Pokemon CEO Sees Nintendo Switch as Opportunity to Create a "Deeper" Pokemon Game

Pokemon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara is embracing the franchise's upcoming move to the Nintendo Switch. In a recent interview with Bloomberg Magazine, Ishihara spoke about the opportunities the Nintendo Switch is bringing to the popular Pokemon franchise. "With the Switch, we see it as a chance to create Pokémon that goes deeper and with a higher level of expression," Ishihara said. "As a result, that makes it an extremely important platform."

While the earliest Pokemon games used static images to represent Pokemon, the franchise moved to 3D models with the release of Pokemon X & Y. While those models have added a new level of immersion to the game, each character is limited to just a handful of animations per game.

Ishihara also seemed excited about putting Pokemon games on a higher definition screen. "Right now we're using 7 to 8 inch screens, but on a high-definition TV you can express a whole different world with graphics and sound." While the current Pokemon games have HD models, they're somewhat wasted on the tiny screens of a Nintendo 3DS.

However, the Nintendo Switch does present its own set of unique challenges. "Until now, games were made as one for one person, but now you can go home and play with everyone -- so how do we tackle these themes, and how do we make sure it's not complicated?" Ishihara said. Ishihara's comments make it sounds like the Pokemon Company is at least considering the idea of multiplayer functionality without requiring players to have multiple Nintendo Switches. While the Pokemon games have always had multiplayer functionality, local multiplayer could allow players to battle on one screen, similar to some of the modes in Pokemon Stadium long ago.

One area that Ishihara isn't concerned about with the upcoming Pokemon Switch games is online connectivity. "Unlike smartphones, the Switch is not a game device that assumes that there's constant network connectivity," Ishihara said. "So from our perspective, it's really not that different from DS or 3DS in terms of connectivity." Many were worried about how the Pokemon Company would tackle Nintendo's plans to make players pay for access to online functions, similar to the Playstation Network, or Xbox Live. However, it seems that Ishihara already has a solution in mind for that conundrum.

You can check out the full interview here, and be sure to keep an eye out on our Facebook page for more Pokemon news!