Summary
This week’s Pokemon Presents gave fans a taste of what The Pokemon Company has been working on across its many media channels.Pokemonanimation got a lot of love during the presentation, as did the franchise’s organized tournaments, and there was a healthy serving of new gameplay forPokemon ScarletandPokemon Violet’s upcoming DLC. While the show may not have announced any new mainlinePokemonentries, The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero looks to have enough content to keep even the most ravenous fans sated for at least a little while longer.
Pokemon ScarletandVioletweren’t the only games to get attention during August’s Pokemon Presents, as The Pokemon Company finally provided an update on titles set to feature on Nintendo Switch Online. Some fans have been waiting to see whenPokemon Trading Card Gamewill come to the Game Boy catalog, andwhenPokemon Stadium 2will be added to the N64 library. Both titles are now available, but the consensus among manyPokemonfans is that The Pokemon Company is wasting a major opportunity by not prioritizing more sought afterPokemontitles on Game Boy.
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Demand For Game Boy Pokemon Games On Nintendo Switch Online Is Sky-High
Ever since the Game Boy catalog was added to Nintendo Switch Online,Pokemonfans have dreamed of the day that every mainline entry from the Game Boy family of consoles would be added to the service.Pokemonowes its popularity to the Game Boy, since Nintendo’s iconic handheld allowed gamers to take their monster-catching adventures anywhere and everywhere. Likewise, the Game Boy owes its success toPokemon, as once the series took off, many gamers sought out the console just to adventure through developer Game Freak’s fantastical worlds.
In a confusing turn of events, however, neither The Pokemon Company nor Nintendo has shown any haste in bringing any of the tenPokemongames featured on Game Boy to the Switch. WhilePokemonTrading Card Gamehas its fans, it certainly doesn’t carry the same weight asPokemon GoldandSilverorPokemon Emerald. It’s a spin-off that, out of the manyPokemonspin-offs, doesn’t exactly have a robust fanbase, especially when fans can just buy the actual trading cards and play with friends. This makes its inclusion on NSO all the more perplexing, as there are almost a dozen mainline entries that are far less accessible.
One of the main draws of NSO is what it does for game preservation and availability. While it would be best to haveclassics likeThe Legend of Zelda: The Minish Capreadily available in physical form, digital is better than nothing. As it stands now, there really are no legitimate options for gamers looking to play the mainlinePokemontitles released across Game Boy consoles, unless they held on to their original consoles and cartridges from many years ago. Purchasing a Game Boy and classicPokemongame secondhand is also an option, but they’re often so prohibitively expensive that gamers miss out any way.
With the portability andrampant success of the Nintendo Switch, it’s practically begging for mainlinePokemongames to be added. While The Pokemon Company may see more value in having gamers buy more recent entries, there can still be many benefits to adding classic entries to NSO. It could serve as an introduction for those unfamiliar with the series, or it could just be a way to maintain interest betweenPokemonprojects. It’s certainly something with enough demand behind it that it could be worth The Pokemon Company’s time, and at the end of the day, it would just mean more people get to enjoy its games.
