The Nintendo ecosystem has found itself continually embroiled in a series of rumors that have carried the fanbase at a time when Nintendo itself has been quiet. While the company’s impending E3 presentation is sure to remove community discourse from the realm of speculation, in the meantime, it’s all players have. Now, another leak has cropped up, this time pointing to an imminent Pokémon Presents showcase, one that could prove to be vital for the brand’s optics.
It’s a fairly cold take to suggest that Pokémon has fallen from grace in the modern era. However, the current moment is perhaps the series’ most divisive. Its slate of titles beginning with Pokémon Sword and Shield have ratcheted up tensions to eleven. The three-hit combo of Pokémon Unite, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, as well as Pokémon Legends: Arceus certainly haven’t helped. To the contrary, their respective announcements all stoked fires that hopefully this alleged Pokémon Presents can put out.
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After all, each aforementioned game is rumored to appear in the showcase. In some respects, this makes clear sense, as each is slated for release within a year from now, and none have release dates. Unite and the Sinnoh remakes are especially pressing and warrant new information. While Legends: Arceus will hopefully still be receiving serious amounts of polish, the other two titles are on the runway for launch. There is effectively no time other than the present for those games to be outlined.
However, beyond this necessity, the showcase would be an optimal moment for some damage control. The reveal of each respective game was marred by its own controversy. Whether the games were not what fans wanted, visually underbaked or technically and mechanically unimpressive, each had its own string of criticisms. These, of course, were not helped by the tepid reception and PR of the games that preceded them. However, if this Pokémon Presents was essentially treated as a reveal do-over, one that showcased more robust, consumer-ready Pokémon adventures, the community reception could be different.
Not only would the games hopefully look much more compelling, but they’d also be received by a community with a much warmer temperature. New Pokémon Snap was such a critical darling that many players are being reminded why they love the franchise to begin with. While a lot of that heavy-lifting is due to Bandai Namco, it’s an optical victory for Pokémon as a whole, and its other projects by extension.
Capitalizing on this goodwill through a new showcase is the only route forward. Otherwise, the Pokémon series will continue to chug along with a trio of imminent but underbaked games in need of another look. By taking this rosy moment in the fanbase to hopefully prove that each title has progressed since its last showing, a lot of temporary goodwill can be translated into long-term momentum once more. The Pokémon Company can’t afford to remain quiet unless it wants to steamroll ahead without its core fanbase’s support.
It’s important to qualify all this with an asterisk though, as the notion is predicated on speculation. While this presupposes The Pokémon Company’s motivations, it also hopefully reveals the imperative for better communication. Ultimately, there wouldn’t be the need to rebuild goodwill for the three games in question had their reveals been better considered. However, in the current position, the there is a clear opportunity for a second chance. Hopefully, that chance isn’t squandered, but instead mends the bridges burnt by Pokémon‘s modern shortcomings.
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