Surprising no one, The Pokémon Company’s CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara told the WSJ in an interview that Pokémon games will appear on Pokémon’s upcoming console, which is codenamed the “NX” and which Nintendo says is launching around March 2017. It’s not clear whether Pokémon games will be available for NX in time with launch, but assurance that the maker of the beloved series (the second highest selling in history, in fact) is on board might help sell consoles regardless.
Ishihara also told the WSJ that he’s interested in the approach Nintendo is taking with its upcoming NX hardware, which sources suggest is a hybrid device that can operate as both a home console, and as a completely independent mobile gaming platform.
“The NX is trying to change the concept of what it means to be a home console device or a hand-held device,” Mr. Ishihara told the newspaper. While it isn’t definite confirmation of the rumors, it does suggest that reports of a hybrid hand-held approach are on the right track.
Pokémon was already among the most popular video games in the world prior to the launch of Pokémon Go on iOS and Android earlier this year, but the runaway success of that game, developed by Google spin-out Niantic, has helped raise Pokémon’s profile to a new category of players, and has helped inject new life into the sales of existing Pokémon games and Nintendo hardware.