As of today, Game Freak has confirmed that Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will be the last main series pokemon games released for the 3DS. You can read all about it here.

I was fully expecting this to happen at some point but now that it has, I don't know how to feel about it. On one hand, the continuation of core pokemon games on the Switch will definitely help them sell, but I don't know how I feel about all the possible changes that might come with future games being released on the Switch.

The reason for this shift is because the 3DS was reaching its limit on what it could handle with Sun and Moon. According to Game Freak director Shigeru Ohmori, "Ultra Sun an Ultra Moon push the system to its absolute limits" and that any future pokemon games on the 3DS would just end up being small graphical tweaks because the system simply can't handle anything more.

Overall I'll definitely need some time to accept the fact that I'll have to buy a Switch to play future pokemon games...

TL;DR- After US/UM, main series pokemon games will no longer be released for 3DS, but will instead continue on the Nintendo Switch.

What are your thoughts on this? Will you get a Switch for future pokemon games? What are your thoughts on pokemon's current direction?

Well, the change was to be expected, but I thought they would still release a couple more games which are the usual remasters of two generations prior. The shutdown of Miiverse should have announced that the 3DS is really falling behind, but I still thought they would push the 3DS to complete Generation VII before the next one lands exclusively on the Switch.

With this statement, the new game already on the works for the Switch and the big dates coming up for Nintendo (2020 is Japan's year because of Olympic games and will also be the 25th anniversary of Pokemon) we can almost assure that said remakes won't happen for a long while, if they ever happen at this point. Things can still get a twist and maybe that Switch game is actually the remake, because moving to a console this powerful with a remake makes the transition easier than with a brand new one.

The direction is perfectly well oriented. Nintendo developing a handheld better than the 3DS is totally out of sight, and since the Switch can work as a handheld then the change had to happen if they wanted to pursue new heights in their games. We already saw with Colosseum and XD how could a core game be on a main console, and now that it will be the core games hitting the Switch we can expect massive games without needing to push the limits of the system.

It will bring a lot of changes, so a few (or many) of them may be unwanted or not very welcome. However, that happens almost always simply because a top franchise like Pokemon cannot stay still for long, it needs to keep evolving and improving. One of the best changes is that now we could have a very big roster of Pokemon available, the Gamecube games already had like the first three generations implanted so nowadays we could perfectly see five complete generations in a single game.

While I won't get the Switch to play Pokemon, this change could mark my return to play those games. I'm going through Colosseum right now, so I've fully regained the interest in this series and I could see myself getting the new core games on the Switch. I still have to see if I can actually have a spot for the Switch, I'm too fond of my Wii so as to throw it away to make room for its successor.

While I'm sad that gen 4 remakes didn't happen on the 3DS, I'm happy they're putting focus on the Switch games solely because it forces them out of their comfort zone and actually revolutionize the way to play pokemon games. I didn't enjoy the touch screen, or the very tiny screen. With the Switch they have to focus on graphics and a way to play without gimmicks, and that's what I'm looking forward to.

So does this mean that they're going to head straight to gen 8 and build new stuff right away or are they going to keep working on gen 7?


Also, if they're doing this because of limits and features, should the next legit core game take longer to release (Like the 3 year gap between X/Y and S/M?)

This makes me wonder if they've already been secretly working on a different game or on gen 8 this whole time, as a way to get it released not too long after Ultra.

zanderlex: 

I'm not sure what you are asking. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will be released on the 3DS, but they will be the last core pokemon games released on it because the 3DS has reached its limits in what it can handle. If they were to continue making core pokemon games on the 3DS, it would be little more than minor tweaks and graphical changes, so it's for the best that new games begin on a new console.

It makes sense in a way because we got gen 3 remakes 2 generations of handheld later (from Gameboy Advanced to 3DS), so it's logical that they would keep to that trend and do the same for Diamond and Pearl remakes (from DS to Switch). All this means is that we can expect to see the drastic changes in graphics that comes with remaking an older pokemon game on a new handheld/console.

I'm not sure about release dates for Diamond and Pearl remakes or gen 8, but I think we'll get remakes for D/P before we get gen 8. I say this because gen remakes typically get made 3 gens later than the original, with the exception of gen 1 (gen 1 was remade during gen 3, gen 2 remade in gen 5, and gen 3 remade in gen 6). So unless Game Freak breaks away from this trend completely (which is always possible), I think we'll get D/P remakes sometime in 2018 or in the beginning of 2019 at the latest. 

I'm really excited for Ultra Moon on the 3DS.

I've been a pokemon fan since I was a little kid, and just to see the games still being made grants me a lot of joy.

Now I'm 25 and I play the games to catch everything, when before I was fine just getting to the end of the game. I feel like that's the opposite of how others may have played.

I gotta say: Thank god. I think the 3DS got way too many Pokemon games, and it's time to head to a new system. I'm very intrigued to see main-line Pokemon games finally hitting a console like the Nintendo Switch. I just hope it isn't another Alola adventure.

tyranit : I feel like if they move Pokemon to the Switch, they will have so much potential, and then the value of having a switch will be that much higher. 
If they make Pokemon on the Switch, this could be HUGELY game-breaking. And I would love it.