleplaying games, and the two titles are set to be released on the handheld platform this coming November 17. If you think that this is all too much Pokemon to take in, you are wrong. September 22 will mark the day Nintendo Switch owners receive Pokkén Tournament DX. This is the title that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company will ride on in order to lead the eight-minute Pokémon Direct.
Do not be surprised at all to find out that this is yet another Switch port, except that this time around, it would be a port of the arcade brawler that was released on the Nintendo Wii U last year. Developed by Bandai Namco, the game has received rave reviews, and it managed to achieve global sales of more than a million units as the accounts closed for 2016. It might not sound like much, but when you take into consideration that the Wii U’s install base is hovering around the 10 million mark worldwide, it is quite an achievement. Granted, we do hope to see more original titles arrive on the Nintendo Switch, as opposed to Wii U ports, but Mario Kart 8 on the Switch did manage to offer something far more than the experience on the Wii U. Hopefully the same can be said for Pokkén Tournament DX as it arrives in September this year.
Other titles that the Nintendo Switch would have to keep you entertained over the summer would be Arms on June 16, Splatoon 2 on July 21 and of course, Pokkén Tournament DX on September 22. Having said that, it would be foolish to rule out that there might not be any ported versions of Pokémon Sun and Moon arriving on the Nintendo Switch in the future. You can never rule out what Nintendo is able or unable to do. Do you think that Nintendo needs to desperately court third party developers in order to expand on their game base, or will their vast collection of intellectual property be more than enough to see the Switch through this console generation? As each new console generation appears, Nintendo is taking a more and more divergent road from what conventional console gaming is like, and it will only be a matter of time before the gap becomes too big to resonate with the masses, or it helps spawn off an entirely new game experience that will signal the end of the traditional Xbox/PlayStation rivalry.
