Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon announced for 3DS (November 17th)

[Zippo]

https://mobile.twitter.com/Pokemon/status/872091916912832512

https://m.imgur.com/cGVVkh9

R.I.P Eurogamer.

I don't know what i expected.

[Eevee of the Everstone]

Didn't see enough of it to get too hyped but saw enough of it to want to know more.

.... Good job Nintendo.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

I'm immediately reminded of B/W 2.

Lunala still looks cool when fused with Necromza (?) though.

[TCB]

It's doing the Black 2/White 2 approach, but it's 'alternate events' of the original games?

So it's like a quasi-two-for-the-price-of-one 'third' version?

 

[Forte-Metallix]

Judging by the title, I'm guessing this new game will reveal more about the Ultra Beasts- Maybe explain the bond that Solgaleo/Lunala has with them? That'd make sense, considering....

Spoiler

Either one is the final form of Nebby/Cosmog, who comes from Ultra Space.

My one major hope for this "new" installment is that we get more Alola forms. The original Sun/Moon had far too few.

[Pawn]

I'm hoping that Stars is simply the Switch version of this... because there must be something to their information. They've been very confident in it.

Don't let me down, E3! You're going to fucking let me down aren't you

[Zippo]

The denial phase is already starting. Lol

[Bobnik]

It tries to be B2/W2, but "new pokemon" and "alternate story" are not enough for that status. Unless the game has much more content than S/M, I'll pass.

 

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

Official art work of Sogaleo and Lunala

By alternate reality...

Is this what would have happened if the Aether Foundation succeeded with whatever their plan was?

[Salamander]

Wouldn't surprise me if development started off under the codename "Stars" (in the same way as Sun/Moon were "Rainbow" or some such, I think?), but it's obvious that the continuining popularity of the 3DS meant they could get away without putting the effort in on a Switch version.  There was always suspicion of the rumours of HD model development given that they appear to make all the new models in HD as a baseline anyway, so it didn't indicate anything about console destination.  I'm not truly surprised.

But anyway:

No prizes for guessing where their inspiration came from; B2/W2 taught GameFreak that they could get away with doing two third versions even while the updated console is already out, and that's exactly what they've done again.  (It also makes it all the clearer that they rushed past a Z version purely because they didn't think they had time, and not because they were changing their creative approach in any way.)  There's no indication that these are sequels; they'd definitely have told us if they were, and just sticking "2" on the end of the original titles would have been enough.  It's not worth reading too much into the "alternative story" remark, either, since that just signifies that it's the same as any other third version, an updated retelling.  I hope the rumours about new Alolan Forms are true, though; the games really need more of those.

[Pawn]

9 minutes ago, Zippo said:

The denial phase is already starting. Lol

Well, to be fair, all this confirms is that a new (-ish) title is coming to 3DS. There was always the possibility that a 3DS version would happen as well as Stars, *shrug*. They could be saving the announcement for another time or delayed it (or worse, cancelled it). Sure, this makes it look more unlikely but we don't really know one way or the other.

But yeah, my hopes have shrunk somewhat now.

[Red]

I'm hyped. SM were the best main Pokemon games I've ever played. I can't wait to play these!

[Radiant Hero Ike]

?

I was thinking this is a mess up, but... It's the same in every language, and I doubt they'd just run each one through a Google Translate thing. Someone should've noticed it.

[Zippo]

Just when you think things couldn't get any weirder..

Edited: Changed back very quickly. That is total salt in the wound, though. 

[Celestia]

Going to bet the sites had placeholder pages ready for the next main Pokemon game and they assumed it'd be on Switch too, and they simply haven't updated that info yet. Or something like that.

edit: Wait, that was the TPC press site? Uh...

[Salamander]

If true (in which case, clearly let slip earlier than intended), then yep, US/UM are definitely what Stars ended up as.

[Pawn]

Damn, didn't see that. It could just be a placeholder though. =[

Wait, that was on the official press site? Whaaaaaat.

EDIT: Also:

 

[PC the Hedgehog]

Already?

Most "third" versions of Pokemon games come out around 2 years after the original. Feels a bit too early for this, IMO.

[Pawn]

2 minutes ago, PC the Hedgehog said:

Already?

Most "third" versions of Pokemon games come out around 2 years after the original. Feels a bit too early for this, IMO.

They need to strike while the 3DS is still hot.

[Celestia]

Assuming Nintendo comes out with a new handheld soon (which...might happen???? who knows) at least they didn't wait until then to come out with this. I was reminded that happened with BW2, so maybe GF is expecting a new handheld next year or something and they're getting this out now. Alternatively they're so used to 3DS dev that it's faster this time around.

I was really skeptical of this showing up on Switch (an extension of my skepticism that the Switch will replace handhelds forever lol) so I'm not surprised or even disappointed, though that mistake on the press site is certainly interesting. Could just be an intern that assumed this'd be on Switch too though :V

[QuantumEdge]

I'm not too surprised they went with the third version splitting, but what I am surprised at is how these games aren't going to Switch and instead hoist up the rickety, old tent that is the 3DS.  Nintendo is aware of the mint they could make if they did that, right?  Still, hoping we get a couple more critters and Alolan forms and some concrete details on UBs.  Can't say I'm stoked Necrozma's big gimmick is nothing more than providing Solgaleo and Lunala with DLC armour no matter how awesome (and rampant with Digimon overtones) they may look.

[ZinogreVolt]

Yeah, I don't like this one bit. Sun and Moon were some of the most lackluster games in the series in my opinion and now they're splitting up what's essentially a 3rd version (not a sequel a la BW2) into two. With the way it was revealed and the fact that SM won't even be a year old by the time its out is telling me that Gamefreak's just churning this one out for a quick buck.

[Tornado]

3 minutes ago, QuantumEdge said:

I'm not too surprised they went with the third version splitting, but what I am surprised at is how these games aren't going to Switch and instead hoist up the rickety, old tent that is the 3DS.  Nintendo is aware of the mint they could make if they did that, right?

What mint will they make on Switch versions that they won't make on the cheaper to produce recycling of game assets they already made that will nonetheless sell far more copies than the Switch actually has current capability to support?

[Pawn]

Damage control? They could have simply ignored it.

[Marcello]

I was expecting at least cross-gen... At this point, I don't see it happening. The press release not having platforms doesn't matter- the trailer did. If they did that to hide the Switch version, there'd be no reason to not list the 3DS version. The listing on the press site is clearly a mistake. They wouldn't announce the 3DS version with a trailer and then stealth announce a Switch version of it that for some reason releases later.

 

As for the games themselves, I don't think I need them. Nintendo will need to convince me, which they're not doing with pointlessly vague trailers like this.