SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 27 — Seven minutes of airtime would be long enough to show just a sliver of late 2019's Switch “Pokemon” game, should Nintendo choose to reveal it.
A “Pokemon” themed edition of Nintendo's preview video series, Nintendo Direct, has been announced for February 27 at 9am ET, 3pm CET.
The video will contain “roughly seven minutes of new information,” according to Nintendo social media accounts and, in a break from pre-recorded tradition, will be livestreamed.
As a franchise, “Pokemon” currently has the mobile breakout hit Pokemon Go, while a pair of near-identical introductory console games Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee! were released for the portable Nintendo Switch in 2018.
A fuller “Pokemon” game, in the style of core franchise entries like Pokemon Red and Blue, Pokemon Black and White, and Pokemon Sun and Moon has also been announced for a late 2019 release, though Nintendo is yet to show it off.
And a new core franchise entry would mean a brand new region to explore and the start of a new generation of Pokemon to discover, collect, train and trade.
A snapshot of the 2019 “Pokemon” game's environment seems the most likely candidate for reveal, given that the Pokemon company has spent the last few days highlighting regions from previous generations of “Pokemon” games.
Pokemon Day is celebrated annually on February 27 and the Pokemon Go team has already announced its intention to feature creatures associated with the original Kanto region more prominently over the midweek period.
Online streaming service Twitch.tv is partnering with The Pokemon Company for a free marathon of animated cartoon Pokemon the Series lasting until May 5, and a new line of branded clothing, the Poke Ball Classics collection, is to be made available from the PokemonCenter website. — AFP-Relaxnews
