Nintendo’s Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! might have the most sales combined in the UK for the week ending November 17th. However, it was actually Activision’s Spyro Reignited Trilogy which was on top of sales charts. This is good news for the publisher once again- its last major remastered trilogy was Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and that went on to have a highly successful run on top.

Red Dead Redemption 2 fell to second place, but the most interesting developments surround Fallout 76 and Hitman 2. As per GamesIndustry.biz, Fallout 76 debuted in third place, with physical sales down 82.4 percent compared to its predecessor Fallout 4. However, thanks to the game’s $59.99 retail price, it was actually the highest revenue generating title in the UK retail for last week. Since Spyro Reignited Trilogy is priced at $39.99, it ranked third in revenue.

Hitman 2’s launch week physical sales were down 90 percent compared to Hitman Absolution, and it debuted in tenth place. Since Hitman (2016) debuted as a digital-only release, comparing its launch week sales to the sequel is thus difficult, since digital sales are not tracked by Gfk Chart-Track. This could mean Hitman 2’s low physical sales are offset by higher digital sales in the UK. We’ll have to wait for more sales data to know for sure.

Gfk Chart-Track’s top ten best-selling titles in the UK for the week ending November 17th can be seen below:

1. Spyro Reignited Trilogy
2. Red Dead Redemption 2
3. Fallout 76
4. Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu
5. FIFA 19
6. Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
8. Fortnite: Deep Freeze Bundle
9. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
10. Hitman 2

Nintendo has announced a special edition Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! themed Nintendo Switch console. The console comes with a dock with adorable embossings of Pikachu and Eevee, and with brown and yellow Joycons (for Eevee and Pikachu respectively).

The bundle, which will be $399, will also include a copy of the game (either Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Let’s Go, Eevee!), as well as a Pokeball Plus controller. This is bound to be a big hit with more casual Pokemon fans who may be looking into picking up a Switch for the new game, and with families, who will presumably be looking to buy all of those things anyway. It should also be enticing for more dedicated Pokemon fans, who will presumably want the limited edition console for themselves—at least, I know I do.

There’s a new trailer showing off the special edition console, which you can see for yourself below. Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let’s Go, Eevee launch on Nintendo Switch on November 16.

The one thing that Game Freak and The Pokemon Company have been very clear about when it comes to next year’s Pokemon game, widely assumed to be a new generation, is that it will be more like the traditional handheld Pokemon games that fans have come to know and love, and less like Pokemon GO or its Switch brethren, Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! which are due out in November this year.

Speaking with Famitsu in an interview, Game Freak’s Junichu Masuda, who has directed multiple Pokemon games, including the upcoming Let’s Go games, has reiterated that the 2019 game will be a lot like handheld games. According to Nintendo Everything’s translation, Masuda said, “As for the 2019 title, we’re working with the idea that everyone will be playing on their own Switch. It’ll have the same kind of feeling as the previous games on handheld systems.”

Which is good to hear. He also hinted that Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! which, going by everything we know until now, lack any connectivity with any Pokemon game other than Pokemon GO, may be forward compatible. “There have been times where you couldn’t bring Pokemon over from previous titles – I imagine that created some bad memories. I want to try and change that, if I can,” he said.

Now, this at least makes sense- Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! mark the debut of a brand new Pokemon, presumably the first Gen 8 Pokemon- so it makes sense that they will have to have some kind of connectivity with future games. I can only hope that the connectivity is total and full, so that I can send forth my lovely Pikachu to join me on my journey through whatever new land Pokemon 2019 will take us to.

Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! launch on Nintendo Switch exclusively, on November 16 this year.

Even if they’re not considered the first “true” Pokemon titles for the Nintendo Switch, Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee! will still bring a strong dose of the same experience to the platform. Today, The Pokemon Company released a wealth of new information on both games along with a new trailer. Check it out below.

It’s first worth noting that despite the story being the same in both games, there are a few differences aside from your first partner Pokemon. For instance, Oddish, Sandshrew and Growlithe will only be found in the wild in Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! If you want to find Bellsprout, Vulpix and Meowth, then they’re only located in the wild in Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee!

In order to catch the Pokemon, the Joy-Con can be waved to simulate throwing a Poke Ball. Pokemon will act aggressive, but if you’ve experienced Pokemon GO, then capturing in these games is pretty similar. Those playing in handheld mode didn’t worry though as they can move the Switch to aim and throw Poke Balls with the A button. From there, timing and where the Poke Ball lands will determine the success of capture.

There are tons of other details in the trailer, like battling Pokemon trainers, which is similar to the fights in the Pokemon RPGs; exploring the Kanto Region in all its 3D glory; facing Gym Leaders like Brock (Pewter City) and Misty (Cerulean City); and much more. Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee! release on November 16th for Nintendo Switch. We recently went hands on with the game and came away impressed with what we saw. You can read our impressions here.

The first thing the Nintendo representatives wanted me to do was to play with the Poke Ball controller before using a normal controller. Now, I’m not big on weird, cumbersome peripherals- though I will admit some of them are all right. The Poke Ball controller fits in either your right or left palm, as your index finger rests along the top (or red half of the ball) along a hidden A button, and your thumb rests on the Poke Ball’s white activate button (the center of the Poke Ball located between the red-half top and white-half bottom), which also doubles as a single analog stick and the B button. It feels very awkward, at first. Like when you get a new console and the controller is completely different from last generation’s. You have to get used to it. But oddly enough, I got used to it very quickly.

In no time at all, I was ready to play Pokemon, (on a TV!) with a Poke Ball controller in hand. The game starts out with selecting a trainer, Boy or Girl with a few variations, including aesthetics and choosing your name. We’ve learned that there are options for customizing your Pokemon, too, but that wasn’t part of this demo. As the name refers, Pikachu (or Eevee in the case of Let’s Go, Eevee!) will be on your shoulder from the start. You can go into the wild and increase your Pokemon collection, letting it grow with more monsters to battle with.

The game opens up to the insantly familiar world of the Kanto region- for veterans of the Pokemon series, you’ll recognize this region as the land from the very first Pokemon game. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to do in the demo except run around a portion of the famous Viridian Forest. Rest assured, the graphics of current generation Pokemon games, such as Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, carry over to the console version brilliantly, with a big boost in sharpness and resolution. Viridian Forest is laid out and designed with the idea of the handheld games in mind: clear dirt paths sometimes covered in tall grass, with trees everywhere, and all from an isometric point-of-view. You’ll instantly recognize the cartoon/kid friendly graphics and bright colors, and if you’re like me, it will take you all the way back to that very first game instantly.

The biggest difference I noticed from the handheld and the console version is that Pokemon aren’t just waiting to pounce from the tall grass any longer – though that is where they still congregate for the most part – but can now roam freely on the dirt roads, as well. It’s also important to note that randomly generated battles are not part of this game, or at least this part of the demo. All Pokemon are visible in the overworld, and you can avoid or go into battle with any of them at any time. Some Pokemon are passive and will just stay where they are, but some will follow you a bit, trying to entice you into a battle. Some locations can only be accessed by walking through the tall grass, and as I mentioned, Pokemon are mostly holed up in the tall grass, making avoiding battles altogether not too easy.

Anyway, I entered into a battle, with Pikachu leading the charge. The first thing I noticed in battle was how similar the layout is to Pokemon GO. A small animation of the enemy Pokemon pops up – in this particular case, a Kakuna. The enemy Pokemon takes the far side of the screen, as I face it from my side. You’ll see familiar options to choose from (if you’ve played Pokemon GO), Berries, and Run. Selecting Items then selecting a Razz Berry (as Pokemon GO fans should remember, that allows wild Pokemon to be less aggressive, making hem easier to catch) allowed me to throw a Berry for this wild Pokemon to eat.

Then I opted for another option on the battle system: Poke Ball. It’s time to catch this little Pokemon and add it to my team since it’s more mellow and easier to catch now. In Let’s Go, Pikachu!, when using the Poke Ball controller, you actually flick the ball like an underhand toss… without actually letting go of the ball, if you can help it (there’s a wrist strap included in case that happens). The way this plays out is similar to Pokemon GO, with the ability to actually throw a ball, instead of just pressing a button alone. The in-game Poke Ball will fly out and land on the Pokemon if you throw it with precision, but can also miss the Pokemon all together- again, similar to Pokemon GO.

After a few struggles by the Kakuna to escape the Poke Ball, I caught it and immediately held the Poke Ball up to my ear, and heard a faint call that was indubitably Kakuna’s Pokemon call. The Poke Ball will play the sounds of the Pokemon you capture, which adds that little bit of magic that Nintendo always seems to capture. Not only that, but you can take the Poke Ball controller with you and level up your Pokemon on the go as you walk. Anyway, the stat screen pops up with the Pokemon I captured and all of its information for battling and collection purposes, and it’s added to my team.

Then it’s back on the road in Viridian Forest. This time, against other trainers who are scattered throughout the forest, as you’d find in every one of the core handheld games. Of course these trainers are just AI and have nothing more to offer than a one-time battle. Battles with trainers are similar to wild Pokemon encounters you’ll have when walking through the tall grass. The only exceptions compared to wild encounters are that you can actually battle trainers. Trainers’ Pokemon are usually a bit tougher than wild ones because their skills are being honed by their trainer. After a quick win with a few of Pikachu’s electric attacks and taking the trainer down, I pretty much did everything there was to do within the demo. The location was small, but the experience was big.

With the combination of Pokemon GO and the handheld core games, Let’s Go, Pikachu! is looking like an instant-classic game I can see myself sinking hours and hours into. Not once during my session did I want to try the regular Switch controllers. The Poke Ball controller was just that much fun to use, and it really adds to the experience. After about 15 minutes of playing, I told the Nintendo representatives, “This is it! This is the Pokemon game we’ve all been asking for on a home console.” Then I wondered, why did it take so many years for Nintendo to finally do this?

Update: Due to improper translations, Ishihara’s “Please trust us” line is incorrect. According to ResetEra’s Serebii, it actually translates to, “Please believe that there is no way that we will stray from the basic elements.” Due to the number of translations (Japanese to English, then English to Spanish and finally Spanish to English), take the overall article with a grain of salt.

Original Story:

When the Pokemon Company unveiled its first major titles to grace the Nintendo Switch – Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee – there was a bit of a mixed reaction. Hardcore fans expected a full-scale RPG not unlike Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. The upcoming titles do look interesting so the enthusiasm was cautious to say the least.

Pokemon Company CEO and President Tsunekazu Ishihara spoke to Famitsu (translations via Nintendo Soup) in its recent issue and talked about concerns that fans may have. “Among those who have tried the game, some may feel that it has changed. However, we have been continuously changing the formula of the games since our inception, and in the end the players have accepted those changes.”

To that end, Ishihara believes that these changes are in the spirit of what the franchise is known for. “In that sense, this time we are doing the same, but that is part of the long tradition of Game Freak and the Pokémon series. We will not go wrong with the basics, so please, trust us.”

The Pokemon: Let’s Go series may not be a traditional Pokemon experience but it’s definitely considered a stepping stone to the next core RPG. The latter title will be out in 2019 for the Nintendo Switch. That’s the reason why the Pokemon: Let’s Go titles are based off of Pokemon Yellow.

“In Pokemon GO, you can take with you an associated Pokémon and walk with it, but if we return to its origin, we get to Yellow Pokémon. In Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, we wanted to expand this feature even more. Pikachu always follows Ash in the anime, while Eevee has become very popular because it can evolve in many different ways.

“And as I mentioned before , we want this to be the game that people go to play after Pokémon GO, since Pokémon Red, Blue, Green and Yellow appear in Pokémon GO, so it seemed like a good decision. Based on these things, we decided that Yellow Pokémon would be the perfect choice.

Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let’s Go, Eevee release on November 18th for the Switch. What are your thoughts on the games thus far? Let us know below.

Later this year, Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, and Game Freak will release the very first Pokemon RPGs to have launched on a home console- Pokemon Let’s GO Pikachu and Let’s GO Eevee will be remakes of Pokemon Yellow, and revisit the Kanto region in full HD ahead of next year’s Gen 8 Pokemon game. They will also be compatible with Pokemon GO, having been made specifically to appeal to a more expanded audience than Pokemon already does.

Now, we know more about what to expect from the games, courtesy of the Nintendo Treehouse stream at E3, information from which was collated and collected on ResetEra. Apparently, the game will still have full fledged Pokemon battles with trainers, gyms have returned, all your Pokemon automatically follow you (and you ride them automatically where necessary), your Pokemon still have four moves, Eevee and Pikachu always stay out of their Pokeballs, perched on you, catching Pokemon is slightly more elaborate than in Pokemon GO, and grants experience to every Pokemon in your party, wild Pokemon show up in the overworld, your Pokemon wag their tails when they find hidden items, and they have all the regular six stats that they have in a normal Pokemon game- which is added together to calculate their CP, a stat that is used in Pokemon GO.

All said and done, it sounds like these games, while more streamlined, will still be the core Pokemon game that fans have come to know and love. Pokemon Let’s GO Pikachu and Eevee launch on the Nintendo Switch exclusively on November 16.

Okay, so it sounds like there was some confusion regarding the online functionality of Pokemon Let’s GO Pikachu and Let’s GO Eevee, the upcoming Switch exclusive remakes of Pokemon Yellow that imbibe a lot from Pokemon GO. While it was originally suggested that the game would allow players to trade and battle online for free, bypassing the paywall for the Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

Now it seems like that will not be the case- it looks like you will need to be subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online after all, at least if you want to play online. Nintendo has revealed as much in a statement to Eurogamer.

“Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! will have online play functionality. Battling and trading with other players over the internet or locally will be available in these games,” the statement reads. “An active membership for the Nintendo Switch Online service, which is scheduled to begin in September of this year, will be required to access these features.”

So that’s a bummer- but on the other hand, I suppose that between Super Smash Bros. and Pokemon, Nintendo has a captive audience that will have no choice but to subscribe to their online service- not even counting all the games they already do have out, like Splatoon, Mario Kart, ARMS, Mario Tennis, Pokken Tournament, and Rocket League.

When Pokemon Let’s GO Pikachu and Let’s GO Eevee were announced, there were some long time fans of the series that felt betrayed- the series has already been tending towards easier games aimed at newcomers for a few years now, leading to the simplification of a lot of the games’ nuance, and now here was another game aimed entirely at introducing new fans to the franchise.

To placate these fans, Nintendo, Game Freak, and The Pokemon Company confirmed that a new Pokemon game would be coming next year- which is good news, yes, but without information on what the game might be, or what it may be like, it’s hard to hold on to it for hope or hype, right?

Well, now we finally have information on what we should be expecting from these new games. Speaking to Japanese publication Famitsu (via Serebii), The Pokémon Company CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara confirmed the new game will contain many new Pokemon- which means a new generation. Further (via Nintendo Everything), he added that the games will have far better graphics than any Pokemon game before them, and that, rather than being aimed as entry points for new fans, they will be aimed at long time experienced fans of the series- which, finally, should give some relief to long term Pokemon fans who were worried about ongoing casualization of the franchise.

Pokemon will launch in 2019 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch; meanwhile Pokemon Let’s GO Pikachu and Let’s GO Eevee will be launching on the Switch on November 16, 2018.

Nintendo has confirmed that Pokemon Let’s GO Pikachu and Let’s GO Eevee, the very first Nintendo Switch Pokemon RPGs, that return to Kanto, while also imbibing a lot of Pokemon GO, will be coming to E3 this year. The game will be playable on the show floor this year, also making this the very first time that a main series Pokemon RPG has been playable at E3.

Of course, Pokemon as a series has been slowly increasing its prominence at E3 over the last few years- Pokemon X/Y and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire both got shown off at E3 with extensive gameplay trailers, while Pokemon Sun/Moon were very prominently featured during Nintendo’s E3 Treehouse streams in 2016. So this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise either way- it bodes well for next year’s Pokemon game getting some good mileage out of E3, too.

Pokemon Let’s GO Pikachu and Eevee are confirmed to be launching exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on November 16 this year.