Three New Pokémon Games Unveiled for Nintendo Switch

Tuesday, in a Pokémon-focused press conference, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company International announced three new Pokémon games for the Nintendo Switch. Fans have been clamoring for anything Pokémon related on the Switch and now they officially have some interesting titles to look forward to. Even better, though, is that one of the three said titles is playable right now.

Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! are new games that share a collective inspiration from the 1998 classic, Pokémon Yellow. Yes, players can now return to the classic and endlessly nostalgic Kanto region. The game, as shown in the trailer, seems to be an amalgamation of classic Pokémon RPG mechanics and the more user-friendly, augmented-reality play style of Pokémon GO. What may be the most surprising is that, for the first time ever, the game has a two-player mode—a first for the Pokémon series! The game can be played with one Switch Joy-Con and thus, playing cooperatively is as easy as sharing Joy-Cons. Motion controls can be used for throwing Poké Balls. Both games are directly tied to Pokémon GO in that Kanto-specific Pokémon caught in GO will be transferable to both Pokémon: Let’s Go games. Also, a new controller for both GO and Let’s Go will be released alongside both games—the Poké Ball Plus is a Poké Ball-shaped controller that is powered via motion controls, lights up and is usable in both Switch games, as well as in GO. It will also store and transfer data between both titles. Both games come out later this year—Nov. 18, specifically.