Ultra Sun and Moon Will be the Last 3DS Mainline Game
Game Freak’s Director stated that Ultra Sun and Moon will be the culmination of their work for the 3DS system.
According to an interview with Game Freak’s Director Shigeru Ohmori:
“When we were making Pokemon X and Y, we really were trying to push the 3DS system to its absolute limits – which is what we thought we’d done. But when Sun and Moon came around, we completely redesigned the system, and actually ended up pushing the 3DS even further to what we thought was the most we could draw out of it.”
Source: IGN
There has been major improvement brought about by the arrival of Pokemon Sun and Moon for the 3DS consoles. One example is the arrival of the Z-moves that distinguishes Sun and Moon from other 3DS games. Based on the trailer showcase, Ultra Sun and Moon will be expanding on prior improvements.
Continuing the precedent set by earlier games, the succeeding mainline games have continued on to the next generation consoles.
Features introduced by switching consoles
Understanding the potential of the next generation consoles involves introducing and utilizing new features. When Game Freak made a jump from the mainline Gameboy to the Gameboy Color games, they included some color to reflect and highlight the features unique to each Pokemon.
Source: Youtube
It further stood out as Game Freak made the decision to create new games. Upgraded features not only covered the game’s visual aspect, but also included those built into the consoles, like wireless communication and touch screen compatibility.
Source: Youtube
Game Freak managed to improve on the communication features by first including wireless play through the GBA Advance. By the time the DS came, features like Wi-Fi connection was introduced.
Evolution of Consoles from DS to the current generation
Linking games has never been more convenient than when Wi-Fi came to the Nintendo consoles. To this day, staple functions such as the Global Trade System, abbreviated GTS, continue to run. By using GTS, trainers can trade Pokemon by simply using the Withdraw/Deposit functions, or bypass the need of having to simultaneously be connected with another player to start a trade.
Communication features expanded thanks to Wi-Fi. The release of Pokemon Black and White introduced the Dream World which enabled players to sync their accounts to the official website.
As the games reached the 3DS system, they became compatible with two wildly popular additional applications: the Poke Transporter and the Poke Bank. The former allowed players to transfer Pokemon from older games to Poke Bank. The latter gave players the means to transfer them to the new games.
This feature remained for Sun and Moon while adding a filter to rule out Mythical Pokemon.
The Jump to Switch
In comparison to Sun and Moon’s development team, the team handling Ultra Sun and Moon consists mostly of a younger crowd. Dividing the team means it is likely that the next generation Pokemon games are currently in development by the remaining members.
Source: Nintendo
The Pokemon Company’s President Tsunekazu Ishihara himself revealed at Nintendo Spotlight: E3 2017 that the next generation Pokemon game would appear on the newest handheld, the Nintendo Switch.
Unfortunately, the features that will be in store for future players remain unknown. It should build on the functions that Game Freak has planned for in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon, with the inclusion of the Switch’s features, such as tilting.
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