Update 5/30/18: Bingo, baby! Nintendo confirmed that Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! are coming to the Nintendo Switch on November 16, 2018. Check out all of the details here. Additionally, a free spin-off called Pokémon Quest was released for the Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo confirmed that the next installment in the Pokémon series will arrive late 2019.
The internet has been buzzing with rumors since Nintendo announced that an official Pokémon game was in development for the Nintendo Switch, but some of those rumors are beginning to look more and more like the real deal. Alleged leaks have been popping up all over the place these past few months in the wake of an April earnings call in which Nintendo revealed that a new Pokémon game could be coming sooner rather than later, and although many have made us scratch our heads and sometimes scoff, they’re painting a picture that may very well soon become a reality. One of the most pervasive of these alleged leaks are a new pair of games called Pokémon Let’s Go!.
The titles for these games first emerged on 4chan, when various anonymous users claimed that the new game would be called Let’s Go! and would come in two versions that each featured either Pikachu or Eevee. The internet has gone back and forth about the legitimacy of these titles and their images, but every time someone seems to successfull dismiss them as fake, something else happens that resurrects both the titles and the arguments surrounding them. Take Nintendo’s official “Project Eevee” Twitter account, for example, which they created last year. The account centers around Pikachu and Eevee, and was one of the first clues that pro-Let’s Go-ers point to as reason to believe that they will soon be the stars of the new games.
Most recently, the argument about Pokémon Let’s Go! was renewed by the registration of two URLs by the same company that Game Freak and Nintendo used to register Pokémon titles in the past. Once again, the debate is raging online about whether these games are real or fake, and while I personally haven’t yet decided which camp I belong it, I continue to lean on the side of caution. But I can’t ignore the pervasiveness of these leaks, or the timing.
E3 2018 is fast approaching (only two weeks and some change), and it may soon officially put this argument to rest, but I believe that one simple aspect of these alleged leaks makes it incredibly plausible: that they are remakes. The (seemingly) original leak of Pokémon Let’s Go! claims that they’ll be remakes of Pokémon Yellow that features elements of Pokémon Go. The reason this makes me think it might actually be real is that (a) Pokémon Go was a massive success for Nintendo and (b) Pokémon’s past dictates that we’re long overdue for a remake.
Ever since Generation III, almost every new generation has beget a remake of a former. Generation III brought us FireRed and LeafGreen, Generation IV HeartGold and SoulSilver, and Generation VI Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Generation V broke this trend by bringing us a sequel to Black and White in the form of Black 2 and White 2 instead of a remake, and in a similar way Generation VII seems to be following this with its sequels to Sun and Moon,UltraSun and UltraMoon, but that doesn’t necessarily rule out the possibility of a remake.
Nintendo has already promised that a new generation of Pokémon will be coming to the Nintendo Switch, but what better way to herald in this new generation of console Pokémon games than to sate our pallet with a familiar setting? Releasing a remake would not only buy the company precious time to perfect whatever they have in store for us next, but the idea of a hybrid Pokémon Go and main installment sounds incredibly fascinating. But would such a thing even work?
We will inevitably discover what is true and what is false in the weeks and months to come, but until then, I can’t help but dream.
What do you think about the Pokémon Let’s Go! leaks? Do you think they’re real? Are you for or against it? Let us know in the comments below, or connect with us on Twitter and Instagram!
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